How to Name Your Launch Post: Title Shapes for Boards, Show HN and Communities
Name your launch post with the product name first and a plain phrase for what it does and for whom, then adjust the shape to the place it appears. A Show HN title must begin with “Show HN”, and Hacker News guidelines ask for no uppercase, exclamation marks or boasting. A board listing pairs a name with a tagline. Choose the title before you publish, because several places make a later change awkward.
Is a launch post title the same as the product name?
No. The product name is the label that follows the product around. The launch post title is a headline written for one place and one crowd, and it has to work in a list of dozens of other lines. A strong name can still sit under a weak title: the name “PackRight” alone tells a stranger nothing, and “PackRight: packing lists that split shared climbing gear” tells them whether to read on.
Some venues give you two fields, some one. The launch form on this board has a separate name, which allowed up to 60 characters on 13 November 2026, and a tagline, which allowed up to 90. Hacker News takes a single title line. Community threads take a title that reads like a person speaking. So you will write the same idea in more than one shape.
What shape does the title take in each place?
| Venue | Shape | What its own pages say | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A launch board listing, such as this one | Name in one field, tagline in another | Field limits as above; the listing shows both together | PackRight, “A packing list that splits shared gear between climbers” |
| Show HN on Hacker News | “Show HN: Name – what it does” | The title must begin with “Show HN”; no uppercase or exclamation points to stand out, no saying how great it is; please do not delete and repost | Show HN: PackRight – packing lists that split shared climbing gear |
| A subreddit | A plain sentence a member might say | Each community sets its own rules; Reddit’s platform rules ask for authentic participation and no spam | I built a packing list that divides shared gear between climbers |
| A maker community post | A story or a question with the product inside it | We could not read these pages by an automated check, so read the community’s rules first | What I learned building a gear list for weekend climbers |
Hacker News’s guidelines are specific about titles. They say: “Please don’t do things to make titles stand out, like using uppercase or exclamation points, or saying how great an article is.” That sentence is about submissions in general, but the same restraint helps in any list.
How do you choose the words?
- Noun first. Open with the thing the reader would search for, such as “packing list”, “invoice tool” or “command-line diff”. The name can come before it, but the noun should appear in the first few words.
- Use their word, not yours. If your users say “gear list”, do not write “itinerary logistics solution”.
- Add the difference after the noun. “Packing lists that split shared gear” says what is special. “Smart packing” does not.
- Keep a number only if it means something. Hacker News’s guidelines ask people to crop a gratuitous number, as in turning “10 Ways To Do X” into “Ways To Do X”. A number that carries information, such as “runs in 3 languages”, can stay.
- Read it as one line in a list of thirty. If it blends in, find the detail that does not belong to any competitor.
The tagline scorecard gives five checks you can run on the second half of any title, and the Show HN post templates show the opening text that sits under one. If the name itself is undecided, how to name an app covers that earlier job.
Which title styles should you avoid?
- Bait. “You will not believe what this app does” promises a surprise and delivers a disappointment, and communities react badly.
- Superlatives you cannot show. “The best”, “the ultimate” and “the only” invite the first sceptic to disagree.
- Name only. “Check out Foo” gives a reader nothing to judge, so they keep scrolling.
- A question that hides the product. “Tired of packing mistakes?” says nothing until the second click.
- Someone else’s format. A subreddit title pasted into Show HN, or the reverse, signals that you have not read either place.
Can you change the title after you post?
That differs by platform, so find out before you submit. On this board a published launch is final, and the same website cannot be launched again within seven days. So the right move is to test the title on the draft page before you press Publish, and after that to write to support rather than look for a way to relaunch. Hacker News asks people not to delete and repost. Other sites have their own limits, and we cannot confirm all of them.
Because of this, draft your titles a day ahead, show each one to a person who matches your user and ask what they expect to find. Then launch your product for free with the version that matched. The ideas board is a quick place to see how other builders put a product in a line.
How will you know a title worked?
You cannot see how many people scrolled past it, so use indirect signs. Watch whether early comments describe the product correctly, which suggests the title set the right expectation, and whether people ask “what is this?”, which suggests it did not. Compare visits from each venue using tagged links, as how to measure a launch describes. If you try two shapes in two venues, remember the audiences differ, so you are comparing the venues as much as the titles. The sign worth trusting is simple: the people who click through finish the core task.
Frequently asked questions
What should the title of a Show HN post look like?
It must begin with “Show HN”, followed by the product name and a short plain phrase for what it does, for example “Show HN: PackRight – packing lists that split shared climbing gear”. Hacker News guidelines ask you not to use uppercase or exclamation marks for effect and not to say how great the work is.
Should the launch post title include the product name?
Usually yes, followed by a plain phrase for what it does and for whom. A name alone gives a stranger nothing to judge. In a community thread where self-promotion draws suspicion, a title that reads like a person describing something they made, with the name inside the post, can fit better.
Can I change my launch title later?
On this board a published launch is final and the same website cannot launch again within seven days, so settle the name on the draft page first and, afterwards, ask support@postyourbuildideas.com instead of relaunching. Hacker News asks people not to delete and repost. Other platforms vary, so check before you submit.
Is a clever title better than a plain one?
Plain wins in a list, because a reader decides in a glance whether the product is for them. A clever line can work when it also says what the thing does. If you have to pick, pick the clear one, and put the wit in the first paragraph of the post, where people have already chosen to read.
Written by Post your build ideas with AI assistance and edited for this site. Where a page names another product, the facts came from that product’s own pages on the date shown above; terms change, so check them before you rely on them. About the publisher.