[FINAL] Web3xplorer - A curated web platform to discover useful web3 apps, resources and tools

ARCHIVED & OLD Missions
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S4 Intent: Spread Awareness of the Optimistic Vision (Intent 3)

Proposed Mission: A curated web platform to help seasoned web3 users and newcomers alike discover useful web3 apps, resources and tools.

Proposal Tier: Ember

Please verify that you meet the qualifications for submitting at the above Tier: We are both new community members and have not worked with or for the Optimism Collective in the past.

Baseline grant amount: 18k OP

% of total available Intent Budget: 1.8%

Please check here if access to upfront capital is a barrier to completing your Mission and you would like to be considered for a small upfront cash grant: No

Alliance name: Web3xplorer

Alliance Lead: Maxime Servais

Contact info:

L2 recipient address: 0x376229C26a903647B0bd0411530cbD5787AcF50d

Please list the members of your Alliance and link to any previous work:

Please explain how this Mission will help accomplish the above Intent:

Having used Optimism ourselves for some time and delved into its community, we’re genuinely excited about its potential and rooting for its success. We are committed to promoting the Optimistic Vision, as we have faith that the flourishing of the Optimism ecosystem is dependent on more users and creators endorsing this vision.

Our game plan? Guide folks through the Ethereum landscape and introduce them to scalable and cost-effective layer 2 solutions like Optimism.

How? We’re making it as simple as possible for all web3 users, whether they’re old hands or total newbies, to explore web3 with our web application, Web3xplorer.

Web3xplorer is your go-to platform for all things web3. It’s got a growing list of web3 apps, resources and tools – 32 at the moment, but we’re aiming to list over 1000 in the coming months.

Web3xplorer has all the features you need to quickly and easily find the right tool or app. It’s got a built-in search engine, advanced filters and sorting, and it’s mobile-friendly. It even syncs with your system’s dark or light mode. You can check it out at https://web3xplorer.com.

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Maxime has been hard at work on it since October 2022 (part-time), making sure it’s a speedy, SEO-friendly web app (built with NextJS, Strapi, and PostgreSQL).

We’re confident that Web3xplorer can help bring new people, DAOs, builders, and partners into the Optimism ecosystem. It’s all about making it easy for everyone to find out what apps, guides, learning resources, and tools are available on Optimism, and to get what Optimism is all about.

What makes your Alliance well-suited to execute this Mission?

We make a dynamic duo with our contrasting, yet complementary, skillsets.

Maxime, with his leap from PwC tech consultant to software developer, brings a strong foundation in software development to the table. He has hands-on experience with technologies like React/NextJS, NodeJS application development, and system administration. His current part-time gig at The Smurfs’ Society has also given him a comprehensive understanding of web3.

On the other hand, Antoine, an ex-management consultant and former PMO at ABInbev, blends his strategic thinking and organizational skills with a rich knowledge of web3, garnered from roles such as Ecosystem Lead at Argent and his previous work at The Smurfs’ Society.

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We both got hooked on web3 and digital assets back in 2017, and it’s been a wild ride since. Watching friends, ex-colleagues, and even family navigate the web3 maze led to an idea - a curated and hand-picked web app to top-notch web3 apps, resources and tools.

Maxime holds the responsibility for the technical development of Web3xplorer, including incorporating new features and enhancing the user interface and experience based on users’ feedback. In addition, he plays a significant role in boosting our SEO and marketing game. Maxime will also assist in curating content and populating our database with pertinent web3 applications, resources, and tools. On the other hand, Antoine’s responsibility is to find and curate web3 applications, resources, and tools, and write articles (such as this one).

Please list a critical milestone. The critical milestone should be a measure of whether you’ve made best efforts to execute what is outlined in this proposal or not. If you fail to achieve your critical milestone, your grant may be clawed back.

Web3’s main hurdle right now is its complexity, making it tricky for beginners to wrap their heads around it. For a lot of people, it feels like wrestling with both the convoluted world of the internet and the complexities of finance simultaneously. Our aim is to make web3 navigation smoother and to tackle the issue of discovering the right apps, tools, and resources. We’ve outlined the following milestones to help us do just that:

  1. Milestone 1: By July’s end, we aim to expand our listings by featuring a minimum of 500 new applications/tools/resources, with at least 150 of these actively available on Optimism. Each application listing should include a basic description, a Q&A segment to guide users, a snapshot of the website, and their Twitter and website links. Some apps might also feature links to external useful resources (e.g. video to set up a specific wallet).

