Shifting Power serves as a platform for learning about bicycle mechanics. There are 14 videos produced by Bikes Not Bombs' youth programs that give viewers a comprehensive overview of how their bike is put together. The videos are hosted on YouTube and this web application organizes them into categories based on how they work together.
A user can navigate the site a few different ways. First, they can click on any part of the bicycle and be redirected to a list of videos that are related to that particular part. This will allow the users to access relevant videos regardless of language. Second, they can choose a specific video from the dropdown in the navigation bar, or third, simply watch any of the videos that populate the index page when the website first loads. Videos are rated by users and an average rating and number of ratings are displayed with each video.
If a user wants to rate a video, they must sign up and sign in to the application. From there a user can choose a rating based on a one through five scale and see their rating added to the video. A user can choose a different rating if they would like and this will automatically update their previous rating. If a user wants to remove a rating, they can click "Delete My Rating" and their rating will be removed.
This client-side application was built using EmberJS on top of a Ruby on Rails API/PostgreSQL database.
- Building an admin view that would allow an admin user to perform CRUD actions on videos and tags.
- The option to change langauge to Spanish. These videos were produced in both English and Spanish, and I would like this app to be more accessable to users who speak languages other than English.
- Add more videos/resources. A third party API could be integrated to give a user access to even more videos and resources related to the bike part they have clicked on or searched for.
This application was both challenging and exciting to build. It was my first time using a real front end framework and working with both the advantages and limitations that come along with that. I spent my planning time building user stories, wireframes and mapping out the database, and most of the decisions I had to make were around limiting and managing the scope of the project. I feel like there is a lot of potential for this to grow, but I focused on creating an MVP that would give users an idea of how this app could work in the real world.
Working with Ember, I did face some tough challenges, especially with the rating feature, but relied on my class notes and the many resources available to me to push through and create what I envisioned.
- A user can register as a user, log in, log out and change password.
- A user can see a list of videos.
- A user can watch a video.
- A user can click on an image of a bicycle and see videos related to that part.
- A user can rate a video.
- A user can update their rating of a video.
- A user can delete their rating of a video.
