Inspiration
ShepardStation was inspired by seeing the general disorganization clubs at UMASS tend to have. Recently at a meeting for the school radio, a club we are both active members of, many people voiced their frustration with how hard it is to find information about their status as a member. There was no location where they could find information for the number of service hours they completed, and most people didn't even know how to submit service hours in the first place. The club also faces other issues, like not having a centralized place where announcements and upcoming events can be shared. We decided to create Shepard Station as a way to solve these problems, and give WMUA a new logistic backbone.
What it does
Shepard Station acts as an online portal for WMUA. Anyone with an @umass.edu email can sign up to join the radio. Then once signed up they can populate their account with their DJ Name and show. This adds them to the directory listing everyone in the club, their show, and their contact. Also on their portal, they can view information about their service hours, and membership in their account panel. They can also submit service hour and attendance forms on the site which will automatically be associated with their account. Department directors are given a special role in this portal. If an account is marked as a department director's, they get access to the admin page, where they can approve or deny service hour forms, and the ability to make new posts. These posts go into the feed on the homepage and is meant to house information about upcoming events like the spring concert.
How we built it
We used an express JS backend for this project. All operations are through our custom REST API. The dedicated server publishes a webpage to the frontend on a GET request, and sends data back on a POST request. The auth system is custom using a handshake protocol and all passwords are stored as hashed values. The frontend was built using html css and javascript, and renders of the client side device.
Challenges we ran into
We had trouble using git and merging our working branches.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The system follows actual Oauth2 protocol. This account system is clean and the project is easily scalable.
What we learned
This project taught us a lot about the architecture design of webapps. We had to make a lot of choices of what the best way to store things and display data was, and which data to display. This project also greatly strengthened our ability to use Node.js and our web programming skills.
What's next for ShepardStation
This project will be presented to the tech director of WMUA. With a bit of cleaning and a few new features, such as show descriptions, and new admin pages, we hope to integrate it into the WMUA ecosystem. With continued updates and dedicate work on this project, it can solve all of WMUA's logistical problem. After that, we hope to bring this product to other clubs and create a general platform that can be used to organize events, sell merch, and communicate within a club.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.