HomeForArfs

Inspiration: As an animal-lover and a pet sibling, it is very near and dear to my heart for every pet to be united with their fur family. However, in both my home country of the US and nations I have visited worldwide, I have noticed many animals without a home, ranging from overfilled shelters, to foster-homes, to pet stores hosting homeless animals. Also, I have noticed that many of my friends and family members would rather "adopt than shop" for a pet, but are unable to find a pet that meets their requirements. They are blindly going from shelter to foster-home, never knowing that their ideal furry friend could be a state away! Hence, I propose Home For Arfs, so every pet is met with their humans!

What it Does: Home For Arfs is a React.js web application which allows pet-hosting centers (shelters, foster homes, pet shops, etc) to have an online, globally-accessible, and updatable catalog along with a platform to advertise additional services (grooming, vet care, training, etc) to the globe. Future fur families are able to pinpoint where their furry friends is, as well as subscribe for a specific breed if that breed is currently unavailable.

How I Built it: I developed my React.js components in VSCode. I used npm to install my project. I used NodeMailer to make the email-sending functionality. The front-end (React.js components) are hosted on firebase, and the NodeMailer component is hosted on Render.

I used Dog API (REST) for searching, and mock API to update my .json repository (the catalog of dog breeds with details).

Challenges I ran into:

1. I needed to do a lot of research on React.js to make the components of my web-application.

2. Unfortunately, PetFinder API was unavailable publicly (the API I initially planned to use), so I used Dog API instead.

3. Dog API did not let me update the catalog of pets, so I needed to make a mock API account and implement my CRUD operations against a .json file.

Accomplishments that I am proud of: I am very proud of how I used my React.js skills, many of which were new skills learned while developing this project. I also take pride in the impact my application can have in helping pets, families, and businesses. It is a very practical application, which can even be marketed.

What I Learned: I built stronger pillars in React.js with hands-on experience. It was the first time I used Node.js, which I plan to utilize more in the future.

What's next for Home For Arfs:

-Replace the .json database with a proper scalable database

-Add more species of pets to adoption list

-Make customized account for businesses and customers (ex. businesses can see from which areas they are getting the most views from)

-Add a customer service AI

Built With

• dogapi
• firebase
• javascript
• mockapi
• node.js
• react.js
• render