Directories & marketplaces, explained

Ever wished there were one place to find "the best local plumber," "who's hiring a 3D artist," or "a used camper for sale near me" — all kept by real people, not ads? That's the idea behind Explore (BommelMarks): a single, community-built directory made entirely of things people chose to share.

Is it my directory, or everyone's?

Both — and that's the magic. There is one global directory that everyone browses, and it's built from what each person publishes. You don't create a separate private directory; you publish saves and collections, and they automatically become part of the shared, searchable Explore directory. Nothing you keep private ever appears there.

Think of it like a giant public library where every member contributes a few shelves.

The three things you'll find

• People — anyone with a public @handle profile (a recruiter, a 3D artist, your local handyman).
• Collections — themed boards people curate ("Best dog parks near us", "Remote React jobs", "Campers for sale").
• Saves — individual published bookmarks: an article, a job post, a car listing, a recipe.

How "marketplaces" and "directories" happen

We don't run separate apps for jobs, cars, or local services. Instead, those directories emerge from three simple pieces working together:

1. Content types — when you save a job, I file it as a job; a person becomes a contact; and so on.
2. Topics — every public collection is filed under one fixed shelf so things stay findable at scale: Career & Jobs, Shopping & Products, Food & Drink, Travel & Places, People & Community, and more.
3. Search & filters — Explore lets anyone search across it all and narrow by type (People / Collections / Saves), topic, source, media, and category.

So a jobs directory is simply the job saves and "Career & Jobs" collections people published. A vehicle marketplace is the car listings filed under "Shopping & Products." A local directory is a "People & Community" collection like "Great study cafés."

Two quick examples

A recruiter hiring: save the role (I file it as a job with the company and details), publish it, and add it to a public Career & Jobs collection. Job seekers now find it in Explore by searching the title, the company, or filtering to the Career & Jobs topic.

Selling a car: save the listing with photos and your notes, publish it, and file it in a Shopping & Products collection like "Campers for sale." Buyers browsing that topic — or searching "camper" — will see it.

Add location so local things get found

For anything local (a plumber, a dentist, the best playground, a car for sale in your city), put the place right in the save — in the title, the notes, or as a tag ("Austin", "90210") — and set your location on your public profile. Search matches that text, so a neighbour looking for "Austin dog groomer" will find your pick. (A full map-based local search is on the roadmap; for now, words do the work.)

How someone finds your stuff

1. They open Explore and type in the search box — people, collections, topics, jobs, anything.
2. They filter by type (People / Collections / Saves) and by Topic / Source / Category.
3. Results come back like a search engine — a title, who posted it, and a short description — ten per page, as a list or as cards.
4. They click through to your save, collection, or profile.

Good to know

• Only what you publish appears. Your private library is never listed. See Private vs public.
• You show up once you've claimed a handle and published at least one thing.
• Tidy, focused collections win — "Remote React jobs" beats "misc work stuff."

Where to next

• Wander the Explore directory
• Shareable collection boards
• Save job posts and track applications
• Link related saves into a graph