Short Explanation
Flowcite bring together the most innovative services for academic writing to reduce the cognitive overhead of researchers and let them focus solely on the content. Connecting the most innovative solutions for collaborative research, writing, editing, and publishing. From university professors to students - all have to grapple with a large task: writing high-quality papers that make valuable contributions to the world’s knowledge and to humanity.
- The data is reliable, credible, and safe for use and citations are automatically created and added to report papers.
- The tool uses a combination of machine learning and human input to bring your writing up to a professional level.
- Flowcite has the standard, high quality typesetting system for writing in scientific, mathematical, and technical fields.
Project Goals
This project aims to create a space so people all over the world can join clean-up events based on their nearest beach. This website has several functionalities which are:
- Identifying relevant information in scholarly publications
- Checking the credibility of sources
- Tracking their references and notes
- Writing and citing in the required format for the chosen publisher
- Proofreading their work to avoid unintentional plagiarism and contacting experts for reviews
Tech Stack Used
Flowcite is a website using React and Express as the back-end framework. The frontend was created using React and TypeScript to provide a good developer experience as well as other advantages like static site generation and image optimization. Data from users is sent to the server and stored in a PostgreSQL database.
We also use ElasticSearch to do efficient and scalable full-text search, data indexing, and real-time analytics. We have such three roles:
- Reference Manager
- Manuscript Editor
- Author Services
Website Demo & Screenshots
Pro tip: click the image to make it full screen
The Problems and How I Deal With It
Problem we encountered on the frontend was integrating third-party libraries with React. One specific challenge we faced was incorporating a date picker component into our application. Although there are many popular date picker libraries available, finding one that seamlessly integrates with React and meets our specific requirements took some time and research.
To tackle this issue, I collaborated with frontend developers and leveraged our experience working with React to identify a suitable date picker library that offered good customization options, accessibility, and good community support. We carefully evaluated different options, considering factors such as ease of integration, documentation quality, and ongoing maintenance.
Additionally, to streamline the development process and avoid reinventing the wheel, I utilized my React Starter Template which provided a solid foundation and structure for building our frontend. This helped us bootstrap the project quickly and saved valuable development time.
Overall, despite facing challenges and encountering various technical hurdles, we effectively addressed them through collaboration, continuous communication, leveraging existing resources, and making informed decisions.
Lessons Learned
Throughout this frontend task using React, I have learned the importance of effective collaboration and communication. Working closely with team members, we were able to sprint through the UI and layout within a tight deadline of just about 12 hours. Constantly engaging in Zoom calls enabled us to quickly discuss ideas, resolve queries, and make progress efficiently.
In addition, utilizing my Starter Repo proved immensely helpful in kickstarting the project. The starter template provided a solid foundation, allowing me to focus more on the actual development rather than setting up the initial project structure.
Moreover, I have gained insights into overcoming challenges related to authentication. Integrating Auth0 proved to be a bit tricky, particularly because it is commonly used in a Node.js environment while our backend team was working with Laravel. As a result, implementing the required authentication features took some extra time for the backend team.
In conclusion, this experience taught me the value of collaboration, the efficiency of using well-designed starter templates, and the ability to adapt and overcome challenges related to integrating third-party libraries and tools in a different technology stack.