100+ Page Ultimate Library of Cardano Tools - Adastack.io

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Adastack is a comprehensive open-source library of Cardano tools and resources. The site is fast and search-engine ready, with features for newcomers and pros alike. See the website at adastack.io.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

The website's code is open-source, released under the MIT license for the benefit of the Cardano community. We welcome collaboration on the project's GitHub repo.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Adastack.io is a full guide to the Cardano ecosystem. The site has 100+ pages of Cardano resources and tools, with each page representing a different niche category. It is a single location where interested individuals can advance their knowledge of what's available, suitable for both beginner and advanced Cardano users.

Adastack is open-source to enable engagement with Cardano's community. Code and content updates can be easily suggested because every page has an "edit this page" button.

The main features of the website: 

• Comprehensive — Once all inital content is added there will be 1500+ Cardano tools and links on 100+ resource pages. See a sample resource page: Blockchain Explorers.

• Carefully Organized — The website will start with 14 main categories that collectively encompass nearly all of the Cardano ecosystem. The site's architecture is designed flexibly so the site can grow and adapt as new areas of Cardano emerge.

• Open-Source — Adastack.io is fully open-source under the MIT license, allowing anyone can view, copy, or suggest modifications to the code. We actively engage in the Cardano community and will incorporate feedback and suggestions. Contributions help the website stay up-to-date and accurate.

• Fast — The website is designed for speed, utilizing a popular and modern technology stack of React, Next.js, Tailwind, Markdown, and Git/Github. It also uses the Nextra theme, which is favored for large documentation websites including Cardano's Aiken and Demeter.run. The theme is suitable for Adastack because it has optimized search, simple navigation, excellent readability, and an "Edit this page" button on every page that allows for easy contributions.

• SEO Optimized — The site's content is optimized for search engines to help increase its ranking on search. Custom meta-titles and meta-descriptions are added for each page to boost search engine visibility. The site also uses a service called indexed.pro to automatically submit the site to Google after any change to ensure that the freshest content is always used. Ultimately Adastack should help improve search results in general for Cardano queries on search engines and LLMs.

• Quickly Searchable — Adastack uses FlexSearch, a search tool that pre-indexes all content for real-time search results in the website's search bar.

• Open metrics — Plausible, a privacy-focused analytics service, is used to collect anonymous visitor metrics over time. This helps to gauge site performance and engagement over time. These metrics are publicly accessible on the site's Plausible Dashboard.

• Onboarding Guides — The website features over 10 guides designed to educate newcomers about foundational Cardano topics and help them get started using the chain. These guides cover essential topics such as What is Blockchain?, Start Using Cardano, How to Start Staking, and more.

• Contributions are Encouraged — Each page on the site has an "edit this page" button that directs users to the GitHub web interface to submit a contribution. This straightforward process welcomes all users, regardless of technical expertise, to enhance the site by adding resources or updating content.

• Responsive — The site is responsive and adapts to different screen sizes, ensuring usability on desktops, tablets, phones, and other devices.

• Niche Categorization — Resources are organized into precise and refined categories so people searching can find a page that exactly corresponds to their search. For example, rather than a general category such as "Cardano Social Media," adastack has subcategory pages such as "YouTube", "Twitter", "Podcasts", "Newsletters", "Forums and Reddit", and "Telegram".

• Long-term Vision — I view this project as an experiment where I can contribute to Cardano, observe the growth of the ecosystem, and learn some new skills. Even after the conclusion of Catalyst I plan to continue being involved with the project and expanding it as time allows. Regardless, the site can be continued or repurposed by anyone since it is open-source.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

This project will bring a positive impact to Cardano by providing a single location that a person can go to and get a broad understanding of the state of Cardano and its ecosystem. The site provides educational content to help onboard and inform Cardano users. It will also host a wide selection of tools and resources for the community to explore. 

Here are some visitor categories that will benefit from adastack: 

• Newcomers can learn about blockchain, Cardano, and get set up with a wallet by following adastack's 'Getting Started' guide. 
• Existing Cardano users can explore the ecosystem and find new Dapps and tools to try out. 
• Cardano Builders can explore what is available on the market already to help find the right thing to build on Cardano.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Tucker Triggs is the lead developer of this project. 

Background and capability: 

I am Tucker Triggs, a Front-End website developer. I've spent 7 years creating websites for various clients. I am mainly involved with programming, web design, and SEO. I am very familiar with the full website process, from idea to design, development, and launch. This experience makes me well suited to build adastack because I have experience with all the skills required: web design, programming, deploying sites, maintaining sites, SEO, and open-source. 

My technical skills relevant to adastack: 

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript 
• React
• Next.js 
• Tailwind
• NPM/Node
• Website Hosting 
• SEO
• UI/UX/Website Design 
• Markdown
• Git/Github
• Content creation and curation 

You can see some of my past work here: 

• https://tuckertriggs.com
• https://github.com/tuckpuck

To validate the idea for this project, I built a demo of the project at adastack.io. This demo gives an idea of the site's organization and experience. I've contributed to the code behind the website more than 550 times. The code is open-source and freely available to view or contribute to.

