Welcome to Linkopotamus and the Linkopotamus blog! I'm the creator, Ricky Spears. I want to share some thoughts about why I built it, how it got to where it is today, and where I'm going with it. I'm going to do this interview-style, so grab your favorite beverage (or one that you're allowed to drink where you happen to be at the moment), and let's get to know each other a little better.
So. Linkopotamus. Exactly what is a Linkopotamus?
Well, I really, really wanted a hippopotamus for Christmas! LOL. No. That wasn't me. That was Gayla Peevey in 1953.
When I started developing the project, I needed to purchase a domain name for it. I wanted something that fun sounding and a little quirky. I thought about words that are fun to say and hippopotamus was pretty high on the list that morning. I added "Link" to it for a fun little portmanteau and looked to see if the domain name was available. Much to my surprise, it was. So I registered it.
Fun fact: I originally registered linkopotOmus.com instead of linkopotAmus.com. I caught the misspelling pretty quickly and registered the correctly spelled one. I expect that if I can misspell it then others will do that too, so either of those URLs will work.
Why did you build Linkopotamus? What problem were you trying to solve?
I wanted to be able to access my browser 'Favorites' or 'Bookmarks' on whatever device I was using. For several years, I've used the Humble New Tab browser extension to display my favorites on my browser's new tab page. It allows me to see all of my favorites in one view with 5 or 6 columns. I'm a big user of browser profiles and this is the first extension I would install on a new browser profile.
The pain points with this system is that it was locked to a certain browser profile. That didn't help me when I was on my phone, or if I needed to access a bookmark in a different browser profile. For desktops, I can at least sign into a browser profile and have my bookmarks synched, but mobile browsers don't support extensions or multiple profiles. I thought that if I had a webpage that had my links as columns, then I could get to them from any device when I needed them. I needed to be able to quickly and easily add and edit links, and I needed to be able to reorganize them. So originally it was just a tool for my personal use.
What made you think of creating it as a product?
I thought that if I had that pain point then some other folks probably do too.
What were the early versions like?
It's grown rather quickly, so when I talk about early versions, it's days and weeks, not months and years. The original Linkopotamus saved your links in a small database inside the browser. If you wanted them on another device, you had to export them and import them to the other browser. That worked though. But, I didn't really want to have to fool with all of that exporting and importing — Art Vandelay I am not — so, I added cloud synch. It still uses the browser database locally, even when synching to the cloud.
Originally there were just 4 columns of links. You put your link in one of those 4 columns and that was it for organization. I added drag-and-drop so I could quickly re-organize my links. Then I wanted to group them inside of the columns, so I added link groups. Then I wanted more pages of links. so I added pages as the final part of the organizational hierarchy.
But, it's moved beyond a personal link manager now, hasn't it?
It has. I thought some people might want to create a list of links they share with their co-workers, family, friends, or maybe a club or organization. So I added in a public read-only view of one's links that could be easily shared.
And you just put all of this out there for people to use for free?
Yes. Well, the core functionality is free. If you want to store your links in your own browser, that's free. Even if you want to synch them with the cloud, that's free — although you do have to provide your email address.
When people start using it to share links publicly, then that can start running into some serious resources that I have to pay for. I will need to charge a small amount for this functionality. I have payments integrated into the live site as a sandboxed feature (that means it doesn't really accept payments). I'm still working on feature bundles and pricing levels. Pages will be a functionality that will be subscriber only.
What is on the roadmap for Linkopotamus?
Surprisingly, not a whole lot. I mean, I have a lot of ideas, but my original needs have been met, so we will have to see what other users want and need. I am looking forward to the journey!