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I started working on Xuland well over a year ago as a hobby. At first, I was looking to create an alternative to Craigslist - a site with a commenting engine similar to Facebook/etc but with a map and geolocation features. Since then I've migrated away from that idea.
Xuland offers some location-based features which I think folks could really come to find useful. The deals tab, for instance, aggregates deals from Groupon, LivingSocial and Restaurant.com in an easy-to-use interface. Other API's like Yelp and Eventful are included as well. Visitors can register directly with Xuland or login directly using up to six different external accounts (Facebook, etc). The site also allows for image upload and even simple editing, like red-eye removal.
I've gotten around 8,000 unique visitors worldwide since I deployed the site initially, but going public involved nothing more than a blog post and a mention on some small sites like KillerStartups. My first blog post has risen to become the 4th most popular blog post on Adobe Feeds in the past year (http://feeds.adobe.com/index.cfm?query=byMostPopularYear) even though I'd say its contents are now probably outdated. One point to mention: the site is built using Flex/Flash so I apologize to iPad users in advance. I am working on the Android/iOS app versions as well as a mobile web-app that can be used within mobile browsers.
I'm interested in what the HN community thinks of the idea in general and its implementation - site design, etc.
I appreciate all your feedback! ;)
Sincerely, Erich Cervantez
http://www.xuland.com
I presented my site, Xuland a while back on HN but being a newbie the link/submission was closed for comments soon after. I've made considerable changes since then and even started working on a mobile app - or at least a mobile "web" app that should suffice until the native Android/iOS versions are complete.
I started working on Xuland back in Oct, 2009 as a hobby/side-project. At first, I was looking to create an alternative to Craigslist - a site with a commenting engine similar to Facebook/etc but with a map and geolocation features. Since then I've migrated away from that idea.
I don't think the world needs another social networking site necessarily but Xuland does offer some location-based features which I think folks could really come to find useful. Under the deals tab for instance, the Restaurant.com search is better than their own website. I also added an affiliate ID to the deal URL's so there's a potential for monetization there.
I've gotten around 8,000 unique visitors worldwide since I went public, but going public involved nothing more than a blog post and a mention on some small sites like KillerStartups. My blog post has risen to become the 4th most popular blog post on Adobe Feeds in the past year (http://feeds.adobe.com/index.cfm?query=byMostPopularYear) even though I'd say its contents are now probably outdated. One point to mention: the site is built using Flex/Flash so I apologize to iPad users in advance. I am working on the app versions.
I'm interested in what the HN community thinks of the idea and its implementation. Any advice or criticism? I plan on moving forward with releasing it to the public more and more to drum up traffic if possible, stress-test and pinpoint areas for change.
I appreciate all your feedback! ;)
Sincerely, Erich
http://www.xuland.com