I am also highly engaged in the Cardano ecosystem. I follow or am active on Cardano Twitter, YouTube, Discord, and other channels. I've attended multiple Cardano conferences, completed a website redesign for Cardano security site EpochSec.io, received developer training from Emurgo Academy, and have built demo apps using Cardano developer tools and libraries.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Add content to each page and officially launch the site (4 months)

Milestone outputs

• Add resources to every page on the site
• Add SEO titles and descriptions to every page
• Add SEO open graph
• Improve visual design
• Improve written content on site
• Improve GitHub readme to make it easier to contribute
• Post launch announcements on Reddit and Twitter

Acceptance criteria

• Every page on the site (100+ pages) has SEO title, description, and written content. 

Evidence of milestone completion

• Viewable on the website https://adastack.io

Create contribution guides and improve open-source project (1 month)

Milestone outputs

• Create written "Guide to Contributing"
• Create video "Guide to Contributing"
• Add both guides to website on a new page
• Maintain the open-source repo, manage contributions, and respond to feedback
• Post Cardano resources on Reddit and Twitter

Acceptance criteria

• There is a written and video "Guide to Contributing" on the website.

Evidence of milestone completion

• Viewable on the website https://adastack.io

Final Project Completion Report and Video Milestone

Milestone outputs

• Do final project completion report.
• Do video close-out. 

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Tucker Triggs  

Role: Lead Developer 

Responsibilities:

Tucker will be the primary builder responsible for creating the adastack.io website. Main tasks include developing the adastack.io website, organizing and adding Cardano resources, improving UI/UX, optimizing SEO, launching the site, promoting the site, and managing the open-source code contributions.

Tucker is well-suited to these tasks because he has experience with all of the main skills needed from his work as a contract front-end web developer. During 7 years of working as a website developer, he has built, launched, and managed multiple websites for clients. He is also skilled with SEO which he provides as a service to clients. 

He has been following the Cardano ecosystem closely since 2021 and has been collecting resources since then, with the ultimate goal to create a tool website like adastack.io. 

Relevant links:  

https://tuckertriggs.com

https://github.com/tuckpuck

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuckertriggs

If additional work is needed, paid freelancers will be on-boarded as necessary to complete specific tasks or provide domain expertise. This is not anticipated but may be useful later to complete some specific task in the optimal way. 

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Development:

• Develop the site by adding features, updating code, and fixing issues 
• Improve the UI/UX of the site
• Organize and add content and tools to all pages
• Launch the site and promote on social media
• Manage an open-source repository
• Create a Guide to Contributing
• Routine maintenance, improvements and bug fixes

Development Total:

1 x lead developer, 55$ x hour, 5 hrs x day, 5 days x week, 20 weeks: $27500

Domain and hosting:

• Renew domain and hosting for adastack.io

Domain and Hosting Total:

Fixed cost: $100

Total: $27,600

Assuming ~0.458$ x ADA (value at the time of writing this proposal): ~₳60,250 ADA 

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The site represents value for money Cardano for multiple reasons:

Huge collection of info and tools in one place

Adastack widens the availability of information related to Cardano by offering over 100 pages of content and resources at its launch. This is a place that people interested in Cardano can see an overview of what is available in the ecosystem. Visitors can discover, use, and engage with various projects, building the connections that strengthen Cardano's network and community.

Onboard newcomers

Adastack provides onboarding materials, such as "Why Cardano?" and "Guide to Get Started", to assist new users in navigating Cardano. These guides are designed to explain basic concepts in a straightforward way to make it easier for beginners to follow.

Build Cardano's SEO standing

The adastack site is highly SEO-focused. Over time, the website should rank well for niche Cardano searches that previously didn't have content serving them. This broad strategy helps ensure that people can find relevant results when searching for Cardano topics on Google. It should also help improve Cardano results when using AI assistants like ChatGPT.

A lot of work is complete and a demo is available

Finally, a lot of work has already been completed for this project that I am not seeking compensation for. These essentially add to the project's value without increasing the cost. These items are already complete: 

• Initial demo website has been launched at adastack.io.
• 10+ pages of written onboarding content has been drafted and added to the demo site.
• 90+ resource pages have been added to the demo site. 
• Logo designed and added to the demo site.
• Twitter/X created: https://twitter.com/adastackio. 
• Reddit created: https://www.reddit.com/user/adastackio.
• Contact email address is set up: contact@adastack.io.
• An adastack.io wallet has been created (any contributions there would go to supporting the project). It will use some Cardano handles like adahandle, adamail, adadomains, and cardanoCNS to enable domain and communication features for the site. 
• Custom artwork has been created by Cardano artist Rasendreya to be used for promo sticker/t-shirts.
• Hundreds of Cardano resources have been collected in preparation to categorize and add to the site. 

For these reasons I believe the project offers significant value for money.