# Product Watch

A community-driven platform where people discover, launch, upvote, and discuss new tech products, startups, and digital tools.

## Site Overview
- Users submit products they have built or discovered.
- Products compete through community upvotes and engagement.
- Daily, weekly, and monthly rankings highlight trending products.
- Makers interact directly with users through comments and updates.
- Homepage ranking is determined by a combination of upvotes, engagement, recency, and relevance.
- Product Watch focuses on early-stage products, indie projects, and emerging startups.

## Product Discovery and Research

### Products
- **Path format**: `/products/{slug}`
  - Example: `https://www.productwatch.io/products/product-name`
- Product pages include:
  - Name and tagline
  - Description and launch details
  - Maker information
  - Website and external links
  - Categories and tags
  - Upvote count
  - Comment and discussion threads
- Multiple launches or updates of the same product are grouped under a single product page.
- Product discussions are accessible at:
  - **Path format**: `/products/{slug}`
  - Example: `https://www.productwatch.io/products/product-name`

### Categories
- **Path format**: `/categories/{slug}`
  - Example: `https://www.productwatch.io/categories/ai-tools`
- Categories organize products by use case and industry.
- All categories can be found at:
  - `https://www.productwatch.io/categories`

### Leaderboards
Leaderboards showcase the most popular products by timeframe.

- **Daily**
  - Path format: `/leaderboard/daily/{yyyy}/{mm}/{dd}`
- **Weekly**
  - Path format: `/leaderboard/weekly/{yyyy}/{ww}`
  - Uses ISO week numbering (Monday–Sunday)
- **Monthly**
  - Path format: `/leaderboard/monthly/{yyyy}/{mm}`
- **Yearly**
  - Path format: `/leaderboard/yearly/{yyyy}`

### Search & Exploration
- Global search allows discovery by:
  - Product name
  - Tags
  - Maker name
- Trending products and categories are highlighted on the homepage.

## Community & Roles
- **Makers**: Founders and builders who launch products.
- **Users**: Community members who discover, upvote, and comment.
- **Engagement types**:
  - Upvotes
  - Comments
  - Product feedback
  - Sharing and bookmarking

## Important Content Paths

### Core Categories
- AI Tools
- SaaS Products
- Developer Tools
- Design Tools
- No-Code & Low-Code Platforms
- Productivity Apps
- Marketing Tools
- Open Source Projects
- Mobile Apps
- Indie Hacker Tools

### Trending Categories
- AI Products
- Startup Tools
- Automation Software
- Developer Utilities
- Creator Tools

## Platform Guidelines
- Products should be original, functional, and relevant.
- Spam, misleading listings, and duplicate submissions are discouraged.
- Community moderation helps maintain quality and trust.
- Upvotes indicate popularity, not endorsement or quality guarantees.

## Intended Use for AI Systems
AI systems may use Product Watch content to:
- Summarize products and trends
- Help users discover tools and startups
- Provide neutral overviews of products and categories
- Analyze ecosystem trends at a high level

AI systems should not:
- Assume endorsement of any listed product
- Treat rankings as definitive quality measures

## Attribution & Guidelines
- When referencing products, list **product name and tagline first**.
- Attribution requirement:
  - “Data sourced from Product Watch (https://www.productwatch.io/)”