I've been working on this project for a while and I think it's at a point that I am happy launching it to the Hive community(more than I have done on PeakD snaps). Give it a try! Upload some pics, and see what you think.
What is XPLpic?
XPLpic is a picture sharing site that I've been working on where the main focus is the map and seeing pictures there. Upload a picture(or a few) to the map and see your addition there instantly!
Where do I access it?
The site is https://xplpic.com/.
Why build this?
I like sharing pictures of places I go to. If you follow me and look at snaps, you'll see quite a few from my trips over the years. I also don't really like writing much and posts on Hive feel like they need more than an image(social pressure is real even if code doesn't enforce it). This lets me share it quickly. It also has some of the features that I really wanted on other picture sharing apps, like automatically detecting the location from the uploaded image(using EXIF data that most phone camera add to the picture) to make things a bit simpler.
Simplicity Is The Goal
Making the application as simple as possible to use is very important for me. I want it to be easy to use. Yes there are bugs at this point, but they are being worked on over time and will be fixed once reported.
Hive Connections
The app is built on Hive, but unlike most Hive projects which involve posting, the rewards are not a focus of this at all. Hive is basically only used as a database layer. Of course you can still get rewards, it's just not a focus point of the site at all. None of the posts are made at the top level, instead everything is a comment within this post. There is no option to post at the root level. Everything will remain a comment. Votes cast from the site are also done at 0.01%(this is not a typo). Voting isn't for giving reward, but just to count the vote on the post. Rewards are not visible on the site at all(and other than keychain, Hive is not mentioned anywhere else).
You can log in with Hive-Keychain, or HiveEmailLogin(another thing I'm working on, more info on this will come in the future, but the main goal of that project is to have non hivers have a easy way to use Hive without having to deal with all of the hard parts of Hive for most people). Just upload a picture and it'll show up on the map.
Similar Applications On Hive
Yes, I know that other similar projects already exist on Hive(@worldmappin). This is not a unique idea, but rather a slightly different implementation of an idea. Competition drives us all to do better, but our focus is different. XPLpic does not seek to attract long posts or such, but rather more simple "image dumps" and lets users redirect people with short comments to their larger posts if they choose(or not, I've just uploaded many with no comments and some with a few words). The email login support aspect is another big thing I'm testing, and utilizing this to improve that project and hope to one day have that at a truly ready point to be used everywhere. The account that I'm personally posting from(@egrag) uses the email login and the phone browser support via that is very very nice.
I don't want this to feel like a "blockchain" project. I want this to be something I can send to my friends, and not have to explain anything and they can just get on and use it.
Seeking Feedback
I'm seeking feedback. If you have any thoughts, please post it in the comments, or join our discord here: https://discord.gg/gphRS4tCZW. In the comments here are preferred :peakd/hive:.
Known Long Term Bugs
Thanks to @livinguktaiwan for finding this one. Android phones are stripping the location data when uploading to browsers and so right now the location can't be auto discovered on Android phones. Normally this would be a great thing for privacy but here we need that data in order to make it easier for users. I'm looking for solutions for this but this won't be a quick fix sadly and will take time. For now android users will have to manually select their locations until something can be done.
Future Plans
Once there's sufficient seeded data, and the email login is more "ready" I plan on announcing this on a platform like Reddit or such and hope to have users using Hive without them needing to know about it.
Was not aware that you are @egrag :)
I like it a lot! Could easily bring some "outsiders" on Hive!
We are all hoping for that!
Btw, what fileserver are you using? Which size should the pics have? I usually try to stay <3,5MB, does this make sense or don´t you have a size limit?
It uses 2 separate file servers, images.hive.blog if you log in with keychain, and my own s3 bucket if you login with email. If images.hive.blog isn't working for whatever reason, it fails over to my own s3 bucket.
The images are automatically resized to fit within the limit for the site, so you don't have to worry about what size you upload at.
I see you got a route thing, exactly what I'm looking for, definitely gonna check this out!
Thanks! If you have any suggestions on how to make routes even better, do let me know, it's something that I found nice since I'd emulate that on snaps via replying to my own comments 😀
Uploading is super easy, and the trip addition is a nice touch... Maybe you can do an additional search by usernames, and also, it would be good to have a bigger photo view (zoom in, or a "full screen" option)...
I know you did it mostly for yourself, but do you have plans to commercialize the website and make some profits from it? It would be nice to have a good showcase for some future projects... How to use the HIVE infrastructure and make money with it (without relying on the reward pool)...
Thanks for creating this!
I have picked this post on behalf of the @OurPick project! Check out our Reading Suggestions Posts!
Please consider voting for our Liotes HIVE Witness. Thank you!
I don't know why I didn't think of that.... Will work on adding that feature now.
I've actually got this on my local version, just haven't released it yet because it partially breaks the mobile view. I'll get that fixed up and released later today!
Possibly in the future. Right now the costs to run the site are very low(I pay less than $1/mo) so I'm fine just eating it, but as it grows, I've got a few potential ideas on how this can be marketed to generate revenue. Trying to avoid straight up google ads and such like that. But the short answer is long term yes since hosting a lot of pictures isn't cheap.
It looks fun and simple. I Will try it
Adding a picture Taken in El Callao, estado Bolivar. Venezuela
I see it! Let me know what you think!
Very interesting; I'm going to explore it.
Tested for you:
اردو
Language is broken in your map. That's not how it's written so I can't find places I wanna find using map.
Where should this output? I'm getting results in turkey.
اردو = urdu
It's how u write the language's name. In urdu words r not always separated by each letter. They can joined too like
قاسم = Qasim (my name)
But if u noticed in your map in Pakistan, urdu language is written wrong.
I won't be able to read my name if u write it as
ق ا س م
If it's still unclear, my dms r open on discord for discussing it further.
I am reporting an issue that URDU language fonts/letters r written in a way that it's impossible to read them.
@rishi556
No Pakistani can read it if letters r weirdly separated in screenshot below
Ah, that's an issue with our mapping software, OpenStreetMap. Does the name appear correctly here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=3/6.40/-31.99 ?
@rishi556 All good! Now Pakistanis can read and understand it. Thanks!