Welcome to Code Hobbyist as a super exclusive, highly respected, mega important Alpha Tester!

 

Real quick, I want to share a few things…

What Code Hobbyist is.

Why I created Code Hobbyist.

What I hope Code Hobbyist can become.

What you can do to help.

 

What is Code Hobbyist?

A community where people can share and get support for personal code projects they’re working on.  Like a kinder, gentler, more chill Stack Overflow. 

 

Code Hobbyist also includes Code Cards.  Quick reference cards for coding concepts.  Like old school index cards you would use to prep for tests. 

 

Why did I create Code Hobbyist?

I like to code.  But that’s not my job.  I’m not a developer.  I like to code for fun.  I like to create small, personal code projects and try different challenges that often never make it out of Codepen.  Often, I’d create something that I thought was pretty cool and was proud of.  But I’d have no one to share it with.  No one to give me real or virtual high five.  And when I struggled or had questions, there was often no good place for me to go for help.  Stack Overflow can be intimidating.  Sometimes my question would get flagged because somehow I asked the wrong question or in the wrong way.  Other times I’d get ‘berated’ a bit for the way I wrote my code.  Often my code wasn’t the best way, but it did work.  And for personal projects, that’s usually all I want.  Writing code for a professional project can be very different than writing for a personal project.  

 

So I wanted a space for myself.  And my hope is that there are other hobbyists out there like me.  Even if coding is your profession.  I imagine many developers enjoy writing code ‘on the side’ and have their own personal projects that are very different than their professional work.

 

What do I hope Code Hobbyist can be?

I hope it can be a place where people can be proud of the projects they’ve created and share them and get a virtual high-five or pat on the back from others.  I hope it can be a place where people feel comfortable asking any coding question.  I hope it can be a place where people learn from each other and get inspiration from each other.  I hope it can be a place where people go to get a quick refresher on a method or property or topic they’ve forgotten.  

 

What am I asking of you?

Can you test out the site and give me feedback?  A couple of things to try…

• Sign up for an account.  How is the sign up and sign in process?  Simple and intuitive?  Is there anything confusing?  Does anything just flat out not work?  Check out your user account.  Again, what works well and what doesn’t?

• Interact on the forum.  Try to post to the forum.  Try to comment on someone else’s post.  What works well?  What doesn’t work well?  

• Check out some of the Code Cards.  Do you find these helpful?  Why or why not?  What do you like about them?  What don’t you like?

• Site design.  Give me some feedback on the site design.  Visually what works for you and what doesn’t.  How intuitive is the site navigation.

• Engagement on the site.  Do you think you would use Code Hobbyist often?  Why or why not?  What would make you use the site more? 

• Any other feedback you think would be helpful to share with me, without completely ruining our relationship.