Sometimes there's not enough time in the day to finish all the mundane things on your to-do list. Sometimes it's just been a rough day. You'd rather not have to research and buy the cheapest tickets and hotel rooms for that trip you have coming up. You don't have time to be on hold for an hour just to get that little piece of information from your ISP. You have too many things going on to remember your daily schedule, and setting reminders yourself has proved inconsistent.
Don't you wish you had a personal assistant? They could get all those little things done for you. But man, that would be expensive. You don't need a personal assistant, you just need a couple things done a day, just to make your life a little easier.
So, how do you make a personal assistant affordable? Maybe one assistant can assist more than one person. With few enough tasks, maybe one assistant can help ten people. Maybe fifteen! At a tenth the cost, an assistant might be affordable to a large population.
So, how can a personal assistant help that many people? If they only accepted tasks that could be done remotely, which is nearly everything these days, they'd be able to stay in roughly one spot all day and hammer out tasks like nobody's business.
But hey, looks like it's somebody's business, now!
Cadu is the interface between a new type of personal assistant and that assistant's clientele. Using Cadu, an entrepreneurial person who is good at getting things done can become a personal assistant to a bunch of people who are bad at getting things done, but who cannot quite afford an actual assistant.
In the past, such an assistant would have had to build their own website from scratch, or rely on unwieldy methods of communication with their clients, like a mix of email and electronic calendars. But now, all you have to do is set up Cadu, and bam! You're in business.
- Cadu was written and tested with Ruby 2.3.1, but may or may not run on versions higher or lower than this... your mileage may vary
- This program is meant to be run on macOS or Linux, but the website is accessible to anyone with a browser (Chrome 55+ recommended)
- In addition to Ruby (see info on how to install Ruby here—using RVM is recommended), you need to have bundler installed (
gem install bundler) - When entering the commands detailed in this guide, the initial
$or>before a line represents the prompt string in your terminal, and should not be included in the command if you are copying/pasting
Clone the repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/kjleitz/cadu
Enter the directory and install dependencies with bundler:
$ cd cadu
$ bundle install
You must create a file called roles.yml in the config/ directory:
$ touch config/roles.yml
Open this file and edit it to set permissions for your users before they create accounts. For example, if you are the site administrator and you have two assistants (Jess and John) who want to start accepting clients, you might construct a roles.yml file like this:
# config/roles.yml
you@example.com: admin
jess@example.com: assistant
john@example.com: assistantEach line should be in the format <email>: <role>. You may add lines to this file if you need to add more non-client users later.
If someone has already created an account and they need to be made an assistant or an administrator, the only way to set their role is through the rails console. Instructions for this can be found here, but it is recommended to set the role in roles.yml before account creation instead.
Run the following commands to set up a clean database (these may take a few seconds):
$ rake db:drop
$ rake db:migrate
IMPORTANT: Only follow this subsection ("Setting up a dummy database") if you want to create dummy data so you can test the application. If you do this with a production database you may lose/alter existing data, and/or cause bugs. To reset your database to a clean slate, start again from the beginning of "Setting up the database" and skip this subsection.
Add the following to your config/roles.yml file:
# config/roles.yml
assistant@test.com: assistant
alice@telamericorp.net: assistant
ders@gmail.com: assistant
admin@test.com: adminNow, run the following commands (these may take a few seconds):
$ rake db:drop
$ rake db:migrate
$ rake db:seed
Now, proceed with the rest of the instructions. Logging in with dummy data is easy:
- If you want to log into an assistant account, try logging in with the email
alice@telamericorp.net, passwordimtheboss. Or, tryders@gmail.com, passwordp@ssw0rd - To try out a blank assistant acount, sign up with the email
assistant@test.com - If you want to try out a client account, use
adam@yahoo.comorblake@hotmail.com(both passwords arepassword) - To try out an administrator account, sign up with the email
admin@test.com
Go to https://developers.facebook.com/apps. You may need to set up a developer account if you haven't already. Click the "Add a New App" button. Fill in the name of the app ("Cadu" or whatever you want), your email address, and the category "Productivity". Then, submit the form.
In the left sidebar, click "Add Product", and then hit "Get Started" on Facebook Login. On the Settings page for Facebook Login, add http://localhost:3000/auth/facebook/callback to the input box for "Valid OAuth redirect URIs", then hit "Save Changes" in the bottom right.
In the main app's Settings page (the link underneath "Dashboard"), add localhost to the input box for "App Domains". Then, in the input box for "Site URL", add http://localhost:3000/, and hit "Save Changes" in the bottom right again.
