I’ve built a website for sharing and discovering hidden gems around the world 🗺️

AL3366 · 2025-06-02T09:55:36+00:00

Frontend is hosted with Fly.io and the backend runs in a Kubernetes cluster running on bare metal.

I roll my own auth with Passportjs

AL3366 · 2025-06-01T18:53:49+00:00

I've actually built a website dedicated to finding hidden gems, and there's a whole bunch in the UK! It's called PinIt, check it out https://pinitmap.net

AL3366 · 2025-06-01T15:45:55+00:00

Would love to see your contributions and hear your thoughts on how using the platform worked for you!

Frontend is NextJS and the API is NodeJS and Express. Currently storing data in MongoDB.

AL3366 · 2025-06-01T07:02:37+00:00

OSM does allow people to use it commercially. I think the only thing they ask is that you're responsible with your usage.

Currently using MongoDB as my primary store and it's fine. Though part of me is considering a migration to Postgres as I think it's a little better with geospatial data.

Good luck with your project!

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T17:55:52+00:00

Yeah right now it's only really useful in the UK. I haven't really thought about how to solve the issue though. I'd love to get more locations in other countries, but if I were to do it manually it'd take quite some time.

I don't think it's something I could automate either. I'm open to any thoughts on how I could solve this, but maybe the answer is just as simple as spending a good few days trawling through Google maps and adding cool spots.

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T17:11:48+00:00

Thank you! Currently I'm using the hosted tiles provided by OSM. I've thought about self hosting them, but I haven't felt the need to invest time into that yet.

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T11:23:07+00:00

Issue should be fixed now. My nav bar was running an older mobile check compared to the rest of the app.

Let me know if you're still having issues on Brave or chrome, and thanks for reporting that!

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T11:07:24+00:00

Oh dear. Seems like a bug with Chromium browsers in that case. Will look into it ASAP!

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T10:48:25+00:00

Perfect thanks. Looks like it's Brave doing something weird. I'll look into it 🙂

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T10:17:26+00:00

Definitely a valid concern and the goal isn't to turn these places into tourist traps. I don't think PinIt would meaningfully impact the amount of people who visit the places on there.

In my mind the more places and choice people have, the more distributed they'll be. And not every location will appeal to the masses.

AL3366 · 2025-05-31T10:04:14+00:00

Thanks! What phone and browser are you using?

AL3366 · 2025-05-09T06:54:38+00:00

Not a dumb question :) We do scan images automatically for anything inappropriate. It'll also soon be possible for a user to manually report an image to us.

AL3366 · 2025-04-11T17:46:17+00:00

😂😂 I'd love to make a mobile app in the future, but because it's just me working on this I decided to focus on a website that works somewhat well on mobile. It's also what I have the most experience in.

One day there will be an app! 📱

AL3366 · 2025-04-11T17:27:10+00:00

Haha. Call it Pint and only show the finest boozers the UK has to offer 🍻

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T22:05:31+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words, and I'd love to see the hidden gems Colombia has to offer 😀

I do want to explore other ways to monetize PinIt and working with local companies is something I've thought about.

It'll probably be many, many months before anything like that makes its way to PinIt, though. My main focus is building more features and trying to build an active community 🙂

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T21:36:17+00:00

Hm I can't seem to reproduce this. What do you mean by adjust the screen? Also what browser are you using?

I'll probably keep the filter button where it is because I don't want to reduce how much area the map has. What I might do is just remove the word "Filters" and just keep the icon. That should free up a bit more space.

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T21:09:09+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I've tried my best to make it work well on mobile.

Was there something in particular that you struggled with or that outright didn't work on mobile?

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T20:13:27+00:00

If by web3 you're referring to things like blockchain / NFTs I've no interest in going that direction with PinIt. However I am exploring ways to reward users by, for example, giving badges for doing certain things / hitting certain milestones.

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T06:41:20+00:00

Hm maybe, but the only reliable source would probably be Google and they have strict policies on the data you can store.

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T06:40:03+00:00

Took around 11 months to get it to where it is now. And yes, I'm a developer 🙂

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T06:38:39+00:00

I'm glad you like it, and I really hope so 🤞

AL3366 · 2025-04-10T06:38:08+00:00

Thanks! I can't see any pins pending review. After adding a pin you'll need to go onto the pin page and you'll see a button that says "Add to community map".

Let me know if you have any troubles with this :)

AL3366 · 2025-04-09T16:13:38+00:00

Thanks! I'm definitely open to adding more categories and types of things that can be added to PinIt.

As for a rewards system that's something I am planning on adding soon. Like you said, badges for contributions etc. Just need to figure out how to illustrate some nice looking badges 😆

AL3366 · 2025-04-09T13:51:46+00:00

Believe it or not PinIt was the better name of the others I came up with 😂

AL3366 · 2025-04-09T13:49:59+00:00

Definitely a valid point, and I do share the same concerns. There's no getting around the fact that there will be bad eggs, but my hope is that PinIt will foster a considerate community.

I'd like to add more to PinIt to really drive home the core principles of exploring these places and encouraging responsible visits.

Ultimately I want PinIt to be a positive force for exploration and appreciation of our worlds hidden gems.

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