The Wise learn from the experience of others - Filthyliar.com

Bad experience

Frauds, bad services and not-kept promises are part of this life. After the experience, we always wish we knew things beforehand. Steven Stevens went through one such experience, after which, he decided to create a community where people could report their experience and identify liars.

"I first had the idea for this site about fifteen years ago after a bad business deal where I was taken advantage of," explains Steve. "I have also seen my share of cheaters through friends and family. This only strengthened my resolve to launch the site."

Such a noble idea takes time to develop. Many questions, including domain name, functionality, legal issues and so on, filled up Steven's mind. Since that moment, he spent 15 years thinking on the idea.

"It took many years working on the plan and thinking of the perfect name. I finally thought of the name in 2006 and was very happy the domain was available. It took another 2 years to plan how to monetize the site and get the legal work in place," comments Steve.

Dolphin

The final question that needed the answer was the right software for the community. After considering many applications, Steven finally made up his mind.

"Then I had to find the right software. Research and trials came with many disappointments, always not quite what I wanted. I discovered Dolphin and looked into as many of the sites as I could. It seemed to be the closest fit and the easiest to modify," says Steve.

It was clear from the beginning that this idea required unique software. Default Dolphin was good ground, but this wasn't just a community for general purpose. It was a place to report cheaters and provide solid information to help others. So, hard coding needed to be done.

"I found many programmers who told me they could do almost anything with Dolphin, but they all made me nervous. I looked at James Tadeo from Boonexnerd.net and checked out some of his work. I started a dialogue with James in July 2008, and after some time and a nondisclosure agreement, a full scope document was given to James and a price was agreed on. James shared a passion for the site that was very encouraging. He added enormous value and after many months of to-ing and fro-ing and an enormous amount of proprietary code, the site was launched through bleeding eyes in November 2008," adds Steven.
As the result default version of Dolphin was almost completely remade.

"If you try to think about what has changed from the default version, you have only to scratch the surface to begin to understand that the whole site almost works backwards compared to what the default version does. It is almost like you are logging in as the searched for entity and posting about who would normally be the foundation member. Then, when you start to think about all the little apps that are affected by that, you will drink coffee like James did trying to get this going. There is also the quarantine service, which was a fundamental part of the site," explains Steve.
And proper thinking and perfect programmer with customizable software brought results.

Filthyliar.com has grown faster than I had anticipated. It continually attracts new members and has been visited by people from 1600 cities around the world within four months," proudly states Steven.

Interview

Tell us more about yourself and your team. What do you do? What is the history of your team coming together. What are you good at?

To tell you about my team and I - I have one operator in Melbourne, and I am now located in Brisbane. I am an artist, businessman, writer and insomniac. My Melbourne counterpart was a natural fit from the time I met him. He has a solid belief in the site and the concept behind it. I have owned and operated businesses in Australia for some 20 years.

How did the idea come to mind?

I first had the idea for this site about fifteen years ago after a bad business deal where I was taken advantage of. I have had many similar experiences as time went on, as I am sure many readers of your articles have. I have also seen my share of cheaters through friends and family. This only strengthened my resolve to launch the site, and it took many years working on the plan and thinking of the perfect name. I finally thought of the name in 2006 and was very happy the domain was available. It took another 2 years to plan how to monetize the site and get the legal work in place.

What's the current status of your project?

Filthyliar.com has grown faster than I had anticipated. It continually attracts new members and has been visited by people from 1600 cities around the world... not bad for four months, I think.

Why Dolphin?

Well, I had to find the right software and my research and trials came with many disappointments, always not quite what I wanted. I discovered Dolphin and looked into as many of the sites as I could. It seemed to be the closet fit and the easiest to modify, but I am no programmer. I needed somebody proficient with Dolphin on my team as this site had to launch perfectly the first time. This is the sort of site where you can leave nothing to chance. I poked around for a while looking on rent-a-coder and similar sites looking for costing for mods and strung out caffeine junkie coders who just love their job. I found many programmers who told me they could do almost anything with Dolphin, but they all made me nervous. I looked at James Tadeo from Boonexnerd.net and checked out some of his work. I started a dialogue with James in July 2008, and after some time and a nondisclosure agreement, a full scope document was given to James and a price was agreed on. James shared a passion for the site that was very encouraging. He added enormous value, and after many months of to-ing and fro-ing and an enormous amount of proprietary code, the site was launched through bleeding eyes in November 2008.

What did you change in the default version?

If you try to think about what has changed from the default version, you have only to scratch the surface to begin to understand that the whole site almost works backwards compared to what the default version does. It is almost like you are logging in as the searched for entity and posting about who would normally be the foundation member, then when you start to think about all the little apps that are affected by that, you will drink coffee like James did, trying to get this going. There is also the quarantine service which was a fundamental part of the site. It took an enormous effort to get the scripts to run the way I needed them to.

What are your expectations?

Naturally, I have relied on James again for the next version of Filthyliar.com currently being developed. It is a little bit secret at the moment but is sure to be a big hit with members and non members alike.