simalr is a website where you get suggestions for things similar to your favorite book author, movie, music artist or TV-show. Suggestions are made by real people and not by automated services.
Here is how it works:
- Create an account (either by registration or with your Facebook Account)
- Post a request for something similar to your favorite book author, movie, music artist or TV-show
- Explain why you like this particular thing (for example the actor playing in a movie) so people can give better suggestions
- You get an email when someone suggests something similar (email settings can be disabled in the account settings)
- If you like the suggestion you can thank the person who made the suggestion.
simalr is made by Robert Roose, a designer with zero knowledge of how program with PHP. Everything you see is made with Drupals' core functionality or already available modules. In addition simalr is also Responsive, which makes it easy to use on any device (such as a mobile phone or tablet).
I am a webdesigner with no knowledge of PHP code and I wanted to create a visually attractive web app. After working with various platforms (Joomla, Wordpress and Ruby on Rails) I finally discovered Drupal. Drupal gave me the simplicity of Joomla and Wordpress (the ease to install and configure modules) but it also gave me the freedom to make the website as 'complex' as needed to be. I could create a fully functional web-app just by clicking the right modules together, which I think is the real power of Drupal. The power for everyone to create complex websites.
Goal
The goals is to create a community where people help each other discover their new favorite book author, music artist, movie or TV-show. To break free from the 'Filter Bubble' and get unexpected suggestions which an automated service could never give.
Secondary the goal was to create a web-app without any knowledge of PHP code using Drupal features and modules. Showcasing the power of Drupal and also my personal design/drupal skills.
Requirements
The only requirement was to build a website without any knowledge of code (as I can't read or write PHP code).
Outcome
So far I've succeeded in creating a fully functional visually attract web-app without writing any code. The community still needs a boost with more people requesting and suggestions things. Which I hope to achieve by promoting and showcasing the website and creating a snowball effect.
Pantheon Systems is sponsoring the hosting of simalr for three months.
