this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
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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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[โ€“] lime_red@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year 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.)

[โ€“] Wawe@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year 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.