  2. Milestone 2: By mid-August, we expect to significantly enrich the Optimism page with comprehensive information and external resource links that explain Optimism, demonstrate how to bridge, provide links to governance forums, and more. This page should also include a detailed FAQ section to assist newcomers.

  3. Milestone 3: By early September, we plan to establish and launch the blogging section of our website, which will serve as a crucial tool for disseminating information and resources about Optimism.

  4. Milestone 4: By mid-September, marking the end of the season, we should have composed and published approximately 10 detailed articles focusing on Optimism. These articles will cover topics like what a layer 2 like Optimism is, what users can anticipate from it, guides to bridging and using apps, and more.

How should Token House delegates measure progress towards this Mission: These should focus on progress towards completion. Including expected completion dates for each is recommended.

  1. By July 31st, we’re aiming to list over 500 new apps, including 150 active on Optimism. That’s our goal to help grow the ecosystem.
  2. By August 17th, we’ll jazz up the Optimism page (Optimism | Web3xplorer) with much more info.
  3. By September 4th, we’ll have our blogging section live and kicking.
  4. By September 18th, you should see around 10 articles about Optimism up on our site, linked right from Optimism’s dedicated page on Web3xplorer.

How should badgeholders measure impact upon completion of this Mission? These should be focused on performance and may be used by badgeholders to assess your Misson’s impact in the next round of RetroPGF.

To see how much impact this mission’s had, badgeholders can look at two main things:

  1. How many unique folks visited Web3xplorer during Season 4. More visitors means more people are catching on to what we’re doing.
  2. The total page views for apps that are up and running on Optimism and the Optimism page itself. This shows how much people are interacting with Optimism-related content on our site.

We’ll supply the relevant stats and info from our web analytics tool to measure these two factors effectively.

Breakdown of Mission budget request:

Assuming a standard workweek of 40 hours with an hourly rate of 50 OP:

  1. Development of the blogging functionality: We’ll be using NextJS and exposing blog content over an API (Strapi) while storing the data in a PostgreSQL database in markdown format. This would take about 3 weeks, or 6000 OP.
  2. Expanding our database: We’re planning to load up our database with a heap of new apps and tools. This would require about 4 weeks of work, which equates to 8000 OP. We estimate that each app listing will take us between 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. Writing blog articles: We have a target to create 10 blog pieces, which we expect will take us about 2 weeks or 4000 OP, at a rate of one article per day.

Please note: Some of the funds might be used to reward contributors who step up to help us find and verify content, as well as contribute towards creating awesome articles.

I confirm that my grant will be subject to clawback for failure to execute on critical milestones: Yes

I confirm that I have read and understand the grant policies: Yes

I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the Optimism Foundation to receive this grant: Yes

I understand that I will be expected to following the public grant reporting requirements outlined here: Yes

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Hi @MaximeServais exciting to see this proposal! Since this proposal is to build something that seems to be aimed at the broader ecosystem, rather than an Optimism specific initiative, I think it may be a better candidate as an application to the Grants Council. Perhaps this Request for Grants would be a good fit. Tagging in @Gonna.eth to assist with any questions about applying to the Council :slight_smile:

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Hey @lavande, your support means a lot to us, thank you!

Web3xplorer may have started with a focus on the whole Ethereum crowd, but we believe it fits really well with intent 3 as we’re all in to help get the word out about the Optimistic vision. We’re working hard to make Web3xplorer a go-to spot where everyone can find what they need about Optimism (sort of like a central hub).

Doesn’t matter if you’re a user looking for a DEX to trade your ETH for OP, a developer eager to learn how to deploy a smart contract specifically on Optimism, someone on the hunt for the right tool to inspect on-chain data, or just someone wanting to dive deeper into Optimism itself - we’re aiming to have all the bases covered.

Also, on top of all the handy info we’re pulling together in the Optimism world, our goal is to produce thorough and insightful articles about Optimism, particularly catering to those who are new to this sphere. These are mainly for the newbies, to help them get a grip on moving funds to Optimism, understanding what Layer 2 is all about, how Optimism’s governance rolls, and more.

