Was this site developed specifically as an alternative to Askville?

Fluther actually predated Askville. The first question on Fluther was asked on October 16, 2006. Askville launched on December 8, 2006.

Ben has posted a timeline of the history of Fluther in response to an earlier question.

Happy coincidence. But VERY happy.

Fluther came before Askville :0)

BTW, you might like to read my post (and other’s posts of course ;0) ) on this question (http://www.fluther.com/disc/19718/has-anyone-compared-fluther-to-askville/).

Well, I’ve been a member of Askville since October 2006, and actually asked a question at that time, so it was a question site – but I think it officially launched in December 2006. I

Fluther is a million times better to Askville, please dont compare them.

In order of greatness:

Blues music
Fluther
Chinese food
Electropop
Really good steak
Pizza
Leather armchairs
Pineapple, Banana & Coconut smoothie
Primer
Lazers
Formal suits
Fireworks
Post-it notes
Sharpie markers
The iPhone

[5000 lines later…]

Damp wallpaper
Askville

I do apologize if I unintentionally insulted Fluther and by extention any, er, “Flutherites”? That was most definitely not my goal. It was an honest question, because I’d never heard of this site until all the sh** hit the fan over at Askville, and then suddenly loads of people started posting suggestions that we should come over here instead. If someone had something like “You should go to Yahoo Answers instead”, I would have laughed at them. But this site looks pretty cool so far.

So again, sorry for the unintended breach in taboo for comparing this site to Askville. Won’t happen again.

I looked at Askville about two weeks ago, I read for about two days. I never joined, nor will I ever ...I have never read so much whining and bullying in all my life. Fluther is much more mature, sophisticated and upper class. All I know is, I hope that whining and bullying never come over to Fluther.

@richardhenry: My new favorite answer.

Damp wallpaper.

Spontaneous laughter ensured.

Welcome Mr.Itty :)

@richardhenry, by far one of the best answers I have ever read, anywhere

sferik – You are actually not quite right. December 8, 2006 is the date when Askville came to public. Askville was based on invitation only before that time. It actually started on June 22, 2006. Here is how I get that date.

Here is the first question on Askville which was posted on June 22, 2006 at 1:33 AM PST, which shows Askville predates Fluther.

I never heard of either until I found an icon for it for fluid. Then I came here. Then I looked at askville and realized that the site was too ugly for me to use. Seriously. That was my reasoning. A bad ui will make me run from any site/program.

RichardHenry, that is a fantastic answer! Love it.

tWrex…what is a bad ui? thanks

Thanks for asking that sarapnsc – I need to know too!

@sarapnsc user interface. In other words Askville has a really really crappy design and doesnt interact with its user very well, were as Fluther on the other hand both looks and feels great. Everything works very nice and the site is fluid. The whole “live” feel really adds to this.

@sarapnsc What @uberbatman said. Askville’s site just looks boring. It looks corporate. It looks 1998. The fact that it’s sponsored by Amazon kinda blows my mind – not that Amazons site is the best example of a good ui because it is definitely not – because their big thing now is the cloud computing (EC2) for heavy web 2.0 apps. Yet their own thing is totally trashy. Just weird. The logo is even terrible.

The live preview is sweet, but it doesn’t add the wow factor for me. The wow factor is the overall design. I can scale the entire site seamlessly. That’s usability. The site won’t validate, but for me on here it’s kinda a second thought. My own projects it’s the first thing I do, but eh.

I want the text size in Fluther a big larger. I also want posts to be numbered and dated.

@BonusQuestion: I agree that responses should have the date on them, but you can actually change the font size yourself. Personally, I think the font size is perfect, so it’s really a matter of taste.

Oh, but no numbers on responses. Date and time would be enough. ;)

I have to admit that Fluther was pretty easy to figure out and get around. So- there is something good in the ui if I can figure it out! Since Askville was “my first”, it will always hold that special place in my heart! :0)

rich- I understand how to change the text size and I did a while back, but for some reason sometimes it changes the default! And also every time I clear the history, the font goes back to the default text size.

To continue on what autumn said, the Fluther interface is pretty easy, but if you seem to be having trouble getting used to the site, check out this FAQ designed especially for AV-ers joining Fluther.

And PnL was a HUGE help to me when I got here and read all of her directions (with that FAQ thingy!)

@autumn – good to know. thanks ! :)

Nice to be able to take a peek at the early days, isn’t it?

I’ve noticed a distinct age difference on Fluther and (no offense) an affinity for less depth in answers. On the other hand it is easier here to play. You don’t have to worry so much about stepping on the toes of grumpy grandmas who have no sense of humor. And nobody has yet threatened my life,of course I’ve only been here a month. And sometime I’ve got to tell you about the AV military wannabe who claimed to be posted in every country in the Middle East and who kept changing his avatar to photoshopped pix with generals and right wing commentaters, like he was best buds with Petraus and O’Reilly!