This project was designed for a start-up transcription business, Type It Now Transcription. They specialize in professional, competitive, turn around time focused transcription for corporate, legal, medical and educational purposes. The wide variety of options and unique pricing scheme posed a wonderful challenge for setting up commerce. You can view the website created at typeitnow.herokuapp.com.
This website boasts several wonderful features. There is an informative shopfront complete with FAQs, contact forms and instant price calculators to entice and persuade new customers. There is also a membership area where, upon registering, customers can create transcription orders by uploading files and selecting the transcription options and categories that accommodate their needs. Once an order has been placed, they can avail of a "Transcript Tracker" which logs what phase of the transcription process their file is in, how long until it will be ready and what the receiving email is. Once the transcript has been sent out via email, the customer can then leave reviews on the individual order. If the customer has files they would like transcribed but are not yet ready to place an order, they can add the order to their "Saved For Later" queue. Both of these tools can be viewed from the Profile page where customers can also update their contact information and view their recent Forum posts. The Forum is in place in order to link and network the companies customers.
This project uses the Python Django Framework for building a server which connects multiple web applications through a robust structure. It also connects up with a mySQL database to store customer information as well as transcript files and forum posts. Using 3rd Party Javascript and Python Packages (see Tech Used), I created a esoteric commerce site that catered to the unique technical needs of a transcription company while maintaining their start up aesthetic .
- Visually effective and informative presentation layer
- Contact/Custom Price Quote forms
- Instant Quote Live Calculation Form
- Membership area with customizable profiles
- Commerce area with file upload, transcription detail and PayPal payment sections
- Order tracking area with live ETA, as well as order summary, plus optional reviews once ETA has been passed
- "Saved For Later" order section
- Forum with user created threads and posts
- User created polls
- Mobile friendly layout
- Testing
- Django
- A Python based high-level framework, Django was used to serve data from to server to my web based interface.
- MySQL
- A database management system, MySQL is the most popular database tool in the world. It is a lightweight relational database used to store and connect data.
- Django Paypal
- A python package Django Paypal was used to link and utilize Paypal's Standard Payments.
- Django TinyMCE
- Django TinyMCE is a package which contains a widget which renders a form field, used to facilitate form threads and posts, as well as reviews on the site.
- Mutagen
- A audio metadata package, Mutagen is used to process the audio files that are uploaded to the site for orders.
- Bootstrap
- Bootstrap is the most popular framework for developing responsive layouts.
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I created some interactive elements using jQuery, such as click-to-reveal information panels:
Interactive Information Panels
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I used JavaScript in order to pull live information from the browser and create an instant quote calculator:
I used a variety of methods to ensure the responsiveness of my dashboard. These included:
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Mobile First Design
- Mobile First Design is a fundamental part of designing for a multi screen world. I build this dashboard with mobile space, functionality and utility as first priority.
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Flexbox
- I used Flexbox display for simple yet powerful design layouts that ensure responsiveness. Flexbox can come in very handy when you need to devise seemingly straight-forward designs (which easily become tricky using more traditional methods) with just a few lines of code:
Three divs vertically displayed in a single row
- I used Flexbox display for simple yet powerful design layouts that ensure responsiveness. Flexbox can come in very handy when you need to devise seemingly straight-forward designs (which easily become tricky using more traditional methods) with just a few lines of code:
I used a variety of methods to test the responsiveness of my dashboard. These included:
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Testing In Different Environments
- There is no simulator that could replace simply testing my dashboard in as many environments as possible. Using as many different browsers and devices as I could get my hands on was key to weening out design flaws. Testing in Different Environments was a integral part of guaranteeing my dashboard functions correctly for every User.
- Within the project I have included a few Test Suits in order to test the permissions of pages, though it has not been extensive.
- I have enjoyed working on this project immensely and am very proud of the progress I made on it. It is by no means a completed site in my eyes.
- I have had a great honor of finding employment in the development industry during the completion of this project. Unfortunately, this has translated negatively to the work I am presenting to you today. Despite my employment dreams having been fulfilled, I realize that my time commitment and skill dedication has drifted from the project at hand.