this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
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Creating similar service to AlternativeTo (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago by Wawe@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I am looking to create similar tool to AlternativeTo. This would list different brands and why you should or should not buy them. Is there some software that would be great starting point for creating this kind of service?

I would guess wiki apps would work for this, but like wikijs, but interested to hear is the something else that could be used for this.

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[–] IanTwenty@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

An example site that takes user submissions and is not a wiki:

https://nerdydaytrips.org/

https://github.com/nerdydaytrips/website

Users submit a form that is turned into a github PR, hosted with cloudflare worker. Site itself is completely static, made with hugo. The data about each map pin is simply key/value in the frontmatter of a markdown file:

https://github.com/NerdyDayTrips/website/blob/main/content/daytrip/eu/gb/1066-battle-of-hastings.md

Simple but effective and can be styled however you need (hugo has themes). Moderation can scale by adding more contributors who can merge PRs.

[–] DrunkAnRoot@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

consumer rights wiki might be a good place to start

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Thanks for sharing! This has same idea that I am have plans! IMO this shows that wiki is bit less user friendly compared to what AlternativeTo has.

[–] ISolox@lemmy.world 52 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Alternate to alternate to.

[–] ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I used the alternate to destroy the alternate.to

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean they already list alternatives to their site: https://alternativeto.net/software/alternativeto/ :D

[–] Colloidal@programming.dev 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Looks like the Privacy Guides website is open source. It has a recommended tools section that you can use as a starting point.

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Thank you, I forgot about that. Yeah that could be good starting point!

[–] maxwells_daemon@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Never enough alternatives

[–] BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

As I've found out recently, finding true alternatives can be difficult. Take bread for instance. I just discovered Bimbo Bakeries own at least 26 brands. So when you're on the bread aisle you probably have a moderate to high chance of buying one of their products.

[–] Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Thats why you should bake your own! Super easy and delicious

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

you should allow the tracking of UPC codes as well. this would allow a mobile app to be used in-store far easier than by product name.

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Maybe in the future, but my goal for this site is to just list brands and not individual products.

[–] NickwithaC@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This used to exist:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoodGuide

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Never hear about this and sad that it got cancelled.

[–] SheeEttin@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

A wiki would be great, since it allows user contributions and a familiar interface.

Not necessarily mediawiki, though. Or maybe something that allows people to submit individual options in a category and vote on them.

Get it running and set it loose!

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Yeah, end goal would probably create something like this.

[–] lime_red@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Love this, and I want this.

I'd consider some of the secondary requirements, which might then inform what you use for the primary requirement.

Have you ever moderated a site or forum? With user-submitted content, you absolutely need a moderation mechanism, and moderators. This site would be a prime target for astroturfing, trolls, and people with beef. The latter are useful for sourcing content about alternatives, but relying on each contributer to moderate themselves is not going to work.

You'll also need an effective mechanism for receiving and actioning takedown requests (or telling them to eff off, if that is your wont).

All of that comes down to user metamanagement, and user classes. Simpler wiki software is probably designed for trusted users, or a single user, or might require a plugin to handle these scenarios. Mediawiki is stable and capable, but needs tight site design to avoid it becoming a maze. (Actually, that last bit goes for anything you choose. If you don't impose a structure, you're going to get a structure anyway, it just might not be the one you or your users want.)

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Doing moderation is something that I would not want to do at the start. At least in the start all items would be created by me. This would be a side project for me and all user submissions would be verified (if ever allowed). This would be more like personal list rather than huge community project. Maybe if this evolved overtime then it could be something else.

Yeah, wiki might be simplest solution for this, but I was wondering if there existed something more visually friendly. IMO wiki (similar to https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page) is less "pretty" to AlternativeTo. But using wiki could probably be starting point for this.

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

God let this become a thing

[–] damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Brands of what?

[–] NickwithaC@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Alternative To only does software so imagine that but for physical products.

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Yeah, pretty much this.

[–] Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

how technical are you?

You could probably use Notion as a backend and use Potion.so to make the website. Another route is Webstudio + a CMS like Hygraph or Strapi if you want to self host it.

I think this might even be doable on Ycode or Webflow.

At the end of the day what you want is a database with all the products and a relations between each other based on their features.

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thanks for recommendation. I am technical, but more on backend side rather than front end. I would love to use something that is opensource. This would probably work, but seems like I would need the create a lot of things "from scratch". This would be a side project so I am looking something that would be simple as possible.

[–] Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Webstudio + baserow could work and those are both open source

[–] Wawe@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Thanks! I will check them out!

[–] user_5359@feddit.org 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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