# croc.io

> Solo software product builder shipping tools, platforms, and communities for the indie web.

croc.io is the personal site of Alex Crocker (Croc) — a solo builder working in the domain investing and indie web space since 2018. The site serves as a portfolio hub, showcasing products built and operated under Domaincord Ventures LLC.

## About

Croc is a bootstrapped, indie product builder based in the swamp. His work focuses on community platforms, domain investing tools, and directory products. Everything is self-funded, self-operated, and built in public.

## Products

- **Domaincord** (`/projects/domaincord-community`): A Discord-based community and platform for 1,500+ domain investors, founded in 2018. Includes a live marketplace, expert discussion channels, industry news, free browser-based tools, and the Domain Quest game. Live at domaincord.com.
- **TopWebsite.com** (`/projects/topwebsite-directory`): A gamified SaaS and domain directory where indie hackers showcase their projects, earn community pulses, and compete on a live leaderboard. Free to list. Live at topwebsite.com.
- **Host-Hunters.com** (`/projects/host-hunters-directory`): An acquired hosting forum converted into a community-driven hosting directory, powered by Xenforo 2. Covers shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, game servers, and static site hosting. Currently a work in progress. Live at host-hunters.com.

## Blog

`/blog` — Writing on software development, domain investing, and building in public. Posts are written in Markdown, compiled to static HTML via a custom Python pipeline.

## Public Pages

- `/` - Home — hero, social links, and product grid
- `/blog` - Blog index
- `/posts/[slug]` - Individual blog posts
- `/projects/domaincord-community` - Domaincord case study
- `/projects/topwebsite-directory` - TopWebsite.com case study
- `/projects/host-hunters-directory` - Host-Hunters.com case study
- `/uses` - Hardware, software, services, and tools Croc uses daily
- `/coding-resources` - Curated programming resources for new and experienced developers
- `/llms.txt` - This file

## Tech Stack

- **Architecture**: Hybrid static site — hand-authored HTML pages + Python-generated blog
- **Styling**: Tailwind CSS v4 with a custom swamp/bayou dark theme; component styles in plain CSS
- **Build**: Bash + Python + Bun pipeline; deployed on Netlify
- **Blog**: Markdown source files with YAML frontmatter compiled to HTML via a custom Python script (`mdpost2html.py`)
- **JS**: Vanilla Web Components with a custom PubSub state system; bundled with Bun
- **Search**: Pagefind (client-side search index)
- **Templates**: BBEdit persistent includes for shared partials (header, footer, head meta)

## Contact

- Website: https://croc.io/
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@croc
- Twitter / X: https://x.com/LearnDomaining
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/croc.io
- GitHub: https://github.com/crock
- Email: hello@crock.dev