theSourceCode

Here are some things I got done this week:

- Found a creative commons logo (www.vecteezy.com)

- Implemented the Add Entry button

- Figured out which map to use since Google’s price hike and generosity of only 1 map load per day

- Implemented a JavaScript library to validate addresses in the entry form

- Send entry form information to a Firebase database (with some help from this gist)

- Redirect the form to the homepage

- Implemented a search bar for searching the world and showing the surrounding area for locations in the database using the same js library from above

- Deploy/added to my portfolio site

Here are some things I did not get done this week:

- Show a success or error message based on the form info given by the user

- Admin Console for the data (incl. auth)

Here’s what I learned:

It is okay to branch out of the norm or the comfortable. I used to use Google Maps API a lot until this year’s pricing blindside. As a college student, who just wants to create applications that aren’t going to be getting a ton of traffic, but want it to work with actual industry comparable technologies, I don’t have the budget to pay for a possible pricing overage of one map load per day ( Google 😒). I used Mapfit as an alternative.

What I can do to make it better:

I know I can scale it back into a 1-page web app using a modal for the add entry form. Nothing robust, because it isn’t robust.

What’s next:

Today I’ve gotten a spark of creative juices running through me. I don’t know where it came from. It actually trickled in yesterday. I started working on one of my personal projects again.

It’s the strangest thing. At the beginning of the summer, I felt like I would make the time to work on as many of my own projects as possible. After I got into the groove of working, at my part/full-time job, I felt an incredible sense of inadequacy as I am surrounded by incredible developers who I have no doubt will get awesome jobs and do amazing things with their careers when they graduate. I, on the other hand, barely familiar with React or backend and being called a developer? I felt like I set myself up to fail ( or learn, depending on how you look at it ).

Since I felt like nothing I was doing was right, and had so many projects and product ideas, my anxiety wanted me to work on and finish all of them at the same time. It got tiring trying to figure out the stack of everything and learn new technologies, the ones I wanted to use but didn’t know them at all... so I stopped.

Yesterday, I sketched out a new Current Projects page for my portfolio site and realized I could split the page into current, past, and future projects with “chips” or tags for quick reference if the project was personal, work, or freelance. After that, I realized I should just start over on my International Caribbeans project and not use React unless I deem it necessary later on.

I’ve taken on a similar strategy to my current development and design teams using sprint planning so that I don’t feel unaccomplished when I only get a few things done per week. I’m also using a CSS framework so that I don’t have to worry about the CSS too much; I am not, and do not have, a UX designer.

What about the other projects? What happens when I find a library or technique I could use with one of them? I bookmark it or write it in my notes for the specific project and revisit it when I get there.

I just found out that one of my project ideas wasn’t a rare thing. Apparently, a student (or team of students) at NYU Tandon created a site that does basically what my idea was a year ago. However, I am still going to go for it. I know that it isn’t rare to find out that the basis of an idea isn’t a unicorn, but if I let that stop me, I could be giving up on something I could have made better. So, I’m going to shoot my shot, find a way to create an API, create this web app, make it as good as I want it to be, have a small group of students test it, then release it.

Currently in France, on Spring Break, and all I want to do is work on a personal project. Così eccomi.

I am working on something that can either go the way of using Java for its object-oriented structure or SQL for its organizational nature and malleability after the fact. I’m having trouble because I wanted to be able to build this on Github but I am having doubts about putting SQL on Github and if Github can actually run dynamic pages. Thus, I am looking into Amazon AWS for this project, which would build up my knowledge of technologies but I did want to keep all my work organized on Github.

One of my goals today was to disable the use of the form add-on we were using to send email notifications to our staff and customers/clients who submitted the contact form on our website. Using Google Apps Script, I did it in a couple hours. The add-on was okay, but if I know I could code something that I understood the mechanics of, then why wouldn’t I?

This code should be put in the Script Editor of your Google Form:

// retrieve all information that is given in the contact form // send a response message right away to the submitter, detailing their submission // send a message to the service team effectively describing the person's contact query and all information given function sendEmails(e) { // gives an array var responses = FormApp.getActiveForm().getResponses(); var length = responses.length; var lastResponse = responses[length-1]; // gives another array var formValues = lastResponse.getItemResponses(); var name = formValues[0].getResponse(); var email = formValues[1].getResponse(); var subject = formValues[2].getResponse(); var message = formValues[3].getResponse(); // customer service team email var csEmail = ''; if (subject == "") { // email subject for the cs team to see var subjectCS = 'A Message Has Been Sent to Customer Service Team from ' + email; // email subject for the submitter to see var subjectSUB = 'Your Message Has Been Received'; } else { // email subject for the cs team to see var subjectCS = 'A Message Has Been Sent to Customer Service Team: ' + subject; // email subject for the submitter to see var subjectSUB = 'Your Message Has Been Received: ' + subject; } // form the body of the email for the cs team to see var bodyCS = name + ' has sent this message to the Customer Service team through the website contact form: ' + message; // send email notification to the customer service team MailApp.sendEmail({ to: csEmail, replyTo: email, subject: subjectCS, htmlBody: bodyCS }); // for the body of the email for the submitter to see - like a reciept var bodySUB = 'You have submitted the following information for our team to take a look at: Message: ' + message + ' We will get back to you shortly with a response.'; // send email to the submitter MailApp.sendEmail({ to: email, subject: subjectSUB, htmlBody: bodySUB, noReply: true }); }

Phase 1 was a success.

Welp, here we go.

I am about to embark on the craziest ride, I think I’ve taken on in my young and short career as a web developer. I am currently working on my team’s website that we decided we needed a couple months ago. As the only developer on this project, and being 2 months in, I feel a sense of freedom -- within reason -- to do what I want. Design-wise? Hell no. But in the sense of hacking my way to making it the least expensive it can be.

I’ve already found a way to make our contact form collect submissions, send a confirmation email (using a free add-on), alert one of our team members when the submission is made (so that we can respond asap), and it doesn’t even look like I’m using Google Forms. I’d done a bunch of research, most of which was information posted years ago and Google had updated Forms, Sheets, and Script by then. No, I didn’t end up having to use Google Scripts. My point is, I was going to integrate MailChimp with our newsletter subscription form, but I realized I could do the same thing I did with the contact form. The only difference is, how do I go about unsubscriptions? See, the point is to streamline everything so that the technology is working for you instead of you working for it. So, after I wrote down what it is I actually want this unsub form to do, I’m currently researching how I can do this and if it is even possible with the Google Apps suite.

Here’s what I want to do:

Phase 1:

Add an unsubscribe link to newsletter emails, which would take the user to a page on our website that will prompt them to enter their email.

Accept the email on a Google Form

Have some sort of script that will take that entry (the email) and look for it on the subscription form entries and delete the entry

Phase 2:

Make the link in the email take the email address right away to make it a better user experience