Shameless plug of a little sinatra site I created

[clive...@gmail.com]

Hi all,

I've been using Sinatra for work for quite some time but I've finally
thrown together something that's "just for fun". Think of it as a
pastebin for upcoming events that shows a countdown till when it
happens.
No logins, or accounts or anything like that just a simple "when and
where" with a countdown.

http://happens.co.za/

I created it simply for fun but if anyone has any feedback I'd love to hear.

Thanks,
Clive

[Jamison Dance]

It is a great idea. Nice work for making this and posting it. What are you using for geocoding? I have been dabbling with some geocoding stuff, but haven't found anything really awesome.

A little criticism: it feels a little too cluttered. I would like more focus to be put on the main purpose - of posting events and looking at the countdown. IMO the share widget and blocks of nearby, recently happening, ect events are a little distracting. It would feel more focused to me if got rid of those, and made the "Describe what is happening" box larger. If you are going for more of a social site instead of a straight up pastebin-type affair then the information about other events would be interesting, but as you described the purpose of the site they are a little distracting.

I think this is great still. Nice to see how good something can look with templates, as I am a coder with very weak design skills. Thanks for sharing.

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[Jason Rogers]

That was my first reaction also, too cluttered. I don't like the
Google Ads either.

What about adding an input for where something is happening. I'm in
Ann Arbor, MI but that doesn't mean I will always add events for Ann
Arbor. I would likely want to add events for the entire Metro Detroit
area.

Any thought of sharing the code and an experience report regarding the
different concepts (geocoding, Facebook integration, etc)?

--
Jason Rogers

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me."
    Galatians 2:20

[clive...@gmail.com]

On 24 December 2010 18:52, Jamison Dance <jerg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It is a great idea. Nice work for making this and posting it.

Thanks :)

> What are you using for geocoding?

I'm using GeoIP in the backend, then using the new browser javascript
stuff to update it on-the-fly with more accurate information
(view-source then search for "map")

> I have been dabbling with some geocoding stuff, but
> haven't found anything really awesome.

I'm having to use both since free versions of geoip (which I'm using)
aren't too accurate but the javascript detection works quite well

> A little criticism: it feels a little too cluttered. I would like more focus
> to be put on the main purpose - of posting events and looking at the
> countdown. IMO the share widget and blocks of nearby, recently happening,
> ect events are a little distracting. It would feel more focused to me if got
> rid of those, and made the "Describe what is happening" box larger. If you
> are going for more of a social site instead of a straight up pastebin-type
> affair then the information about other events would be interesting, but as
> you described the purpose of the site they are a little distracting.
> I think this is great still. Nice to see how good something can look with
> templates, as I am a coder with very weak design skills. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, I agree with you here. I was toying with the idea of adding
another link up at the top which says something like "See other
events" (or similar) and that page shows all the breakdowns, by
time/proximity/etc as they currently show.

You've pretty much verified that I was on the right track with that thought.

And we're in a similar boat, I'm a really really really crappy
graphician/designer ;)

Thanks for the feedback!

Clive

[clive...@gmail.com]

On 24 December 2010 19:01, Jason Rogers <jacae...@gmail.com> wrote:
> That was my first reaction also, too cluttered. I don't like the
> Google Ads either.

Well, with regards to the ads, I must admit I was kind of hoping I
might get a teeny bit of income on the side with this little project.
I'm going to de-clutter as per the other suggestion. I'll see if I can
make the ads less invasive too.

> What about adding an input for where something is happening. I'm in
> Ann Arbor, MI but that doesn't mean I will always add events for Ann
> Arbor. I would likely want to add events for the entire Metro Detroit
> area.

Simply drag the marker or zoom out and "click" anywhere.

> Any thought of sharing the code and an experience report regarding the
> different concepts (geocoding, Facebook integration, etc)?

I'm definitely open to sharing the code once I've cleaned it up a bit,
but I must admit that most of the geocoding stuff is in Javascript so
"view-source" and it's there.

Clive

[clive...@gmail.com]

I've re-themed and cleaned up the site based on all your feedback.

It looks like this now: http://www.happens.co.za/

Thanks for the comments,
Clive

[Josh Cheek]

Would be nice to be able to provide a link to the event's page, for more info.