hncloner

Hi HN, I'm Gary. Back in June, I hired some developers to create a complete clone of Hacker News for me. I've been closely following the development progress, and it's now nearing completion. I want to clarify that I don't intend to create a competitor to HN; I simply admire its layout and functionality. I plan to release the clone on Github for everyone to explore. My development team has ensured that the site is built using only vanilla CSS, HTML5, MySQL, and PHP, with no JavaScript involved. Surprisingly, it's already at a stage where you can hardly distinguish it from the original. We've even implemented an admin panel to manage flagged submissions, temporary bans, permanent bans, shadow banning, and more. This admin panel was inspired by analyzing Dang's comments and aims to be comprehensive.

Among the additional features we're offering are options for the admin to enable picture uploads based on karma, disable downvotes (as they aren't very effective in 2024), allow users to save block filters for the types of stories and links they prefer to see, and provide a space for users to take conversations privately to prevent threads from becoming too lengthy while still allowing discussions to continue. We've also incorporated features promoting fair moderation, where users can earn extra karma for moderating posts fairly but may lose karma if they're not impartial. Essentially, users can choose between a direct clone of HN or a version with different features.

My vision for this project is for others to adapt it for various topics. For instance, individuals could host it for subjects like politics, hacking, cooking, or any other area of interest.

I've invested a significant amount of money into this project thus far, and as we approach the final stages, I'm curious if you have any suggestions for killer features that you would like to see included in a platform like this?

Thank you!