Find a project name
Benoit Chesneau
for me. Well not really the project name, but the associated domain
name.
The context. I'm working on a new personal project I started last
year. It was a lot of work, firstly by working on the primary idea on
the paper. Then starting code. Developing tools I need. Trashing code.
Usual stuff. Just a little hard since in the same time I had to work
on other projects. But now that most of the code is done I need a
name. I had a lot of name in the head, but none was really good and
the last one, I selected, was a little too conceptual.
So I needed a name. Finding a name that work on the WEB and is
understandable by most of people on our little planet is really a
challenge these days, especially with these domains' squatters. I
really think it was better when domain names was more expensive, so
you have too really think before buying one. Anyway I needed a name.
Of course, I started by opening the browser and put some keywords in
the search box of my favorite registrar [1] but all were taken and
obviously this isn't a good method. So back to the paper, where I
started to put all the words related to my project I had in head. Some
people prefer to use some mind mapping tools like MindMeister or
FreeMind [3] but I'm habit to put some ideas on my moleskine [4] and
I'm really more productive with a pen when It's about thinking. Once I
put these words I completed them using the Merriam Webster dictionary
[5] and More Words [6] to find words containing a specific word or
words starting with some prefix. After that I placed all the word on
the paper on a 4 axes graph ("related" on top, and "idea" on left) ,
depending on the importance I was given for them, how they are related
to the project, and their semantic fields (people with mindmapping
could just organize them depending on ideas, adding colors & ..) .
Once I've done that, back to the search page of my registrar and I
started to try some domain names using combination. Once I've a list
of 20 names, I checked how their are pronounced and played a little
with them answering to these 3 question :
- Am I able to pronounce it ? (or if a software can pronounce it for you)
- Do I remember it ?
- Can I associate my main 3 projects ideas with it ?
After that I had a list of 5+2 names (2, I wasn't sure but worth a
try). With that list I started to ask around me what people think
about them. Some suggested others you have to try but I started to
approach to the solution . At the end only 2 on the list was left, and
I have to choosed one.. Once I choosed this one, I proposed it to my
friends and apparently it sounded enough good for all. By the way, if
you are a little paranoid you can ask to your friend if they are OK
to follow the FriendDA [7] which at least will reassure you...
It took me 2 days to do this work, but I think I have the good name
now. Will see it when the service will be in production. It could be
easier. I miss a service that would allows me to find all these
domain name by just providing some words, and answering to some
questions. The service could also propose me some other words and
place them on the graph. Sound like a cool service to write. Maybe
later.
- benoît
PS. Don't ask me about my new project, I will only speak about it when
it will be released. Sometimes next week.
Links:
[1] my favorite registrar: http://iwantmyname.com
[2] MindMeister : http://www.mindmeister.com/
[3] FreeMind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
[4] Moleskine: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moleskine
[5] Merriam Webster dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/
[6] More Words: http://www.morewords.com/
[7] FriendDA http://friendda.org/
Nicolas Steinmetz
On 5 oct, 17:33, Benoit Chesneau <bchesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It took me 2 days to do this work, but I think I have the good name
> now. Will see it when the service will be in production. It could be
> easier. I miss a service that would allows me to find all these
> domain name by just providing some words, and answering to some
> questions. The service could also propose me some other words and
> place them on the graph. Sound like a cool service to write. Maybe
> later.
partial answer ;-) ) : http://domai.nr/
I did not know "more words", interesting :-)
Cheers,
Nicolas
Benoit Chesneau
On Oct 5, 9:09 pm, Nicolas Steinmetz <nsteinm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> To some extend, it may partially answer your needs (so really really
> partial answer ;-) ) :http://domai.nr/
>
You should try it. (and I don't say that because they run on top of
couchdb ;) .
- benoît