Yesterday morning I woke ready to work on the 23 Things projects, and the next up was Rollyo. I hadn't actually heard of this site previously, so it was a bit exciting to explore something this new to me. I spent a little time looking the site over and trying out searches on other people’s engines, with varying degrees of success. The litmus test was definitely going to be setting up and running my own, I knew.
I’m a big fan of free online knitting and crochet patterns, and I also enjoy looking at other folks’ versions of any project I’m considering, so that was something I knew I’d end up searching for this winter. Especially as there is a nip in the air that makes me crave colorful wool to play with.*g*
I rolled my own knit/crochet pattern search engine so I could seek free patterns for my latest project online. It needs some refinement, but I’ve tried it and it is kind of useful. Instead of going to each site individually, I can just type in the sort of pattern I’m looking to find. The main drawback is that there are obnoxiously placed sponsored links, which aren’t visually distinct from the desired links and make for too much visual noise on the page. The bottom line for me with Rollyo is going to be having all my search links for a given subject handy on the search engine page, I think, and that might be better served by a different kind of software.
Rollyo could be quite useful for reference work, though. It would allow a large number of sites to be searched simultaneously, while including only those that have been previously vetted for accuracy. This means that multiple users could easily continue to add to the store of sites on an engine, and expertise can be compiled. It would be interesting to try sharing an account amongst friends who have a joint hobby as well, I think. If only a way can be found to rid ourselves of the sponsored links, then the site would go from mildly to extremely helpful.
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