Zotcation
Inspiration
We honestly really hate having to look for places to visit when traveling. Some websites have whole articles about places or sometime do not even give the locations at all. Zotcation to the rescue.
What it does
So what does it do? Zotcation is a straightforward website that gives you all the necessary information for your travels to any country! Just sign in or create an account with us and search the country you want to find landmarks for. In just seconds we give you the results quickly and easily.
How we built it
We built this website with a lot of hard work and help from those around us. Using a public SQL database, we made small tweaks to fit the needs of our users. This database stores user information, countries, continents, and much more. Using this database, we were able to use Google's Places API to retrieve the information we needed to present including location, addresses, and ratings. For our backend, we used Python and the Flask library which allowed us to create a local server! For the front end, we used HTML and CSS to give the users a visual of what they are looking for. To keep it all together, we used Git/Github to keep track of our progress and changes to make sure nothing was lost.
Challenges we ran into
The biggest challenge we ran into was the lack of teammates. As a 2 person team of amateur programmers, there is only so much we can do. It felt like an uphill battle to get things working. We ran into troubles with HTML formatting and multiple server issues with Flask. But with the help of StackOverflow and the amazing mentors at VenusHacks, we were able to get a decent and working product to you!
Accomplishments that we're proud of
As a team, we are proud of being able to make a functioning website with the lack of people power. We are also proud of our time management and communication to get things done.
What we learned
We have learned a lot these last 36 hours. We progressively became better and reading, understanding, and creating HTML and CSS which helped us create the visual aspect of our project. We also learned how to use and navigate the Flask library and use it to our advantage. Server issues were a common occurrence but we learned how to diagnose the issue and get to solving it. Using previous course knowledge, we were also better able to implement an SQL database.
What's next for Zotcation
Due to only being a team of 2, we had to compromise and cut back on our ambitions. Zotcation has a bright future with further use of Google's Places API and our continued use of our SQL Database. Favorite countries and landmarks are ready to go in the database, it is just about implementing it with enough time. We also want to add the ability to see photos of the places retrieved by our website so users have a better look at their potential vacation visits. Our most ambitious idea for this website that unfortunately couldn't become a reality, for now, is the ability to create an itinerary with a map of where locations are and how to navigate them from one to the other. This way, you can have your vacation planned out in a quick and easy way. Zotcation has a bright future, and it is only the beginning!
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