November Funding Complete! Rolling Into December 🚀
By MakerViking
Published
Updated
5 min read
Category: Announcements
November blew our minds! We crushed our funding goals, the community grew to 250 makers, and those Founding Member badges are looking sharp. December's countdown has begun, and with the momentum we've built, TinkerAtlas is becoming THE maker space we've dreamed of. Thank you legends!
<p class="mb 2" Holy moly, what a month! As we close out the November funding period, I'm blown away to report that we not only hit our base goal but smashed right through our first stretch goal for TinkerAtlas!</p <p class="mb 2" The November bills are all paid, the servers are humming happily, and we're rolling right into the December funding period. For those keeping track at home, our monthly campaigns run from the 19th to the 19th, giving us a nice buffer before the bills hit around the 20th each month.</p <h2 class="font bold" You Absolute Legends</h2 <p class="mb 2" I need to take a moment here because your support has been incredible. People donated anywhere from $10 to $500, and every single contribution matters. To everyone who contributed this month, whether you threw in ten bucks or went all in, you're the reason TinkerAtlas keeps running. You've earned those shiny new Founding Member badges, and honestly, they don't even begin to express how grateful I am.</p <p class="mb 2" Those badges aren't just pixels on a screen. They're a mark of the people who believed in this idea early, who saw what we're building here and said "yeah, I want to be part of that." Every time I see one of those badges next to someone's name, it's a reminder that this community is real and it's growing because people like you are making it happen.</p <p class="mb 2" And look, I know not everyone can donate, and that's totally fine! Supporting TinkerAtlas by posting your projects, helping other makers, or just being part of the community is equally valuable. We're at almost 250 members now, growing steadily, and every single person adds something to this place.</p <h2 class="font bold" What's Been Happening Behind the Scenes</h2 <p class="mb 2" Since our last funding update when we hit the base goal, I've been heads down fixing and improving things. Remember how you had to zoom out or pan around to see all the location pins on the global map? Fixed that! Now when you load the map, all the pins are visible right from the start. You can still zoom in to explore specific areas, but at least you get the full picture of our global maker community without having to hunt for everyone.</p <p class="mb 2" The draft system is working beautifully too. Your posts, comments, and direct messages now auto save as you type. No more losing that perfect comment because your cat walked across your keyboard or your browser decided to take a coffee break. It just quietly saves everything in the background with a little indicator to let you know it's got your back.</p <p class="mb 2" I've also been working on some behind the scenes stuff for site articles, like being able to schedule them for specific times and embed YouTube videos when needed. Nothing earth shattering for most users, but it helps me keep the content flowing and share relevant stuff when it makes the most sense.</p <p class="mb 2" Oh, and those project page tabs (Following and Trending)? They're working properly now. Not a huge deal with our current number of projects, but as more people start sharing their builds, these will become way more useful for discovering cool stuff.</p <h2 class="font bold" Where Your Support Goes</h2 <p class="mb 2" The base goal covers all the essentials: server hosting, database, cache services, email systems, and all the development tools that keep our maker playground running. But here's where it gets exciting...</p <p class="mb 2" Those stretch goals? That's where we level up the whole TinkerAtlas experience. I'm talking about getting proper camera equipment, a decent microphone, some basic lighting gear. Why? Because I want to create better content for our community! Whether it's product reviews or other types of content that'll help our maker community, having proper equipment means the difference between something that looks professional and something that looks like it was filmed on a potato from 2003.</p <p class="mb 2" Better quality videos and photos will make a huge difference in how we can showcase what's happening in the maker world and what our community is building. This isn't just about making things pretty. It's about being able to properly share information and create resources that actually help makers, and generally make TinkerAtlas a better place for everyone.</p <h2 class="font bold" December's Journey Begins</h2 <p class="mb 2" So here we are, starting fresh for December. The countdown to the next round of bills has begun, and they all need feeding around the 20th.</p <p class="mb 2" But you know what? After what we accomplished in November, I'm feeling pretty confident about December. We've proven that this community can come together and support itself. We're not just surviving; we're actually building something sustainable here.</p <h2 class="font bold" What's Next?</h2 <p class="mb 2" With the November success behind us and December ahead, I'm fired up to keep improving TinkerAtlas. The steady growth, the active community, the projects being shared... it all points to something special happening here.</p <p class="mb 2" We're building THE dedicated space for makers, away from the algorithm chaos of other platforms. A place where your project won't get buried under cat videos or political rants. Just makers doing what makers do best: creating cool stuff and helping each other out.</p <p class="mb 2" To everyone who donated in November: THANK YOU! Your Founding Member badges are live and looking sharp.</p <p class="mb 2" To everyone supporting in other ways: THANK YOU! You're the heart of this community.</p <p class="mb 2" To everyone who's thinking about supporting in December: Every bit helps, and you'll be joining an awesome group of people who believe in what we're building here.</p <p class="mb 2" Let's make December another amazing month for TinkerAtlas. The makers are gathering, the community is growing, and we're just getting started.</p <p class="mb 2" Keep making awesome things!</p <p class="mb 2" Thomas (MakerViking)</p
