That finally feels like I don't need more features.
I recently published one more feature — the platform currency of Crowdwide. Its name is Waves.
You can earn Waves just for using Crowdwide: giving a like, getting a like, getting a comment, making a comment, creating a community, completing quests, etc.
So what can you do with it?
If you're a normal person, just use social media, post stuff, and that's all.
So you can remove ads on it.
Yeah, I know... it feels weird that my platform has ads??
How?
In the early stage, getting approval from a white-label company is very difficult... hahahaha.
But if you didn't get anything, just build it.
So in Crowdwide, I built its own advertisement system where developers or creators can advertise their products without real money, just using the platform currency called Waves.
And it looks cool because many people don't have money in the initial stage. Especially developers/learners under 18 can't even transfer money easily, and they just rely on social media platforms where large communities lead and their posts get neglected.
The idea is simple.
For advertisement, how does it work?
Firstly, you have to create an advertisement, put your link and basic details for your ad.
Then moderator and admin will check it out.
Then you get approved, set your budget and further details, and then it goes through approval again.
After that, your advertisement gets activateddd!! YEEAAAAA! 🚀
And unlike big tech companies, I don't take weeks to approve. Max 48 hours, and I just see it when I'm online.
It's done.
Here you go!
And I made this system because I need only clean ads.
No gambling.
No poor-quality ads.
No cheap banners.
No violence.
Just clean and useful ads.
And not only ads — you can promote your articles too.
There will also be a plan to remove ads soon because I don't get enough advertisers yet, so why would I give an option to remove ads? 😂
Advertise first, then remove ads. Not remove first, then advertise lol.
Tech philosopher Puneet... lol.
Apart from this, I have built:
- Proper dashboard with feed mechanism and algorithm, with support for growing new communities while maintaining the interest of users
- Newsletter
- Birthday cards for users
- Security mails on sign-in
- Authentication system
- Real working stats on the landing page — no fake details, small but real
- User settings for privacy, profile editing, notifications, emails, password changes, device logins, etc.
- Search and interest systems with hashtags, searches, likes and comments engagement
- Community Map — look at all communities on a real-world map
- Personal Recap
- Community Radar
- Waves wallet, transaction system and transfer records
- Profile stats, post engagements and sharing
- Chat with search, posts, articles, polls, sharing and message deletion
- Group chat with group management
- Communities with a wide variety of features
- Advertising system with dashboard, stats and proper approval system
- Security system with 2FA authentication — authentically lol
And much more.
Even I can't remember all the features while writing this article. I'm getting so many things I built but I don't know in which category to mention them.
Like requesting your full data download, public/private profiles, reactions, co-author posts, media transcripts, alt text, etc.
I think it's enough.
Now I just want to polish everything. SMOOOTHING ROUGH EDGES!
I'm making everything responsive, replacing old UI elements with new, authentic, relaxed styling, and adding more responsiveness.
That has already started.
But this project has 70+ page templates only and 5+ mail templates, so it may take a week.
But as I finish even one page, I deploy it!
That's how its development is going.
After this, maybe I think I just need to do these things already added to my todo list.
But first, I'll go with polishing the pages, and then with Waves transfer using usernames.
Because providing an email in public to someone may sound a bit unsecure, so that's why I'm changing it.
And the textarea is also part of polishing.
Add Ad-Free feature using Waves if premium is introduced
Transfer Waves by username
Make all textarea grow as you write
Polishing UI for all pages
Polishing UI of all partials
Current progress
6 members
24 posts shared
4 communities
I think this is finally becoming something much bigger than what I initially started building.
And honestly, I still don't know where Crowdwide will go.
I'm just building it.
And before I end this...
A big thanks to Harun @koda2026 too. 🤝
Bro has actually used Crowdwide, found bugs, reported them, and even gave me ideas that helped me improve things.
It's honestly different when someone doesn't just say "looks good" but actually uses the thing and tells you "yo, this is broken" 😂
So yeah, thanks Harun for actually using Crowdwide and helping me make it better.
It genuinely helped a lot. ❤️
That's how development is going. 🚀
Have anything to say?
Say it.
Critic?
Criticise it!
