I can assure you I care a lot more about delivering value than hype. I spent countless hours (from my personal time) over the last 6 years on making React Cosmos easy to use and compatible with as many codebase configurations as possible, and maybe two weeks on the website.
The project README explains what the project does and what it doesn't: https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/blob/main/READM...
There is an open thread about website feedback, and I agree I could've done a better job and there is still room for improvement: https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/issues/1111
Us HN folks can appear a bit grumpy at times ;)
I've got some ideas how your website could be improved... I'll have a look at the open thread.
I think the biggest single improvement you should make is adding a paragraph above the fold that describes in as plain terms as possible what your project does, and the problems it solves. Most of your bullet points on the website describe your project as being different or better than something - but the reader has no reference for what that baseline something is.
For example, “Don’t settle for localhost:3000” - this doesn’t give me any information about what the project does, or why it’s better.
Your README is much better than the website! Here’s how I’d summarize the bullet points at the top of the README into a paragraph you can put above the fold on your site:
React Cosmos is a component development, test, and preview environment separate from your application. Iterate on individual components in isolation. Build a library of test component props & states that you can run visual regression tests against. Cosmos is flexible enough for use with different bundlers and build systems.
I do agree that some things are buried. The docs didn’t lead me to the information I needed as quickly as I think they could have for example.
Overall I’m excited to give this a shot. It seems like a great tool.
The workflow is all the jank that comes with HMR, or worse, reloading entire pages to see changes.
The port number isn’t a specific thing so much as an allusion to the workflow most people use. You’re focused on a single component quite often, but working with it in an entire page served through your entire app server. It’s overkill and slower than necessary, and sometimes comes with all kinds of state frustrations outside of the scope of your component.
Changing the port doesn’t inherently change the workflow, it’s just calling out which port most of us use for that workflow and suggesting to investigate what could be better than that workflow.
They’ve made some changes to the page now, so hopefully this isn’t a source of confusion anymore.
- GitHub star count in huge text at the top, seeking validation?
- Doesn't explain what the heck the project does, but "React Cosmos 5 in 21 tweets" ... I have to read a thread of tweets to understand what this is for?
- "Don't settle for localhost:3000" okay, demean the way that tons of us develop web based applications currently
The docs tell you to open it on port 5000, which is a higher number, so it's obviously better.
Jokes aside, it did take me a long time to figure out what the product was, and I'm still not sure I fully understand. At the moment I just feel a bit overwhelmed by buzzwords, and I don't see how this would benefit my development experience.
No offense to the product creator though, I'm sure it's a great tool.