Cuse Circles

Inspiration

Many students feel constrained by limited organizational options. We all contain multitudes - interests in piano, coding, anime sketching, interview prep - but lack ways to connect with others who share these passions. Traditional clubs often can't accommodate this diversity.

What it does

This platform allows students to create or join learning circles for any interest. Whether they want to learn Klingon or quantum physics, you can find or form a community. It's not just about learning; it's about connection, leadership, and personal growth during the best days of their lives, college.

How I built it

I used Django framework to build this web application. I implemented it in phases, first I just implemented a bare minimum version and gradually added features one after the other.

Phase 1: Basic Functionality

Project named learning_circles with an app called circles
Model named Circle to represent learning circles
Views for displaying all circles (home page)
Templates for displaying information on the home page

Phase 2: User Authentication

Implemented user login and signup using Django's built-in functionalities
Created views and templates for signup and login

Phase 3: Circle Management

Implemented creating, joining, and leaving circles for logged-in users
Forms for collecting user input when creating circles
Updated templates to display functionalities for logged-in users

Phase 4: Styling and Design

Integrated Bootstrap for navigation bar, responsiveness, and basic styling
Created logo and favicon for the application
Implemented additional styling using CSS

Challenges I ran into

I had gaps in my Django knowledge, I struggled to link templates and views but during the hackathon I finally understood how it works. I am also less experienced in styling css, I used help from LLMs in figuring out how to use bootstrap properly to style various components.

Accomplishments that I am proud of

I started with the idea and broken down the implementation into small manageable chunks. Step by step I implemented the idea with plenty of learnings on the way.

What I learned

I learned that I have enough skills to be a good engineer and I should start trusting my skills more. Many gaps in my Django knowledge are filled during this hackathon.