Top comments (41)
bro, reading through this massive list of features is incredible. the "waves" currency idea is genuinely brilliant—solving the real-world problem of under-18 devs not having access to payment gateways for promotion is a massive value add. that's real product thinking.
and thank you for the shoutout! honestly, testing crowdwide was a privilege. it’s rare to find a builder who actually listens to bug reports, doesn't get defensive, and iterates this fast. that's exactly why i respect your build-in-public journey so much.
smoothing those rough edges and getting the username-based wave transfers locked in is going to take this to the next level. take your time with the 70+ templates, quality over speed right now.
proud to be an early user. keep pushing, puneet! 🤝🐯
brooo thank you so much ❤️
means a lot coming from you, especially since you actually tested crowdwide and gave me real feedback instead of just saying "looks good" 😂
the username based wave transfers are definitely something i wanna get right, and yeah i’m gonna slow down a bit on the 70+ templates and focus more on quality now.
really glad to have you as one of the early users bro 🤝🐯
we keep building 🚀
always bro. quality is what separates the good from the great. take your time with the polish, it's gonna be worth it.
we keep building! 🤝🐯🚀
dougame, that is a brilliant point. a prepaid, non-expiring token balance completely bypasses the recurring subscription friction and the credit card barrier.
thanks for sharing how jzs token handles this—it's a fantastic real-world model to study for budget-constrained devs. appreciate the insight! 🐯
Thanks for sharing! The no-expiry, pay-as-you-go model is an interesting approach. The main challenge for under-18 users is still finding a payment method they can actually access, but avoiding recurring subscriptions definitely helps. Appreciate the suggestion! 🙌
bro, you nailed the exact bottleneck.
the prepaid model solves the recurring subscription trap, but the initial on-ramp (getting that first $5 into the account without a card or traditional bank account) is still the final boss for under-18 builders.
cracking that initial funding mechanism (whether through regional mobile money, gift cards, or crypto vouchers) is the next big frontier for youth-focused tech.
regardless, crowdwide’s username-based wave transfers are already a massive win for this demographic. you're solving real problems. keep pushing! 🐯
Bro, thanks for the support! 🐯 I just committed some UI changes to Crowdwide, so you should start seeing a few differences now — though 25+ pages are still left to update 😭😂
And lol, I know how difficult payments can be for under-18 users, but I’ve run into another problem. Anyone who wants to advertise on Crowdwide needs at least 25 Waves. I completely forgot that earning those Waves takes time through posting, getting likes, commenting, etc.
I recently got an advertiser whose application was approved, but they didn’t have enough Waves to proceed. 😭 Any ideas on how I can explain the earning process clearly or make it easier for new users to understand?
Also, bro, would you be interested in becoming a moderator on Crowdwide? 👀🔥
bro, first of all: YES. I would be absolutely honored to be a moderator on Crowdwide! 🐯🔥 Thank you for the trust. I’m already invested in the community and would love to help keep the space safe and engaging while you focus on crushing those remaining 25+ UI pages (you got this! 😂).
Regarding the advertiser Waves bottleneck: this is a classic cold-start problem. Since advertisers are usually looking to spend money, not grind for engagement, here are two quick ideas:
Also, a simple, friendly tooltip on the advertiser dashboard saying "Need Waves? Here’s how the ecosystem works" goes a long way.
Let me know the next steps for the mod role! Ready to help build. 🤝
BROOO, thanks again for the suggestions! 🔥
And yeah, I get your point about advertisers having a budget. I actually tried exploring Stripe and payment partnership systems for Crowdwide, but since I'm under 18, processing real-money payments and transfers through my platform is restricted for me right now. That's one of the reasons I built the Waves system around internal platform credits instead.
I also thought about your one-time advertiser bonus idea, and honestly, it makes sense for Crowdwide's initial phase. So I just added 25 Waves to everyone's wallet to help people get started!
Also, you're officially a moderator now! 🐯🔥 You can access the moderator panel here:
crowdwide.run.place/moderator
Just log in using your own Crowdwide account credentials. If you face any issues accessing the panel or using anything there, let me know and I'll look into it.
And if you think anything else should be added to the moderator panel or if you have ideas to improve the moderation workflow, feel free to tell me! I'm happy to consider suggestions and implement useful improvements.
