It's difficult to understand a codebase without understanding who built it. I'd try something like CODEOWNERS.com to generate a CODEOWNERS file and see which GitHub users contributed to each piece of the pie
The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again expecting the same result. Maybe it's time to think of a new growth strategy to get exposure to your content.
I think it offers you the paid tier of each SAAS app. If Basecamp and Shopify is involved it would be way more expensive then 10$ a month. Plus Dropbox!
Posting on Hacker News is a good start. But I would consider leveraging social networks to help spread the word. Here are a few options:
-You can integrate Facebook Connect or Twitter Signin to get users to link their accounts to their thematchinggame.com profile.
-Once connected, you can post tweets or status updates about their activity.
-You could also ask them to tweet or to like your website whenever they signup.
-You could also create a simple contest for an iPad 2, and users would need to invite the most friends possible to be eligible. Or you could ask them to like or tweet the contest.
First of all, good job on the application. It is simple, but has many features. The iPhone application is also very useful.
There is one problem, like you mentioned in your submission, you have many competitors. I would try and find a strong competitive advantage to attract users to your site instead of going to Pingdom or UptimeRobot.
Your site is inexpensive, but people can always go to a free alternative such as UptimeRobot.
The larger companies would rather pay more money to use a more trustworthy application with a large portfolio of clients (ie Pingdom).
I would also work on the landing page for the website. A more attractive interface could also help users trust the application. Create a separate "Pricing" page with an attractive comparison table. Remove the pricing on the home page and show some screen shots or some of the main features. The call to action button could also include "Sign up for your free account" and underneath you could specify that no payment is needed to sign up.
I would also place more emphasis on the iPhone application. It shows that your application is innovative.
If you need any help, let me know. I would be glad to give you a hand.
Thank you for your reply. I've read all of your submissions, very helpful. Leaning more towards a completely free application.
Take for example a blogging platform such as Posterous or Tumblr. Any suggestions as to how I would monetize my application other then direct banner advertising?
I would have to agree with symmet, you need both. This way if a user doesn't have a recent version of Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari or Opera you can have jQuery to fall back on.
-You can use browser detection to conditionally enable jQuery scripts on page load. You can use Javascript/jQuery or a server-side script to detect exactly which browser is loading the page.
-You can also check out http://www.modernizr.com/. It adds classes to the html element which allow you to target specific browser functionality in your stylesheet.
First of all, the design is very clean. The homepage as a very nice greeting box and a basic news feed of the current project.
I enjoy the UI throughout the website. Again, very clean. Although, the black gradient footer is unnecessary. If you want a gradient, I would make it much more subtle to avoid it from looking tacky.
I would also shrink the header. A smaller, more simple logo would be much more memorable. You can place the logged in user info horizontally beside the "ADD PROJECT" button.
I would also prefer the "skills" to be placed in a categorized list format rather then a tag cloud. Easier to find what you are looking for. Same goes for the "roles".
I would also like to be able to sort the "members". You could sort them by project, geographical location or even profession.
I enjoy the relationship capability similar to a Twitter follow.I registered for an account without any problems.
I would like some AJAX capabilities added to the forms. You can use it for validation. Keep the server side validation in case the user has Javascript off. You can also add some style to the form inputs. Maybe an inset effect. The "Submit" buttons could have a similar style to the "ADD PROJECT" button.
This is a great idea for developers to show what they can do. This is a great app for freelancers trying to build a reputation. Great app.
I would also create a landing page for that domain name mentioning that it is for sale. You could then redirect them to your sedo listing or you could place a simple contact form for them to contact you.
If you would like to drive additional traffic to your application, I would recommend integrating a Facebook application. People browsing there Facebook News Feed enjoy seeing the responses of others. Maybe you could update their status with some statistics. You could also make users invite their Facebook friends to try out the application.
You could also show what their friends answered on the application page, if they have signed in using their Facebook account.
This could also be a cool feature, you could classify the person by a certain characteristic. Example, depending on the users answers, you could display the users personality. They could be categorized as Artistic, Logical, Funny, Nerdy etc. You could also change the background style of the application depending on their personality.
As you may have noticed, these are all web application using one major color to make things a little more appealing. They all use pixel perfect attention to detail. From a first impression perspective, a solid design really counts for most users.
2)Google Calendar integration, Google Apps addon, Custom branding(which is on your todo list), online payment processing.
3)I meant exporting the appointments into a Google Calendar. Like you have mentioned, you can use the API to add the appointments into the calendar. Maybe even add an alert.
4)Custom fields would be a great idea. Very useful.
5)I agree, but there's no harm in having a look. Try www.domai.nr. It will abbreviate or remove vowels to make your url shorter. It will also show you different TLD domains you could use.
6)Great idea. If you want, you can add a small light colored link below the main box that links back to reservv.com.
7)Even better. That way you won't have to deal with any refunds. Good idea.
If you have any more questions or you would like my opinion, let me know. Good luck with your application!
Overall application idea is great and very useful for any service based company. Although there are many things that would need to change or be added to make it that much more appealing.
-First of all, the websites design needs some work. I find it to be plain, unappealing and untrustworthy. With a brighter design, you can attract a lot more users. Maybe try choosing some main accent colors and applying them throughout the application.
-From a Developers point of view, the application runs very smoothly. Solid programming but missing a lot of features.
-I would concentrate on adding Google Cal syncing capabilities. I understand that it has already been mentioned but its too important to pass on. Many service companies use Google Apps to organize their scheduling. This would make things a lot easier for any user. Maybe even integrate with other project management applications such as Basecamp or any other.
-For the booking process, I think you should also ask the most information possible from the client. This will make things easier for the company to contact the user.
-The domain name is simple and easy to remember, but I would try to find a shorter abbreviated version to host the users apps.
-You could also allow the registered users to insert their custom logo for a small one time fee.
-For future consideration, maybe even add an advanced payment ability. Allowing the clients to pay by credit card in advanced and send the payment directly to the company (Paypal, Authorize.net etc.) You can also charge a small percentage of the transaction as commission.
Overall great idea. Keep up the good work! Good luck!