Here you can see your "App ID" and your "App secret" (which is revealed by clicking "Show"). These will come in handy later.
Go to https://console.developers.google.com. You may need to set up a developer account if you haven't already. Click the dropdown next to the Google APIs logo and select "Create project". Enter a name for your project, agree to the terms of service, and submit the form.
Use the API search box to search "contacts", then select "Contacts API". Click the "Enable" button. Once it has been enabled, hit the left arrow link next to "Contacts API" to go back.
Use the API search box again to search "google+", then select "Google+ API". Click the "Enable" button. Once it has been enabled, hit the left arrow link next to "Contacts API" to go back.
Click the "Credentials" link in the left sidebar. Click the "OAuth consent screen" tab link and fill in the product name with "Cadu" or whatever you choose, fill in the homepage URL with http://localhost:3000, and then hit save.
Now, click "Create credentials" and select "OAuth client ID". Fill in the "Authorized redirect URIs" input box with http://localhost:3000/auth/google_oauth2/callback and hit save.
By clicking on your app's OAuth client ID name in the displayed list, you can see the "Client ID" and "Client secret". Those will come in handy later.
In a new terminal window, run the following commands, substituting for the keys/secrets found in the Facebook/Google developer consoles discussed previously:
$ export FACEBOOK_KEY=<App ID from Facebook>
$ export FACEBOOK_SECRET=<App secret from Facebook>
$ export GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=<Client ID from Google>
$ export GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=<Client secret from Facebook>
Finally, start the server:
$ rails s
Navigate to http://locahost:3000 and you can begin using Cadu!
If you neglected to add an email address to the config/roles.yml file before one of your assistants made an account, you can still make them an assistant after the fact.
Add the email and role to the config/roles.yml file like this:
...
the_users_email@example.com: assistant
...Make sure you save this file.
Now, open a terminal window and cd into the directory where you cloned Cadu. Then, run the following command to open the Rails console:
$ rails c
You will see a prompt that looks like this:
Running via Spring preloader in process 2034
Loading development environment (Rails 5.0.2)
2.3.1 :001 >
Run the following command (spelling must be absolutely correct):
> u = User.find_by(email: "the_users_email@example.com")
Now, set the user's role via the config file with this command:
> u.set_role
If this has been entered successfully, the line directly above the new prompt should be => true. Verify that the user is now an assistant with the following command:
> u.role
This should output => "assistant". If it does, that means the role change was successful.
The last step is removing any assistant that the user may have accidentally assigned to themselves:
> u.assistant = nil
> u.save
If you did those two commands correctly, the line directly above the new prompt should be => true (again). You're all set! Tell your new assistant that they are good to go. If they're stuck on a page requiring them to select an assistant for themselves, they can navigate away from the page and everything should function normally.
Once you have navigated to the site, you will be redirected to a login page, unless you are already logged in. Either log in to an existing account, sign up with your email address (the form can be accessed by clicking "Sign up" in the top navigation bar), or log in with Facebook or Google. If you log in with Facebook or Google, you will be redirected to a page where you can edit your profile and select an assistant from a drop-down list. Whether you choose an assistant from the signup page or the edit page, you must do so before you proceed.
Click the "Tasks" link in the top bar to see your task list. You can create new tasks with the form at the top of the page, and you can view your existing tasks (ordered by next due) below.
Click the "Labels" link in the top bar to see a list of all the existing labels available to you, and you can click them to view all the tasks you have created that fall under that label. You can also click "Add a new label" to create a new one and associate it with existing tasks.
Click the "My profile" link in the top bar to see your user information, including your name, email, and assigned assistant. You can click the "Edit" link to edit your information, or "Users" to find your assistant's profile.
Click the "Log out" link in the top bar to log out.
You can create a task by clicking the "Tasks" link in the top bar, and then filling out the form at the top of the page. A task requires a title, contents, and a due date. The due date defaults to two hours in the future. You can select existing labels from the scrollable box on the right, and you can select (or deselect) individual labels with cmd+click (on macOS) or ctrl+click (on Windows). You can also type labels as a comma-separated list in the input box below the scrollable box, and it will create new labels or use existing ones when they are found.
Once you create a task, you will be brought to the individual viewing page for that task. You can write comments here, which will be shared between only your assistant and yourself (as long as you have requested assistance on the task). This is a good area for discussing the task, should it need extra information. You will receive a notification if your assistant comments on one of your tasks.