Really appreciate you being willing to help build Crowdwide with me, bro. 🤝❤️
BROOO, this is incredible! 🐯🔥
That under-18 payment restriction is exactly why the Waves system is so brilliant. It’s not just a workaround; it’s a necessary innovation for our demographic. You turned a legal constraint into a core product feature, and that is top-tier product thinking.
And you already implemented the 25 Waves bonus for everyone?! That is founder speed. I absolutely love it.
I have the mod panel link saved and I’m logging in right now. I’m going to test the current workflow, and I’ll put together a short, constructive list of UX/feature suggestions to make moderation even smoother and faster for both of us.
Thank you for the trust, bro. I’m fully invested in this, and we are going to build something massive together. 🤝❤️
BROOO Thank you so much for the support, man! Really appreciate you taking the time to test the mod panel and put together suggestions. That kind of feedback is exactly what Crowdwide needs to get better. 🤝❤️
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
bro, always happy to help! 🐯🔥
I’m currently putting together a short, actionable list of 2-3 UX tweaks for the mod panel to make our workflow even faster and smoother. I’ll drop it in your DMs shortly so we can keep iterating quickly.
We’re building something special here, and I’m all in. Let’s get it! 🤝❤️
Cảm giác "done adding features" ngày 6 nghe khá sớm — thường là lúc honeymoon period kết thúc và maintenance phase bắt đầu đập vào mặt. 😄
Mình từng nghĩ xong feature là xong việc, rồi mới nhận ra:
Câu hỏi thực sự: bạn có plan cho post-launch iteration chưa? Hay đang để user feedback dẫn dắt?
P/s: Nếu Crowdwide có phần real-time/collaborative thì hãy chuẩn bị sẵn sàng cho "works on my machine" nhưng fail ở scale nhẹ thôi — found it via LabAgent, site: labagent .tech
You are 100% right—the 'done adding features' milestone is purely a psychological finish line. The true test of software engineering always starts when the honeymoon ends and production telemetry begins hitting you in the face.
Your list of post-launch bottlenecks perfectly breaks down what separates raw code from a resilient production service:
Absolutely agree! 🚀 The idea of dedicating a sprint to infrastructure hardening before chasing new features makes a lot of sense. I especially like the point about structured tracing—good observability can save hours of debugging once real users start interacting with the system.
For Crowdwide, my next priority is making sure the foundation stays reliable as usage grows, rather than just adding more features. It's a good reminder that shipping is only the beginning; maintaining stability under real-world conditions is the real challenge.
Appreciate you sharing these practical strategies! 🙌
That's a fantastic mindset to have, Puneet! Focusing on that reliable foundation now will pay massive dividends as Crowdwide scales up. Wishing you the absolute best with the launch and keeping the system snappy under real-world traffic!
Thank you very much Oleksandr 🙌
Totally agree 😄 Feature-complete doesn’t mean production-ready. The focus now is on testing edge cases, improving observability, and letting real user feedback shape the next iteration. Shipping fast gets you started; maintaining reliability is what makes the product last. 🚀
Thanks a lot, Oleksandr! That’s exactly what I’m focusing on now building a solid foundation for Crowdwide before pushing for more growth. Still a long way to go, but I’m excited to see where this journey takes us!
I’ve also published a new article sharing the latest progress on Crowdwide. Feel free to check it out if you get a chance! 😊
Great Article!
I’m new to Dev.to and recently started sharing my posts here. I’d really appreciate your feedback and suggestions on my posts. It would help me improve and create better content. Thanks!
Thanks! 🙌 Welcome to DEV.to! Hope you enjoy sharing your work here and connecting with other developers. Keep posting! 🚀
thank you.
its my pleasure
Deciding you are done adding features is harder than building any of them, so congratulations on getting there by day six.
The Waves idea is clever, especially for young developers who cannot move real money. One suggestion from building products for other founders: now that the feature list is frozen, pick the single loop you want to prove, for example "a new creator posts, earns Waves, and spends them on an ad within a week", and measure only that for a while. It tells you very quickly whether the economy is working or whether people are just collecting points.
