Building WishCraze

The time has come to unveil WishCraze to the world!

Well, the Facebook world anyway.

After a month and a half of figuring out how the API works, we’re ready to launch a limited version of the WishCraze service as a Facebook App. This will allow any Facebook user to build lists and share them with their friends on Facebook.

Why Facebook?

I’ve written that word 5 times so far, and I’m sure you non-Facebook users are feeling a little left out. But don’t worry. We won’t be Facebook-exclusive for long.

The Facebook API allowed us to build the WishCraze web service on the back-end and let someone else worry about a large chunk of the front-end. Now that most of the code is in place and functional, we don’t have to worry about whether our functions are calling the database properly or what the best way to store user information is. We can concentrate on building our own site and making WishCraze look and feel the way we intend it to.

How long will that take?

Five more minutes.

Seriously though, we’re not really sure. This is a big project we’re undertaking and it keeps getting bigger the more we work on it. We could give you a date, but I guarantee it would be wrong.

As we get closer to launch day, you’ll know.

So what do I do now?

Well, if you have a Facebook account, head on over and add the WishCraze App. Start making your lists and posting them for your friends to see. If you’re not part of the Facebook crowd, well, you could always think about signing up. I could use a few more friends anyway.

If the Facebook App just isn’t your thing, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to wait. We’ll be here, posting blogs and keeping you updated while we build a beautiful website just below the surface.

Thanks for being patient with us. We’ll make it up to you. Trust me.

Corporate identity. What does that even mean? It’s the name, the logo, the colors, the words. Corporate identity is personality.

Giving WishCraze a personality has been a long process. To be honest, we aren’t even quite finished yet. But we have made some serious headway. It started with choosing a name. Would you believe it if I told you we started out with List Gorilla? I’m glad better judgment prevailed. After several tries WishCraze won out. It sounds right. It’s easy to spell. And most importantly, we like it!

On to the logo. Even if you have a sweet name, a dorky logo ruins you. Needless to say, we started out pretty dorky. Here is one of our first tries:

Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty nice. A 6 year old might think it was pretty rad. Maybe if our name was “WishIWasOldEnoughToUseTheInternet.com,” but alas, that is not our name. Things evolved from there. We wanted to make things a little more sophisticated, but keep it energetic. Again, after several failed attempts, and many revisions, we eventually had a logo that we really liked. It had the right look to it. The colors and the font had the fun, sophisticated feel we were looking for. Like the name, it just fit.

So, without further ado, I unveil the official WishCraze logo:

I hope you like it. We are pretty pleased with it. Now it is on to the next phase in our corporate personality build; website layout and design. As far as personality is concerned, I think we are off to a pretty good start.

A blog! This is exciting stuff! I hope you find this process as interesting as we do.

I bet you’re all wanting to know exactly what this WishCraze thing is all about. Basically, WishCraze is going to change the way you make wish lists (and other lists too).

In the past, when people wanted to know what you wanted for your birthday, or Christmas, or some other holiday, you had to make your list, then figure out the best way to distribute it. When you hand over that list, you are putting the ball in their court. Will they get you the right style shoes? The right color iPod? The right size socks? You never know! I remember that tragic birthday when I asked for a stereo and got one of those Fisher Price karaoke things instead. That’s something that should never happen to a 13 year old!

That’s where we come in. WishCraze simplifies the process for everyone. You type in what you want, and we search hundreds of online retailers. We do all the ground work. When you find exactly what you’re looking for, you add it to your list. Now when someone asks what you want, just give them your address (something akin to www.wishcraze.com/susieq). They see everything you want. They click the link and we send them right to your soon-to-be present. No mistakes, no hassle. Everyone is happy.

In a nutshell, that’s WishCraze. We hope you are anxious to try it out. I know we are!

Welcome to Building WishCraze!

We’re currently in the process of putting together an amazing web application we hope you’ll love. It will allow you and all your friends to build lists of products you’ve found all over the internet. They can be gift wishlists, shopping lists, product recommendation lists or any other type of list you can think of.

No one is more excited to launch this service than us, but we hope you’ll be getting a little excited too. In fact, we’ve started this blog to help you learn more about what WishCraze will offer and get progress updates. Building a web application is not easy, but we know it will be worth that wait - hopefully a short one.

So, check back now and then and see how things are coming. Every day brings more progress, and great things aren’t too far off.