Happy Holidays from LadderToHeaven
Posted by Brett
Chen and I would like to wish everyone a happy holidays and wonderful new year. As 2008 draws near and you start making those new year’s resolutions, think about all the good deeds you have done in 2007 and wish to do in 2008. Get ready, because the official launch of LadderToHeaven is just around the corner!
LadderToHeaven vs. PostSecret
Posted by Chen
As some of you might now, PostSecret is a very popular service to view and submit secrets. Since its establishment, PostSecret has grown to become a worldwide community art project in which people mail their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. On January 1, 2005, Frank Warren, the architect behind PostSecret, began publishing thousands of these works online. So what differentiates LadderToHeaven from PostSecret?
The Most Obvious Difference
LadderToHeaven is a place to post good deeds whereas PostSecret is a system for people submit secrets.
No Postage Required
Unlike PostSecret, the LadderToHeaven’s story submission process is all online. There is no need to find a postcard or buy stamps. Deeds can be submitted from the comforts of your living room sofa, a school library, even from your iPhone.
Instant Gratification
Users do not have to wait several weeks to see their story online. Deeds are posted instantaneously.
Be as Creative as You Want
In order for your secret to be publically recognized at PostSecret, the postcard that you submit has to be somewhat decorative. Here at LadderToHeaven, we provide you the tools to spice up the story description (such as a WYSIWYG, images-enabled editor), but adding so much flair is not necessary! In fact, a very compelling deed does not need to be jazzed up by colorful text and images. You do not have to dig up crayons, color pencils, and matting paper in order to submit a deed.
Kid Tested, Mother Approved
Some of the secrets on PostSecret are not PG even according to today’s standards. LadderToHeaven was designed from the grounds up to be a user-friendly service for people of all ages. Once you see the homepage, you’ll see what we mean.
Everyone’s Welcome
The PostSecret webmaster screens all postcards to his likings. There’s no Frank Warren here at LadderToHeaven. All deeds have an equal opportunity to gain popularity.
A Friendly Community
On that note, LadderToHeaven offers a friendly community of users to judge whether a deed is worthy of being praised. Want to share your thoughts on a specific deed? Users have ability to interact with the person behind a certain deed along with other LadderToHeaven users via our commenting system.
A Social Entrepreneurial Venture
PostSecret currently claims to be the largest advertisement free website on the web. With your help & your good deeds, LadderToHeaven can definitely top that.
Climbing the Rungs: Your Profile
Posted by Brett
LadderToHeaven is all about you: we want you to tell everyone about the good deeds you do and witness every day.
Your personal LadderToHeaven profile page will contain all sorts of information about your involvement with our site. Besides personal information that you may choose to enter and share, your profile page will list your latest deeds, top deeds, deeds you have praised, and much more. But the most original and special feature of your LadderToHeaven profile page is your profile ladder. This ladder has rungs that represent ranking on our site. The higher you are on the ladder, the higher your rank, which is a measure of both the number of deeds you have published and the number of praises you have received for your deeds. The arrow next to the ladder will tell you the number of points you currently have and your height on the ladder. So go ahead: show off your ladder to your friends and family!
Some Updates
Posted by Chen
Don’t worry folks, we’re still here. In the last few days, there have been a slew of bug fixes. Right now, we are aiming to push open beta out the door late December or early January, depending on if we find any more critical issues. Most of the graphics & CSS are near completion. The logic modules behind the different components of LadderToHeaven are all finalized. Our beta team just wants to hammer out all the finer details before launch.
Qualities that Set Us Apart
Posted by Chen
In these days leading up to open beta launch, Brett & I are going to do a run down of how LadderToHeaven.com is different from some of the other online services.
The most significant differentiation between Ladder to Heaven and these “post ____” sites is — these others services are geared toward individuals who want to divulge secrets, sins, rants, and other negative factoids about their lives. Here at LadderToHeaven.com, we are focused on building an open, sociable community of everyday individuals who have positive things to say about themselves or about their peers.
Here is what’s in queue:
- LadderToHeaven vs. PostSecret
- LadderToHeaven vs. JihadOnYou
- LadderToHeaven vs. SocialMoth
- LadderToHeaven vs. CamFess
Your Deeds and Praises: Live
Posted by Brett
Ladder To Heaven will contain a “Live” feature that allows any user to see deeds and praises updated in real time. Users will also be able to stream updates from Ladder To Heaven Live to your desktop or favorite online news reader via RSS 2.0. With this wonderful feature, you will always catch the latest news on Ladder To Heaven!
Ladder to Heaven FAQ
Posted by Brett
What is Ladder to Heaven?
Ladder to Heaven is the first place on the web to easily post, praise, discuss, and share good deeds.