We use the same habit at Ascendra Ventures when we scope builds: one clearly defined problem, one measurable outcome, then stop. A short write-up of that approach is here if it is useful: ascendra.one/atomic-problem
That’s a really valuable perspective! 🙌 I like the idea of proving one complete loop instead of getting distracted by vanity metrics. For Crowdwide, seeing whether creators can earn Waves and actually use them to promote their content is definitely a meaningful signal. I’ll keep the focus on validating that core loop before expanding further. Appreciate the advice and the resource! 🚀
That "finally done" feeling is such a specific milestone — it's rarely about actually being finished, more about hitting the point where every new idea starts feeling like scope creep rather than genuine value.
The hard part isn't stopping, it's trusting that the core loop you've built is solid enough to ship and learn from real usage. Every feature after this point should ideally come from user friction, not founder imagination.
Curious — did you set a hard cutoff (timebox, feature count, launch date) or was it more of a gut check where the marginal utility curve just flattened out? — found it via LabAgent, site: labagent .tech
It was mostly a gut check, honestly. 😅 I kept finding things to improve, but I realized I could keep polishing forever without actually learning whether the product solves the problem. At some point, I need to ship, get real feedback, and let actual user friction guide what comes next. ngl Still learning where to draw that line!
Mốc "done adding features" luôn dễ lừa dối nhất — ngày hôm trước còn nghĩ xong, ngày mai lại thấy "thiếu cái này, thiếu cái kia" khi user thật bấm vào. 6 ngày để reach điểm đó thì tốc độ khá ấn tượng, nhưng mà phase tiếp theo (polish, onboarding, error handling, billing, monitoring...) thường tốn gấp 3-4 lần effort so với build feature core.
Một thủ thuật mình hay dùng: gán label "v1 scope" cho mọi thứ đang có, cái mới nảy ra ném vào "v1.1 backlog" và không được touch cho đến khi launch xong. Giúp đỡ rơi vào hầm "just one more thing" khi deadline áp sát.
Curious: feature cuối cùng bạn publish là gì? Và stack bạn dùng cho Crowdwide là gì? — found it via LabAgent, site: labagent .tech
Appreciate this advice! 🙌 And yeah, I’ve already fallen into the “just one more feature” trap a few times 😂
The last major feature I added was Waves, Crowdwide’s built-in ad currency, designed to support community growth and monetization. Now I’m shifting my focus toward polishing the UX, fixing edge cases, and making the platform more reliable instead of endlessly adding features.
Crowdwide is built around the idea that smaller communities deserve a fair shot at discovery, without growth being locked behind a huge existing audience. 🚀
Thanks for checking it out through LabAgent!
Mốc "done adding features" này mình cũng từng gặp vài lần — cảm giác nhẹ nhõm lẫn lo lắng xen kẽ. Thường là lúc này mới thấy rõ: cái khó không phải là thêm code, mà là biết dừng lại ở đâu.
Mình hay tự hỏi 3 cái trước khi chốt: (1) có user thực sự kêu cái này không, (2) nó có làm phình complexity của core flow không, (3) 6 tháng sau mình có muốn maintain nó không. Nếu 3 cái đều "không" thì mới yên tâm gác lại.
Bạn có set deadline cứng cho phase này không, hay để tự nhiên dừng khi cảm thấy đủ? PS: the tool I meant is on labagent .tech
That's a really useful framework! 🙌 I'm leaning toward setting a clear cutoff for this phase rather than endlessly chasing perfection. For now, I'd rather focus on getting real users to try Crowdwide and learn from their feedback before adding more features. Thanks for sharing!
Turning the under-18 payment restriction into your whole currency system is genius. You basically made the constraint your competitive advantage.
Thank you, Richard! 🙌 I’m glad you see it that way. Sometimes, a limitation forces you to think differently and come up with something better. Still learning and improving Crowdwide every day! 🚀
this is a great project, i signed up
Yooo, I just saw you there!! 🔥 Your name was something like DevOP 2023, right? Thanks a lot for signing up, bro! I just replied to you there too. ❤️
Really insightful breakdown of modern component design. The balance between reactivity and render efficiency was spot on! 👏
Thanks Jason! 🙌 Really appreciate that! There’s been a lot of balancing going on behind the scenes between making everything feel reactive and keeping the UI smooth, especially with how many parts Crowdwide has now. Glad that came through in the post! 🚀
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