Hubski will always be a work in progress. However, our goal always remains the same: We want to facilitate thoughtful interaction.
This weekend I had the opportunity to chat with steve in person about the site. I think about Hubski a lot, and it's always interesting to get a perspective on the site from another long-time user.
This is what is currently going on behind the scenes at Hubski: rob05c is continuing our data migration to SQL, and building the foundation of our API. forwardslash is improving our new search application. insomniasexx and myself are working up a new layout for laptop and desktop size/aspect ratios. thenewgreen is laying the foundation for something that is going to be good for Hubski's longevity.
In my conversation with steve, we talked about site functionality, and how it might be improved. We also talked a bit about what we think the site can do, and what it cannot.
I have a long-term vision for Hubski. That vision is centered upon the conviction that thoughtful interaction is something valuable for a significant amount of people, and that facilitating that interaction results in interesting things. I wouldn't say that my vision for Hubski is anti-commercial, but it does exclude some avenues of future development. For example, I believe that Hubski should not strive to serve as many people as possible.
Our migration to a relational database coupled with an API is going to significantly free our hands when it comes to future development. We have a number of ideas of what we might like to do with the new flexibility, but I think this would be a good time to have a general discussion about how the site is working, and how it is not. If you have any suggestions, no matter how insignificant or crazy, we'd love to hear them.
As an example, I've considered making a book exchange for Hubski users, baked into the site.