Gander - Stock Image Search

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  Quickly search, view and download license free stock photos.

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  Use the Shortcut modal for more search options.

Inspiration

Marketing & creative teams often need stock photos to use in mockups and final projects. Save time by searching for these directly in Slack. No need to worry about licensing or logging in elsewhere - these photos are free to use (powered by Pexels API).

You can also collaborate with your team by searching for the perfect stock photo within any channel, allowing your team members to decide which to use.

What it does

Gander provides a way to quickly search for and download free stock photos without leaving Slack.

You can call upon Gander in two ways: by using the slash command /gander or by using the shortcut accessible within any channel's message area.

Slash Command: Use /gander followed by a search term or phrase. Example: /gander yellow car

Gander will then return a few results within your current channel.

Shortcut The app shortcut allows for more power and flexibility. You can choose which channel to deliver the images to, as well as search by color, orientation, and size. Click the + icon in the message area to access.

You and your team can then download your favorite photo from the results. And no need to worry about licensing, because these are sourced from the Pexels API - all stock photos are free to use and attribution is not required. If you do decide to credit, we also provide the photographer name with each search result. Photos can also be edited in any way.

How we built it

Gander is a Slack app using the Bolt SDK for JavaScript.

Challenges we ran into

This was my first Slack app, so there was a learning curve. I've used Slack many times as a user, but this project gave me more insight into how things work under the hood. Figuring out how to pass data between the modal and the app was challenging at first, but I strung together tidbits from different documentation articles to make it all work.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is the first app of its kind for Slack. I hope this will save marketing and creative teams a substantial amount of time.

What's next for Gander - Stock Image Search

The next version will incorporate stock videos as well! I'll also have support for multiple languages and will localize the app.

Built With

• javascript
• slack