Note: I revisited the Grants Council and their call for Grants as you recommended. However, I’m leaning more towards pursuing the Token House Missions as it seems to align better with our objectives than seeking funding from the Grants Council. Of course, very much happy to discuss it!

Cheers,
Maxime

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Hey Maxime, responding here since you tagged me on Discord. I think this platform is super rad but it’s not really specific to Optimism. It looks like it’s a general guide for Web 3 in general, am I missing something here?

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Hey @katie, thanks for checking out our mission proposal!

You’ve got it right. When we first dreamt up Web3xplorer, we thought it’d be super handy to make it a one-stop-shop for anyone digging into the vast world of Ethereum. We wanted to make life easier for anyone new to web3, helping them find everything they need in one spot.

In our view, this broad approach positively impacts the Optimism ecosystem’s growth. For instance, a visitor to Web3xplorer might be seeking general information about rollups or seeking solutions to Ethereum’s high gas costs. In these cases, we can guide them towards Optimism as a possible answer. Predominantly, these inquiring individuals could be beginners who might never have encountered Optimism otherwise.

Thus, by incorporating resources beyond the Optimism ecosystem, we indirectly contribute to its expansion!

We think the next wave of Web3 users won’t be the hardcore type who pull info from Twitter, hang out on Discord, or dig through Notion repositories. More likely, they’ll be looking for something that feels like Web2. And that’s exactly where Web3xlorer shines!

Today’s tools and solutions are pretty much designed for folks who are already clued into optimism and know exactly where to dig for the right info. Our goal, though, is to spread optimism far and wide, to an entirely new audience.

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Hi @MaximeServais! Wanted to make sure you were aware of the Optimism Season 4 Pitching Sessions to help find the 4 delegate approvals you’ll need by this Wednesday at 19:00 GMT for your proposal to move to a vote.

These sessions are happening in Discord on Monday, 26.06 2pm ET / 6pm GMT / 8pm CET and Tuesday, 27.06 11am ET / 3pm GMT / 5pm CET.

You can sign-up here!

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Hi Maxime, thanks a lot for your proposal!
I’ve given a quick look at your Web3xplorer and I wanted to ask some questions:

  • What are the key differences between your platform and Optimism Apps ? I feel the usecases here are quite similar from one another? This app catalogue has already got 300 dApps, twice as much as your milestone.
  • How is the ‘popular apps’ section of your page determined? Is it handpicked by the curators? How do we ensure it remains updated and neutral?
  • I feel that the most promising section of the proposal would be the 10 blog posts that would be created. Could you give us more details about the content of each of the blog posts?
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Hi @Oxytocin,

Great questions, thank you!

  1. The key differentiator between Web3xplorer and Optimism Apps lies in the depth and breadth of information we provide about each application. While Optimism Apps already has a vast catalogue, we aim to go several steps further. Alongside a description of each app, we will also provide answers to common questions beginners might have, alongside links to various resources such as videos, reports, and even career pages associated with each app (see an example here). Our platform will also feature a more extensive filter system, allowing users to drill down further into specific categories within broad sectors like DeFi. Importantly, we’re not limiting ourselves to listing only apps. We’ll also be including resources for governance aficionados, developers, and users. Although our starting goal is to list 150 apps/tools/resources, we plan to expand this significantly over time.

  2. Right now, we decide the ‘popular apps’ section by checking out things like Twitter followers, Discord members, and other ways to see how popular an app is. But, we’re working on a rating system so users can vote for the apps they like the most.

  3. Our plan for the blog section is to create high-quality, educational, and relevant content. This will be aimed primarily at newcomers to Optimism, with the goal of educating them about the benefits of layer 2 solutions, such as reduced costs and the wide range of possibilities that exist on Optimism. We’ll be covering the basics of how to get started on Optimism, from choosing a wallet, bridging funds from L1 or another L2, or onboarding from a CEX, to making a first trade on a DEX or minting an NFT. Furthermore, we plan to write a series of articles targeting developers, guiding them on how to start building on Optimism, and highlighting the benefits of doing so. The final part of our content plan includes the Optimistic vision, opportunities to get involved, and a guide to available grants. While we’ve mentioned a minimum of ten articles, we aim to produce more without compromising on quality and usefulness.

I hope that clears things up a bit, and feel free to hit me up with any other questions!