Who can use Ladder to Heaven?
We invite people of all races, colors, religions, sexes, and national origins to use our service. After all, happiness and benevolence are universal properties of humans! We are planning to launch localized services in different languages by our next major iteration.
How do I post a deed?
On the main page, there is a link to submit a new deed. You must be logged in to post a deed.
Does the deed have to be about myself or can it be about others?
Ladder to Heaven allows you to post deeds about yourself and about others. The first screen you will see after clicking “Submit a Deed” gives you the choice of posting a deed about yourself or about someone else.
If I submit a deed about someone else, how will the other people know?
When you post a deed about another individual, an additional field will appear asking for that person’s email address. If our server detects that this email address is already associated with an Ladder to Heaven account, the submitted deed will automatically be accredited to that account. If the email address is not in our database, he or she will get an email with a link to active their Ladder to Heaven account and claim their deed. Users, old and new, will have to confirm deeds submitted by other people before these entries are put into the pool to be praised. If you don’t know the Good Samaritan’s email address, Ladder to Heaven also allows you to submit anonymous deeds.
What does “getting praised” mean?
Each Ladder to Heaven user has the ability to “praise” any published deed (at most once). That’s one vote per person per deed. The number next to every deed signifies the total number of Ladder to Heaven users that have praised the deed.
What constitutes a good deed?
Use your judgment. A good deed can be large or small, common or unique. Check out Chen’s earlier post. Whenever you see good in the world, document it on Ladder To Heaven!
How do I know whether or not I should believe the claims of other people?
During the deed submission process, users have the ability to submit a URL to an online source confirming his or her claims. For example, if a local newspaper published an article about someone’s heroic action, providing this URL increases the credibility of the deed. If the deed is too far fetched, please use the commenting system to generate a discussion with the deed submitter and the community.
Why don’t I see any ads?
Ladder to Heaven is a social entrepreneurship venture. Chen and I are covering all development and server costs with our savings. If you would like to contribute to our cause, donations are definitely welcome.
In one sentence, what is the final goal of this site?
We wish to make the world aware of the good that exists in the heart of every person.
Getting into the Mindset
Posted by Chen
With launch coming soon, many people have contacted me asking - what actions are considered “good deeds”? Well, here are some basic examples:
Maybe your friend started a non-profit organization. Maybe your teacher met with you outside of class completely on her own time to offer extra help. Maybe you helped someone physically handicapped cross the street.
Even simple, less evident actions are worthy of community praise. A classmate sharing notes, a neighbor helping the elderly, a co-worker assisting others on a hard project can all be recognized.
And of course - working for the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity or any other charitable establishment; setting aside time to volunteer at a homeless shelter; starting a fundraiser, a toy drive, a car wash all count! The possibilities of altruism are truly limitless.
Let the world know about all the wonderful deeds you have witnessed (or have done). Do it the easy way with LadderToHeaven.com.
Finally, a Blog
Posted by Chen
Hey there. Yeah you. How you doing? Welcome to Top of the Ladder, the official blog for the inspirational online service Ladder to Heaven. For many months this project has been shrouded in secrecy. Codename “Spirit” it was called - has gone public!
So what exactly is Ladder to Heaven?
LadderToHeaven.com is the first place on the web to share not only your good deeds but also the deeds of others.
Via Ladder to Heaven, we hope to shed some light on the positive side of society. There are so many undocumented, inspirational stories that go undocumented. With your active participation, in the next few years, Ladder to Heaven will grow to be the largest repository for good deeds in the history of mankind.
Please check out the About and FAQ tabs for more detailed information.
Who’s behind this project?
Two Harvard Sophomores. No worries, we’ll introduce ourselves in upcoming posts.
Some history about Ladder to Heaven
Although we conceived this idea a long long time ago, Project “Spirit” commenced during June 2007 in 20 Dewolfe 35. We chose the name “Ladder to Heaven” a day before Independence Day — July 3rd. Closed beta was launched on Thanksgiving 2007 for beta testers.
When can I use the site?
Right now Ladder to Heaven is still in closed beta. We have a core team of very diligent beta testers working around the clock, polishing things before our beta launch.
I’m so excited! What can I do to help?
Please go back to our splash page and type in your email address to get notified when the site goes live. Also, please frequent our blog from time to time because there’ll be a lot of updates in the upcoming days.
Right now the Ladder team consists of just Brett & myself. We are looking for a seasoned vector designer (preferably in the Cambridge, MA region) to help us create more cutesy, pastel graphics. Please email me if you’re interested in participating in any way shape or form.
Got some input?
We’re always looking for feedback. Commenting should be activated for every blog entry and every static page. We welcome constructive criticism and other suggestions!
We’re still in the process of uploading content. Please stay tuned.