Maker Community — Exploring the New Features of Product Hunt.
Tags: community, producthunt, discuss
Published: 2023-05-17 02:21:37

Hey everyone, it’s Morgan. 

I’ve been really busy lately, working on developing new side projects (three free quick web tools) while also preparing for the launch of [Gemoo Snap 2.0 on Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/products/gemoo-snap-v2-0). As a result, I’ve had to slow down on my blogging.

During this preparation time, I noticed some big changes in Product Hunt in the first half of this year. It feels completely different from when I released Gemoo Recorder on the platform in December of last year.

Previously, I thought of it as a product launch platform with good exposure and traffic, as well as a product search tool. It was like a bridge between users and developers, allowing users to efficiently find tools that meet their needs.

However, after engaging in the community for the past two weeks, I’ve noticed that it has become a platform for makers and founders to communicate and help each other, just as they said in the discussion section 👇. I have to admire the execution of the PH team for this.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/f9890avydbnb0tef7qw9.png)

Product Hunt has been focusing on improving its platform in the past six months. In this blog, I want to talk about **the new Q&A section and the new sidebar.**


**Product Hunt’s new Q&A section**

One of the major changes is the new Q&A section, which was introduced in February 2023. PH team will regularly post a new question related to products, and users can answer by voting for products and seeing the vote results of their friends, deepening mutual understanding among friends on the site and allowing them to discover more products. I believe it helps to give more inspiration for the creation of their own products.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/agybuse3h0fwms7vler9.png)



I quite like this new section. Through my following people, I have found many great products that I had previously overlooked. I’ve also identified where Gemoo can be improved by comparing Gemoo with other similar products that are widely praised by the community.

In addition, I even made some like-minded friends who have provided me with valuable insight, which is awesome! I highly recommend that you spend some time engaging with this section, you will definitely discover its value.


**The New Sidebar**

If you are an old user of Product Hunt, you may have noticed that their sidebar has undergone significant changes. Without further ado, here is the screenshot to show the changes：

https://app.gemoo.com/share/home?codeId=M09WVkO30wWKg

They have added the “Reviews from friends” and a quick view “Coming soon section” module and placed them in a prominent position. In this way, we can easily notice what our community friends (users you follow) are using and following, as well as lock in new product launches in advance, avoiding us from missing out on any launch promotions for new products that we are interested in, as well as our potential competitors.

One of the reasons why I think PH has become more like a maker and founder community is that it not only considers the possibility of creating more exposure for our products but also focuses on the personal development of makers (all roles). This also provides founders with a good way to find suitable partners.

Of course, PH already had the Jobs module, but it was very hidden before, and now it is in the sidebar that everyone will definitely see, making it effortless to pay attention to. However, I have a small suggestion. Charging $299 for a job posting is too high for most startups in the initial stages, let alone solo makers.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/sz9nouy2df51aghdpspv.png)

In addition, the discussion module has been added to display popular community posts. This makes it easier to participate in community discussions since we can quickly see if there are any interesting topics to engage with. It also helps us find other users who share similar interests. This is especially important for startups as having like-minded supporters can help us persevere through tough times, provide new ideas, and even become new partners.

The Q&A section and the new Sidebar are just two small parts of PH’s redesign. In addition to these, they have also made many other changes, such as reorganizing and categorizing discussion and product topics, launching community events like the ‘May is for makers’, and redesigning hubs, among others.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/maigu7bgqlsw1idt0zaq.png)

Have you found any other new features or changes that you think are good for makers? What are your favorite changes? Leave your comments and let me know.

Thank you for reading, for more stories and thoughts on my startup journey, please check my [blog](https://gemoo.com/author/morgan/) 🔗.

Wish you good luck in both your business 🚀and personal life✨.