Telescope is a free open-source app built with Meteor that makes it easy for anyone to launch their own community, and we just pushed a big update to make it easier to install and customize.
The install process is now super simple (no more having to use git!), and Telescope now supports themes and plugins.
We've also completely refactored Telescope's internal API to be much easier to understand, as well as written new documentation from scratch.
Telescope is not just for Product Hunt-type sites by the way. You can also use it for content aggregation or event scheduling, or getting to #2 on Product Hunt ;)
Lots of PH members have used Telescope to launch products already, and I'm looking forward to seeing what people can do with this new version!
@sachagreif I really agree on the point about not only a product hunt type site. Code buddies is a pretty good one for different type of use. They've even integrated Google Hangout.
I'm planning to start a new community for different kind of different purpose. Let's see.
Telescope updating method was the biggest pain the earlier version. But with the meteor package system integration solves that in a very clever way. I really like that. Kudos for that.
Sacha's efforts on Telescope are a case study in open-source tenacity — love that Telescope has been completely refactored to the point that it is a Meteor package vs. a starter app. This means that any Meteor app can add a Telescope community to it by typing `meteor add telescope:core` — I expect to see a lot more Telescope communities now!
@rywalker thanks! If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you certainly need tenacity with open-source projects!
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@rywalker Excellent point. @sachagreif for major structural changes do I need to maintain a local copy of the package? Is it as easy as it was before to preserve changes through updates?
Telescope is one amazing Open Source pearl, one of the best introductory app one can try to get as sense of Meteor. The app itself is amazing and its code is a great learning resource as well!
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I found this super easy to implement and maintain even before the refactor. I can't wait to get my hands on the new features and customizations.
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Telescope is great. Wonderful blend of simplicity (to use), power (to make), and customization . This could be the backbone for a lot of great new ideas.
I've been a user for Telescope for quite some time now and it really is kickass! Just checked out the one-click Heroku deployment and wish that existed months ago when I first started messing around with it!
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