Finished the first version of Centige.com, the collaborative web app builder
Oh boy, it's been a while. A very long while.
**6 months of full-time work** after around 3 months of playing around with the idea. And as I got closer to launching, I realized that I didn't like the product. So I went back to the drawing board (no, literally, I've got lots of papers with ideas and sketches).
Initially, I wanted to make a React app builder. The idea didn't sound bad and many people on Pioneer and Makerlog seemed to like the idea. However, I found it very limiting. It might be a good tool to have for some people, but it wasn't what I wanted to build.
By the end of August, I realized what was actually missing: real-time collaboration. You know, like Figma and Google Docs. Yup. But I wanted it for building web apps and websites. And so I embarked on the journey of learning how to actually make such an app. I tried different tools and ideas until I got the version I wanted.
Centige, the collaborative web app builder, is far from done. It needs more components, some templates, more configurations, and especially less errors. But this week, I felt that I reached a pretty good milestone. I felt like it's time to get some feedback from my next users to know what to prioritize right now.
9 months ago I had no idea how to build something like the template editor from Tumblr. And now, look at this :) Gotta take a moment to feel proud. A biscuit 🍪 for me, and everyone who's working hard on that idea. 頑張って (GAMBATTE)!
**6 months of full-time work** after around 3 months of playing around with the idea. And as I got closer to launching, I realized that I didn't like the product. So I went back to the drawing board (no, literally, I've got lots of papers with ideas and sketches).
Initially, I wanted to make a React app builder. The idea didn't sound bad and many people on Pioneer and Makerlog seemed to like the idea. However, I found it very limiting. It might be a good tool to have for some people, but it wasn't what I wanted to build.
By the end of August, I realized what was actually missing: real-time collaboration. You know, like Figma and Google Docs. Yup. But I wanted it for building web apps and websites. And so I embarked on the journey of learning how to actually make such an app. I tried different tools and ideas until I got the version I wanted.
Centige, the collaborative web app builder, is far from done. It needs more components, some templates, more configurations, and especially less errors. But this week, I felt that I reached a pretty good milestone. I felt like it's time to get some feedback from my next users to know what to prioritize right now.
9 months ago I had no idea how to build something like the template editor from Tumblr. And now, look at this :) Gotta take a moment to feel proud. A biscuit 🍪 for me, and everyone who's working hard on that idea. 頑張って (GAMBATTE)!