You can edit the task if you click the "Edit" tab. Here you can change the title, the contents, the due date, and the labels.
To return to the task index, you can either click the "Summary" tab (which will keep you scrolled to the position of the task in the main list) or click the "Tasks" link in the top bar. If you click the "Request Assistance" button on any task, it will allow your assistant to view the task, accept the request, mark it as "in progress", and mark it complete. You will be notified of each of these events (with a notification), and you can also track the progress of each task by checking the circles at the top right of each task card:
(...) ( ) ( )– task has been requested, but your assistant has not yet accepted it(yellow) ( ) ( )– task has been accepted(yellow) (blue) ( )– task has been started(yellow) (blue) (green)– task has been completed
You can also mark a task complete if you have completed it yourself, and you can remove a task which has already been marked complete. You will see that the buttons at the bottom will change based on what you can do with the task at the moment.
You can view all tasks associated with a particular label either by clicking a label link underneath a task's title, or by clicking the "Labels" link in the top bar and selecting the label for which you would like to view associated tasks. Either action will yield a list of task cards much like your main task list, only restricted to those which fall under the label you have selected.
You can create a new label by clicking the "Labels" link in the top bar, then clicking "Add a new label" under the heading. Here, you can fill in a new label name, and select existing tasks from your task list to associate with that label (optional).
On the left side of the screen, you can see your notifications. These will be sent to you whenever something notable happens regarding a particular task of yours (e.g. a task assistance request has been accepted by your assistant, a task has been completed, etc.). They are colored according to the status of the task they are related to (yellow: accepted, blue: in progress, green: completed), and you can click them to view the task and its comments in full. After you click a notification, it moves to the bottom of the new notifications, turns gray, becomes italicized, and is marked with (seen).
On the right side of the screen, you can see your reminders. These are sent to you by your assistant, and they may or may not be associated with a task. If they are, there will be a link to that particular task, colored according to the status of the task (light gray: requested, yellow: accepted, blue: in progress, green: completed). You can dismiss a reminder you've seen by clicking the red "Dismiss" button, which will remove it from the "New" list. You can view dismissed reminders if you click the "Dismissed" tab (the content will be italicized).
The functionality and navigation as an assistant is very similar to the experience as a client, so the discussion in this section will be focused on the differences.
Before you create your account (whether by signing up with your email, logging in through Facebook/Google, etc.) you must tell the site administrator what email address you intend to use (or the email address associated with the Facebook/Google account you intend to use to sign in). The site administrator must associate that email address with an "assistant" role in the config/roles.yml file. Once this has been done, you may create your account normally. If you are asked to select an assistant from a drop-down menu, leave it unselected.
The main difference here is that you have access to a "User pages" link in the top bar, which will take you directly to a list of profile pages of yourself and your clients.
You cannot create new tasks, but you can view all the tasks your clients have requested of you, until they are complete. The client who requested the task will be listed above the task contents. You have the ability to accept requested tasks, mark them as "in progress", and mark them complete, via the buttons at the bottom of each task card. The buttons will change depending on the action you are allowed to perform on the task. There is also a button to remind a client about a task, which will bring you to the reminder creation page (but with the task drop-down already filled out). When you mark a task complete, it will disappear from your task list.
The reminder sidebar is slightly different as an assistant. It shows reminders you have sent to your clients, and those dismissed by your clients (in the "Dismissed by client" tab). On each sent reminder, there is a button which allows you to "Undo", or delete, a reminder. Under the "Sent" tab (the default), there are a series of links which take you to reminder creation pages for each of your clients. If you click one (or click the "Remind Client" button at the bottom of a task card) you will be shown a form for creating a new reminder. You can write the body of your reminder in the text box, and select a task to associate with it (optional) from the drop-down. If you clicked the "Remind Client" button on a task card to get here, it will auto-select the associated task, so you can just fill in the reminder text and hit "Send Reminder".
As an administrator, you have access to all the functionality of both a client and an assistant, and you can view, edit, and remove all tasks and user pages, dismiss and undo all reminders, view and mark seen all notifications, etc. Use your power wisely.
Bug reports and pull requests for this project are welcome at its GitHub page. If you choose to contribute, please adhere to the Ruby Community Conduct Guideline so I don't have to go around breaking necks, running out of bubblegum, etc. If you'd like to make a suggestion for new features, make them in the "Issues" section and I'll try to get around to implementing them.
This project is open source, under the terms of the MIT license.