Strapfork – Easy Custom Bootstrap

by newpatriks • 12 years ago

12 31 12 years ago

fnordsensei3• 12 years ago

But what is it? As far as I can tell there's no actual description of the product.

alandarev• 12 years ago

All I could understand without watching a video (yes, there are some people left in the world who do not want to consume information through videos):

1. It is almost Bootstrap 2. It is paid 3. Vistiros will not be aware that it is Bootstrap.

fnordsensei3• 12 years ago

Cheers! I couldn't get the video to play for some reason. It seems you were able to deduce more information than me though.

I'm not sure it's a great idea to have the visitor guess the purpose of the product. As a general rule, people like to know what they're buying. I think. And occasionally they won't have the time/ability/inclination to watch videos.

markild• 12 years ago

Excellent question.

From what I can see, this section, deep in the FAQ more or less describes it.

When you download stylesheets generated with Strapfork they become yours. For ever. The development time is the time span when you can still make changes to the theme through Strapfrok's visual interface and use the CSS hotlink.

So, if I read this right, you basically buy a theme. I don't really see what they add of value.

fnordsensei3• 12 years ago

Huh. Indeed. Provided that you are correct, that does seem a bit odd.

chiph• 12 years ago

If what they're selling is access to an easy-to-use GUI to generate your CSS theme for Bootstrap, I think the pricing is wrong. Rather than priced "per each", it should be time-limited.

If I'm going to use a tool like this, I'm going to noodle around with it for a few days to get something that I like. And then show it to my boss & coworkers, and then maybe do some A/B testing. And based on the feedback, go back and tweak it again. Hard to iterate like that when you're paying per-each.

drcoopster• 12 years ago

So, if I read this right, you basically buy a theme. I don't really see what they add of value.

It's one step further than that. They sell you the theme that you just created for them.

jgmmo• 12 years ago

No idea what this is. Looks like I can buy bootstrap, but why would I do such a thing.

ceejayoz• 12 years ago

At the moment only Typography, Colors, Buttons, Forms, and Navbars can be customized...

So it's a paid interface to http://getbootstrap.com/customize/?

tmikaeld• 12 years ago

That is exactly what it is (with flashy guides) - and even if it where not - building a custom generator yourself would save 216$ a year per theme!

The whole idea seems silly.

vittore• 12 years ago

Well there are dozens of theme builders for bootstrap already, including free once. Not just getbootstrap

iamthepieman• 12 years ago

Nobody cares that you use bootstrap. Or that you don't use bootstrap. Or anything else related to the technology or systems that your site/app/software runs on unless some part of what you are selling IS the technology your site runs on.

dmethvin• 12 years ago

Agreed, the site looks fine and functional as it started in the demo. Why is consistency across sites necessarily a bad thing?

jackbach3• 12 years ago

Hey, I'm the creator of Strapfork. Here's the link to the Live Theme I build in the video:

http://supernice-2.myshopify.com

philbarr2• 12 years ago

Rather ironic typo:

"Strapfork is still in beta, should I wait untill it's launched?

Quality is really important for us..."

gregd• 12 years ago

There are numerous typos on the front page which contributes to my overall feeling of nope.

newpatriks• 12 years ago

I think that it's not for those people that know how to modify the css code of the bootstrap theme. They also offer a nice UI and a useful tips of design to create your own theme.

zxlk21e• 12 years ago

It seems kind of silly to pay that much for what is essentially a paginated front end for http://getbootstrap.com/customize/ + an unproven CDN.

I'm not sure this is really addressing a pain point for anyone.

jordanwallwork• 12 years ago

Still just looks like Bootstrap to me...

teh_klev• 12 years ago

From the last time around this appeared:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7144128

NKCSS• 12 years ago

Hmm, still looks like bootstrap to me...

buremba• 12 years ago

Guys sorry but i don't think that someone would pay that price for a basic visual html editor.

waterfowl• 12 years ago

There's a typo in the FAQ just an fyi(not a slam). "Strapfrok" https://www.dropbox.com/s/p5gp251pfnufe1l/Screenshot%202014-...

anons2011• 12 years ago

the'll , cutomization, untill, Strapfrok's

Lots of typos!

jackbach3• 12 years ago

Fixed. Thanks :)

sidsudhi• 12 years ago

This is really cool. Will use for my upcoming projects.

prakashk• 12 years ago

Aside: this is the first HN post I have come across in a long time, that has more comments than points!

philbarr2• 12 years ago

It seems to me that your target market is people who want a quick and easy web site design system, so probably the HNers are not your target market when most of them would be capable of using Bootstrap by themselves.

That said then, maybe you don't want to really mention Bootstrap at all? It's just a way to customise a theme or something.

Also - I really hate having to watch a video to find out how something works, it's even more annoying when it doesn't work (Firefox 29.0.1)

I'd like to try and give some more constructive feedback but I don't want to sign up and pay to try it out. Maybe you could provide a test site?

annafuste• 12 years ago

I see it as a designing guide. You have more designing options than buying a theme and it gives you some tips in order not to make a disaster if you're not a genius with design (that's my case :P)

snoonan• 12 years ago

While I think I would benefit from using a tool like this, I definitely wouldn't buy it as it is offered. A good idea may be to aggressively seek a round of feedback on how it's priced and delivered. This would not be a space to innovate on business models (when is it ever??)

Second, my tech tutorial past makes me cringe at the speed and delivery of the video. Slow. Slower. You think it's too slow? Slower. Ok, start there. Edit your script for content and speed, but speak at an even tone. Talking fast and skipping syllables is not a way to get the material out faster. Put a 2x button on the player for that.

jackbach3• 12 years ago

Thanks for the constructive feedback :)

Strapfork – Easy Custom Bootstrap

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