Yvo Schaap

Spectrum - Build better communities

Spectrum is a new platform for you to join, start and build online communities.

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Bryn Jackson
Boom. Thanks for hunting @yvo! Excited to have more people checking out this platform we’ve been working so hard on for the past 7 months. Feedback is definitely appreciated!
Akshay Kadam(A2K)
Well, I have a couple of questions 1. Is it free ? 2. Will there be a Desktop app ? As u have made it in React, I don't think it will be that much pain to transfer it to Electron 3. Are u gonna have an API so people like me can build cool things with it ? P.S - I love the design, just one thing though, when we type in the search bar, there are communities overlapping each other. The ones which are originally there, & the ones that appear like a typeahead dropdown...So that looks a bit clunky to differentiate. It would be better if u would add some border to the dropdown or a shadow bcz I thought the page was broken. This happened to me thrice 2dy 😂 Also why didn't I discover this earlier. This shit is awesome. Very underrated.
Bryn Jackson
@deadcoder0904 fixing the overlap issue right now! 1. yes, the business model is ad-free as well, but companies can pay to get additional features for moderating their communities. 2. There definitely will asap. 3. Yes, and I can't wait!
Akshay Kadam(A2K)
@uberbryn Cool, that was fast. Can't get over the design 😂
Anthony Lee
How do you log out of this thing?
Max Stoiber
@anthonygawonlee logout is currently broken, we're working on bringing it back! Sorr for the troubles 🙏
Brian Lovin
@anthonygawonlee @mxstbr Yeah sorry about this, it's been an annoying bug for us to track down. In the short term you can clear localStorage + cookies and that'll do the thing. Public beta problems, huh? 🙃
Skyler Lewis

It's community focused, unlike Slack. I really like that. It is still early and there is definitely some polish that needs to come: API and other integrations, reactions and/or emojis are yet to exist, configuration, roles/user management, etc.

Also the pay model is interesting. $100/1000 users/month. That's quite expensive if you assume a lot of communities have next to zero income, and the income they do have should be for other things. I like the idea of paying $5/$10 as a user to gain access to certain features and I really hope they shift to more of that kind of model.

Pros:

Good UI, Lots of potential

Cons:

Pay model is weird.

Brian Lovin
Thanks for the feedback on the pricing model in particular, this is something we'll be iterating on as we know we don't have it quite right at the moment. We're also exploring other payment models around community-funded communities :)
Max Stoiber
Also, we do have Pro users! For $5/month you get a badge and some extra features 😊 As Brian said, we're still tinkering with our pricing setup.
Stephen Olmstead
Big congrats @mxstbr @brian_lovin @uberbryn! I know this day has been a long time coming. Huge kudos on all the hardwork to bring this to where it is today. Excited to keep watching this grow and evolve!
Brian Lovin
Calvin Koepke

Spectrum is awesome. It's like what everyone wishes social networks would be, but can never find because they are too individually centered. I have high hopes for this platform.

Pros:

I love the "community over individual" nature of the platform.

Cons:

Faster, more predictable editor.

Brian Lovin
Thanks so much Calvin!
Kelly Kuhn-Wallace
Swoon.
Michael McCombie

I've been using Spectrum for the past couple of months and it's been a great way to engage with communities that I'm not only heavily involved but also casually interested in.

Definitely check it out if you haven't all ready.

Pros:

The platform is organized, fast, and has a really great emphasis on discoverability and engagement.

Cons:

Currently there is no mobile app.

Brian Lovin
Thanks so much Michael, it's be awesome seeing you around Spectrum 😀
Vadi
Thanks for the answer @uberbryn. I’m going to use it. How spectrum is helpful for dev shops that are already using Slack and Github, just not the open source communities. I’m sure we all have struggles differentiating conversations across different stream of teams juggling in Slack. However i also see conversations are just not isolated within techs. I’m looking to see how it is useful in the enterprise world and its use for it. Just a curious..
Kirsten Lambertsen

Mostly tech related communities exist right now. The experience is like a well-executed mashup of Reddit, Slack and Twitter.

Pros:

Excellent UX/UI. Pretty good selection of well-populated communities already. Uncomplicated.

Cons:

Not sure it's going to displace Slack or Reddit just yet...

Brian Lovin
Thanks for the review Kirsten!