Inspiration
Products like Facebook groups are great for casual or non-formal gatherings of people, but there still lacks a product that can provide this functionality. Out product, ReliefBook, provides this functionality for a specific group of people: humanitarian and community service groups.
What it does
ReliefBook strives to be a social media platform that unites activists across the world to create and organize groups that make our world a better place. In order to maintain the importance of actually organizing and contributing to events, Reliefbook centers its user interface around the concept of groups and sub groups known as events. These groups can be created by anyone, and anyone can find groups by topic, location, or simply by their name. Then, each group can have a general thread of posts, and each event has their own separate thread of more specific posts relating to their event. By focusing on this level of hierarchy, the app can focus on what is most important; saving the world.
How I built it
Using Django in the background and HTML + CSS for the frontend, this app was created with the speed and readability of Python.
Challenges I ran into
Given such a short time-frame for this project, there were many challenges in organizing and implementing our ideas. One of the most important principles we had in mind throughout development was simplicity. Keeping components simple and easy to extend was quintessential to a speedy and efficient development process.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
The sheer amount of features that we were able to implement in such a short time is somewhat of a first for me. Traditionally, for a project of this scale, a timeframe of around 2 weeks is more realistic. However, given that around 2 days was all we had, I am proud of the final draft we produced.
What I learned
Before this project, I was more of a backend developer. Hoping to present myself with a learning challenge, I took up the frontend component of the app while my partner took up the backend, something he was new to. We both learned an immense amount in both of our assigned fields.
What's next for ReliefBook.org
Moving forward with ReliefBook, I see much potential for a truly practical product. Nobody on my team had any experience in front end development, thus the simple from end. In the future, I would like to implement and much more interactive user interface. Thinking even further, we would love to have sponsors that could create events and help people less fortunate contribute to helping out in the world.
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