Cheers,
Maxime

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I am one of the Synthetix Ambassadors, and a Optimism Badgeholder. I am an Optimism delegate [Delegate Commitments - #65 by mastermojo ] with sufficient voting power, and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote

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Thanks for the response! It sounds like you’re focusing on new users which I really like and it could increase overall growth for Optimism tangentially so I’m in support.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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After reading the responses to @Oxytocin’s questions and considering the amount requested I think it’s okay to get this to a vote.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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While I’m a bit skeptical about how yet another apps explorer can reach out to a broader/newer audience, the grant request is reasonable,

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power , and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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We want to thank all the delegates for their support!

In response to your concern, @polynya, our main goal is to attract new users, so we’re putting a lot of effort into optimizing Web3xplorer for search engines - we want it to show up prominently in search results for various specific long-tail keywords (next wave of users will use google for their web3 research).

Additionally, while Web3xplorer will start as an app explorer, our vision is for it to grow into a comprehensive hub packed with all sorts of resources like apps, tools, reports, articles, videos, tutorials, and more.

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I represent KyberSwap, an Optimism Protocol Delegate for Season 4 with sufficient voting power, and we believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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Hi @MaximeServais,

Do you want to tell me what advantages or additional service web3xplorer has compared to Defillama?

is it possible that web3xplorer does not show any yet?

Do you have any established criteria for listing new daps?

Tell us about this point, what would these blog articles be like?; if you need 8 hours of writing, or you allocate 400 OPs to each, it may not be the same as what I interpret as “blog articles”

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Hey @Jadmat,

Thank you for your questions! Here are my answers:

  1. Web3xplorer stands apart from DeFiLlama for several reasons. We’re not just about DeFi tools; our catalog covers the entire Web3 ecosystem, catering to users, developers, and more. While DeFiLlama zeroes in on analytics, we’re more into the content aspect, kind of like a Web3 Wikipedia.

  2. Right now, we don’t have strict criteria for listing new apps - our goal is for Web3xplorer to be as inclusive as possible. We’re also working on a system to let users vote for their favorite apps, making Web3xplorer super comprehensive and community-driven.

  3. We believe that a solid, in-depth post takes around 8 hours to create – that includes research, drafting, and editing. Our blog posts will be deep dives into particular topics, serving more as guides or learning resources than your typical blog posts.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Maxime

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@lavande @katie @Oxytocin @mastermojo @lefterisjp @polynya @shaneMkt @Jadmat Massive thanks for your thoughtful questions and support so far!

Our proposal is now up for voting and we’re now at the stage where your vote can really make a difference. So, we’re looking forward to your support to take us forward: Vote Here

Quick rundown: We’re creating Web3xplorer (Proposal 3J), aiming to be the go-to platform for both power-users and beginners looking for Optimism-related info (apps, tools, resources, etc.). We’re just starting, but our vision is huge: we want to build the most inclusive Web3 content hub out there.

We’ve already set up the infrastructure (both back-end and front-end), and now we’re seeking some support from the Optimism community to jumpstart our content production: populating our ecosystem page with tools/apps/resources and writing out informative blog posts.

Thank you very much!

Cheers,
Maxime

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Hey Maxime, Your previous work is so great that I wanted to mention :star_struck: I surfed around a little on your web app “web3explorer”. First and foremost, it is a well-thought-out and potentially useful website, but still, as you have already stated, I believe it needs more improvement. When I clicked on the educational content, it gave me an error code, and there is very little blockchain information and DApps in it. Besides, your website’s UI is extremely brilliant and is completely appropriate for newbies.It has been quite beneficial to separate DApps that are blockchain-based since it allows us to see all of the functional products in an ecosystem in one place. I think it would be excellent to have Optimism accompanying you throughout the development process. I wish you good luck :crossed_fingers:t2:

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Hey @0xdilara,

Just wanted to drop a note to say thanks, your feedback means a lot! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be working on improvements (UI/UX) and adding hundreds of new apps/tools/resources to Web3xplorer from the Optimism ecosystem. Will keep you posted!

Cheers,
Maxime

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First and foremost, we would like to thank you for contributing to Optimistic Vision. We believe that a marketplace with dApps is an excellent project idea.

As ITU Blockchain, we vote in favor of this mission. We consider your KPIs to be quite ambitious, and our sole wish is for them to be achieved. We are eager to review the application once it is ready.

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