Day 9 of Building Crowdwide — I Almost Let It Sleep for 8-10 Days 💀

So today is day 9 of building Crowdwide??

I don't feel like I'm going to write any code today.

All features are done, all are working good! UI polishing also done, moderation done, suggestions implemented, reviews checked, all good!

So what will I do today?

It's time to just manage things and see some resources that might be useful. So I was checking what I can do more, and I found nothing to do with frontend and backend.

But but but... I checked the billing of Crowdwide!! It was on the free tier, so it was just going to run out. But I didn't want Crowdwide to die!!

So... I got another idea...

I suspended Crowdwide on Render from one of my accounts, which had already used 560+ hours out of 750 hours (I created that account for projects I'm going to publish in public).

AT THIS MOMENT I THOUGHT CROWDWIDE WAS GOING TO SLEEP FOR 8-10 DAYS THIS MONTH... BUT I'M A CRUEL DEVELOPER SO...

I deployed Crowdwide from another account, which I use for my personal projects, and that one had only used 250+ hours out of 750.

SO THAT PROBLEM IS SORTED, DEVS!!

Then I tested all features on that new server and YAHH!!

IT WAS WORKINGGGG!!

And I had to do this because this project is built with 0 budget, no earnings, and I'm under 18, so no funding or investment.

And again, I checked my admin console. No notifications there.

Actually, it feels pretty easy to sort everything out now... because while developing, I tried to make it so that any action by a moderator had to be approved by the admin. Like, EVERY action.

Moderators had to get approval just to review a post... and that was my FAAAAAAAAAAAAH system.

So after getting reported about it by Harun (Moderator), I changed things as per his suggestions, and it feels so smooth now.

Ohhh, I forgot to share the progress also!

10 members

37 posts shared

4 communities

It feels slower than the past few days, ik it's just the 9th day of the V1 release, but still, in the initial days, it was feeling like it was growing faster.

And I noticed the behaviour of users. They're creating accounts, engaging with some posts, liking and commenting mostly...

THEN JUST OFF.

They don't wanna post!!

They don't wanna join communities!!

DEAR USERS, SAY SOMETHING ALSO!!

And one reality check is also there: there are 4 communities on Crowdwide, but only 2 are getting consistent posts at this stage, and those are also by me!!

OHHHHHH USERS!!! YOU ALSO POST AND SAY SOMETHING!!

A platform feels alive with 100-200 active users, not with 250 crore passive audience!

But Crowdwide has 10 users only... 🙄 I think I roasted myself.

But it's alright!

And today is Sunday, and all the users who joined Crowdwide will receive a newsletter!!

I'm waiting for it tbh. I know the timing, so I'll check it at that time (to see if the algorithm is giving good post suggestions or picking up the proper user's interests or not).

Hmmm... and Crowdwide's new version... Crowdwide V2's release date will be announced soon 😂😅

🌐 Try Crowdwide: https://www.crowdwide.run.place

💻 GitHub: https://github.com/DeveloperPuneet/Crowdwide

That's all.

How do you find Crowdwide?

Didn't like it? Critic?

Criticise it? Roast it!!

FRY IT!!

Comments

[Harun - solo dev]

Hey Puneet! Just a heads up, the Crowdwide site is currently showing a 'This service has been suspended by its owner' error. It looks like a hosting account pause or billing limit on your end. Let me know if you need me to help communicate this to the community while you get it sorted!

[Puneet-Kumar2010]

bro its working

i just checked...
url is also same as old one: crowdwide.run.place
Maybe it's a network issue
Also, i just received the newsletter which means it live

[Harun - solo dev]

glad to hear it's back up and running, puneet! it was probably just a temporary cdn cache hiccup or a local network blip on my end.

awesome that the newsletter is live too. keep up the great build-in-public momentum! 🐯🚀

[Puneet-Kumar2010]

maybe the hosting limits are acting up again. I'm keeping backup options ready, so hopefully Crowdwide won't stay down for long haha. really appreciate you looking out for it and offering to help communicate with the community

thanks for checking and letting me know also, you mentioned something about talking in DMs earlier... I'm online now, whenever you're available

[Harun - solo dev]

hey puneet! no worries at all. honestly, keeping the conversation right here in the comments is great for the build-in-public journey anyway—it helps other devs see how we troubleshoot these hosting hiccups together!

if you ever want to bounce ideas around hosting workarounds, ci/cd, or just swap dev stories, feel free to tag me or reply here. always happy to be a sounding board.

keep crushing it with crowdwide! 🐯🚀

[Puneet-Kumar2010]

yesss exactly!! honestly, hosting issues are part of the solo dev experience at this point and sharing how we deal with them might help someone else too! really appreciate the support, Harun!! 🐯 definitely might tag you when I run into something interesting haha 🤠

[Harun - solo dev]

Day 1 ally right here! 🐯 You know I've always got your back, Puneet.

The solo dev hosting struggle is a rite of passage, but we learn and build stronger systems because of it. Definitely tag me anytime you run into something weird—two heads are always better than one on a tricky bug, just like we've been doing since August.

Keep building and pushing forward, brother! We got this. 🤠🚀

[Ivan Annovazzi]

lol the two-account free tier shuffle to keep Crowdwide alive is the most resourceful 0 budget move I've seen in a while. What happens when both accounts burn through their 750 hours though, does it go down for real then?

[Puneet-Kumar2010]

same service on multiple accounts can cause suspension or maybe even a permanent hold!

so... i won't go that way.

i have two accounts, so i'll use those two emails to create accounts on two other free hosting platforms and set up the same thing there.

but tbh, i don't think 10 users will burn through 750 hours × 2 that quickly lol.

but if they somehow do, i have the above plan ready!

and about the domain...

when we host a site on different platforms, we get subdomains like .onrender.com, .netlify.app, .vercel.app, etc.

so i found a site where you can get free domains like .work.gd, .run.place, etc.

to keep the user experience consistent, i'll temporarily move those domains too.

and to make shifting faster, i've already made environment groups, so it's basically copy-paste! i can also export them directly in .env format.

so yeah, i've already thought about this while figuring out how to keep Crowdwide alive without spending money lol. just cruel developer things, never letting my application sleep lol.

if anyone wants to know about the free domain site, i can share that too!

[Jason Y. (dev_in_the_fog)]

Such a clean explanation of a nuanced problem. Bookmarking this for reference, thanks for sharing!

[Puneet-Kumar2010]

Thank you so much!! 😭❤️ Glad you found it useful!! That's exactly why I'm sharing this journey, so others can learn from the things I'm figuring out along the way!!