Hacker News Show HN Guidelines Official

Sharing a new project with a technical audience comes with unwritten rules. This section gathers articles about community launch guidelines, how makers present their work in Show HN style posts, and advice on getting honest feedback from developers without running afoul of forum norms.

Common themes include what qualifies as a genuine project post versus promotion, how to write a title and description that developers respect, and how founders should respond to blunt criticism in the comments. Stories from makers who launched well, or badly, provide concrete examples.

These norms matter because a community launch can decide a young product's trajectory, bringing its first serious users or sinking it in skepticism. Indie developers and startup founders study this material carefully before putting months of work in front of a famously critical audience.