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Joined 2 months ago
Cake day: July 30th, 2026

About a decade ago I tried to create an alternative to Google, using the Dewey Decimal System to group web domains by subject matter. My vision was that the website was a library, and domains were individual books. Rankings were a mixture of domain reputation and cultural significance.

The OCLC is very protective of their IP, and likes to sue.

Needless to say, my project was shut down before even getting off the ground.

I’m working on reviving the project, under a new classification system (The Open Categorization System), and would love any help I can get.

The project can be found here: https://github.com/ki4jgt/Open-Catalog-System

About a week ago, I created a post detailing a web index I was working on.

I’ve implemented a few policy changes, after realizing I want this to be more like a library than a search engine.

I remember walking through library shelves as a kid, finding all the subjects I could learn about fascinating. And I’d really like to recreate that experience with this site. An infinitely scrollable catalog that transitions from subject to subject to subject, treating individual domains as books, with rankings (0-9) determined by a mixture of author authority and cultural relevance.

Current Plans:

  • I’m removing the index.json requirement, and allowing users to simply submit domains for inclusion within the catalog.
  • Domains are sorted via an alphanumeric XXX.XXX.XXX format (so cultural anthropology would be SCI.ANT.CUL)
  • I also have plans to put the entire catalog on IPFS, for public accountability.
  • I’m also no longer referring to it as an index, but a catalog.

You could even have a plethora of local results: USA.KTY.BWG, DEU.BER.MIT

Here is the current UX: https://imgur.com/a/QdXTmbz I’m looking for suggestions to make it a better experience. The name is just a placeholder.

About a decade ago, I tried to index the web via the Dewey Decimal System. I had a site laid out similar to Google, where you could browse sites continuously starting from a given call, but the DDS is proprietary, and those people hate anyone who uses their IP without a license. You can Google everyone they’ve shutdown – places that weren’t even libraries – for using anything similar to the DDS. I reached out to the group that manages the DDS, and was taken offline before my project even started.

With all the corporate BS lately, and people looking for alternative options, I thought I’d take a search engine old school, and we’d index like Usenet. Except with an XXX.XXX.XXX format.

Problem is, now I’ve got to find categories, sub categories, and local categories. Categories for animals, chat rooms, cars, construction, wrestling, etc.

I need a brilliantly created categorical system with a TLD.MLD.LLD (top level subject domain, mid level domain, and local level domain) format.

I was going to let site owners Disney Land it, by letting them create an index.json file in the root of their site, choosing for themselves where they wanted to appear in the index. Problem is, as trends change and systems become more exact, site owners would have to update their index. Which could become cumbersome.

Further, if we divided into academic disciplines, there would be things like gaming and model construction which wouldn’t fit into those.

It would help if there were an already established categorization system, so that site owners didn’t have choice anxiety. And then, as the site grew, site owners could recategorize themselves with user feedback.

Could you guys suggest a few categorization systems (can’t be DDS), either of your own making or other sources?

I’m already looking at Usenet: https://www.livinginternet.com/u/uw_hier.htm

Edit: Current UX: https://imgur.com/a/sURm4s1

  • Haven’t chosen a name yet.
  • Adult is probably going to be dropped, and when the site owner chooses a category, they can put it in the ADT TLD.