Show HN checklist: before, during and after

A Show HN puts your work in front of one of the most demanding technical audiences on the web. When it goes well, it brings thoughtful feedback and a wave of visitors in a few hours. When it goes badly, it is usually because of something that could have been checked beforehand.

This is that check, in three parts: before you post, while it is live, and afterwards.

What a Show HN is, according to Hacker News

Start with the source. Hacker News has a short page of Show HN rules, and it is worth reading in full. The points that catch makers out:

• It has to be something people can try. The rules describe what is on topic as things people can run on their computers or hold in their hands, and ask you to make it easy to try, ideally without barriers such as signups or emails.
• Reading material is off topic. Blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters and lists are named as off topic, and the rules say not to post landing pages or fundraisers.
• If it is not ready to be tried, wait. The rules say so directly.
• Do not ask friends to upvote or comment. Also stated directly.

The general Hacker News guidelines apply on top of these, to you and to how you reply.

If your product is a waitlist, it is not a Show HN yet. Come back when someone can use it.

Before: the product

• [ ] A visitor can try it in under a minute. A demo without an account is ideal. If an account is needed, make signing up as short as you can.
• [ ] The first screen says what it does, in one plain sentence. Not a slogan.
• [ ] It works without you. Open it in a private window, on a phone, on a slow connection. Follow the path a stranger would take.
• [ ] It will stay up. A front-page post can send a few thousand visitors in an hour. Check your hosting limits, your database connection limit and any API quota your demo consumes.
• [ ] Errors are visible to you. Have your error tracking and your logs open before you post.
• [ ] Pricing is findable, if you charge. Readers will look for it, and hiding it reads badly.

Before: the post

The title

The rules ask for a title that begins with "Show HN". After that, say what the thing is.

• Describe, do not sell. "Show HN: A tool that signs PDFs in the browser without uploading them" works. Adjectives do not.
• Name the interesting technical choice if there is one. This audience clicks on how, not on why it is amazing.
• Leave out your company name unless it explains something.

The link

Link to the thing itself, where it can be tried. Not to a blog post about it.

The first comment

Post a comment right after submitting. It is where the conversation starts, and readers look for it.

Hi HN, I built [name] because [the problem, in one or two sentences, from your own experience].

What it does: [plain description].

How it works: [the technical part this audience will care about: the approach, the stack, the trade-off you chose].

What is not there yet: [honest limits].

I would especially like feedback on [a specific question].

Happy to answer anything.

Keep it factual. State the limits before someone else finds them.

Before: the measurement

Hacker News sends visitors in a burst, and many of them arrive without a referrer, because they come from apps and readers. Without preparation, a large part of the wave will be labelled direct.

• [ ] Tag the link you submit, if the page you link to is your own site: yoursite.com/?ut=hn-show. A plain, short parameter is fine; avoid a long string of tracking parameters, which this audience notices and dislikes.
• [ ] Have the tag removed from the address bar after the visit is recorded. upTake's script does this for its own parameter, so visitors who copy the address share a clean one.
• [ ] Make sure signups are reported, so the wave can be read as signups and not only as visits.
• [ ] Connect your payments if you charge, so that the weeks after can be read as revenue.

upTake's Hacker News integration imports your submissions with their points and comment counts from the public API, so the post appears on your chart next to the visits it brought.

During: the first hours

• [ ] Stay available for at least three hours. The first hour decides most of what follows, and replies are the one thing you control.
• [ ] Answer every question, technically and briefly. Long defensive replies do worse than short honest ones.
• [ ] Thank people for bug reports and fix what you can live. "Fixed, thanks" is the best reply there is.
• [ ] Agree when a criticism is right. It often is.
• [ ] Do not argue about tone. If a comment is harsh and correct, answer the correct part.
• [ ] Do not send the link around asking for votes. Beyond being against the rules, it is the kind of thing that gets a post flagged.

Watch your logs more than the ranking. A page that is slow or broken under load costs you more than a few positions.

After: reading what it brought

Give it a few days, then look at the post the way you would look at any other channel.

• Visits from the tag, hour by hour on the first day. The shape tells you how long the post stayed visible.
• Signups among them. Technical audiences try things readily and sign up selectively.
• Payments, over the following weeks. Readers who become customers often do so later, from a bookmark.
• The comments themselves. Copy the substantive ones into your notes. Some of your best product feedback of the year is in that thread.

Then put it next to your other channels. A Show HN is a single event, and you can only do it for something new. What it tells you about your landing page, your onboarding and your pricing is useful long after the traffic has gone. For the comparison, see the guides on turning a Reddit post into customers and on measuring a Product Hunt launch.

If it gets no traction

Most Show HN posts get a handful of points and sink. That says little about your product: timing and luck play a large part, and the new page moves fast.

• Do not repost the next day.
• Do not create accounts to help it along.
• Do read the few comments you got.
• Do keep building. A meaningfully new version, later, is a legitimate reason to post again.

The checklist on one screen

Before:

• [ ] People can try it without talking to you, ideally without signing up.
• [ ] The site holds under a burst of visitors, and you can see errors.
• [ ] The title starts with "Show HN" and describes the thing.
• [ ] The first comment is written: problem, how it works, limits, a question.
• [ ] The link carries a short tag, and signups are reported.

During:

• [ ] Three hours free to reply.
• [ ] Short, technical, honest answers.
• [ ] No requests for votes.

After:

• [ ] Visits, signups and payments read from the tag.
• [ ] Feedback from the thread copied into your notes.
• [ ] One change made because of it.

A Show HN that brings twenty sharp comments and a clear view of where visitors drop off has done its job, whatever position it reached.