Is there a project starting/launching platform/community online?

I have a lot of project ideas (like many of you) but I have some issues. There seems to be no easy way to find existing project online or to ask people what they think of an idea. I'm looking for a social project platform that allow people to search for projects, to contribute to them and to suggest new projects. It seems like SourceForge and FreshMeat are some of the best way to browse open source projects but the ability to bring new ideas and ask if there is a need for it seems limited since it was build to host open source projects, not help people start new ones and contribute to them.

Is there any kind of online platform that allow people to find, contribute and create projects online?

Getting Started Ideas Social Network Project

asked Dec 12 '10 at 05:23

Mig
6 points

Your question is broad. Are you after software\coding projects only? Is your interest NFP\Citizen Sector type social or commercial for profit type initiatives or both? – Cameron Mc Grane 14 years ago
I'm mainly looking for software/coding projects but I'm also open to other kind of projects. – Mig 14 years ago

4 Answers

What your first commentair said. The thing is that "projects" are no common denominator for anyone. What binds people together is rather "skydiving" or "gardening". Projects just isn't an interest.

So, find what kind of area you want to get into, and see if you can find a forum or community for this online. Here you may find your innovators and early adopters, and from there you may be able to test your product.

answered Dec 12 '10 at 21:04

John Sjölander
2,082 points

For open source projects, I think sourceforge is leading the way.

answered Dec 18 '10 at 06:21

Zak
131 points

Yes but sourceforge is much more like a repository than an actual community. I could submit ideas, but no one will see it or comment it. It also has no way to prevent duplication. Is there any interest in this kind of platform or am I the only one who think it could be a good idea? – Mig 14 years ago

The website Half Bakery used to be pretty popular. Not sure if it is still thriving but lots of people shared, commented and voted on ideas here.

answered Dec 13 '10 at 12:30

Ryan Doom
5,472 points

On building your projects: Seeing as this is a website focused on startups, it's natural to assume you want to monetize some or all of your ideas - that doesn't mean their not community-driven or even open-source, but rather they have the funding to build a more sustainable project.

I think you'll find http://kickstarter.com to be a nice place to propose, measure interest and gather both interest/community and funding for projects.

On finding interesting projects: The question about finding projects is, as most people are saying, quite difficult. I suggest you take a look at popular freenode IRC network channels - for open-source projects - and start following some thematic feeds such as rubyinside 's for gathering news on specific areas of interest.

I find there are a lot of new projects, startups and ideas on Hacker News every week - that's worth following too.

Update : this seems like a website for exactly what you're searching: http://www.builditwith.me/

answered Jan 10 '11 at 23:02

Tomeduarte
704 points