UpToDater

UpToDater is an API service for showing the users the latest updates and features in an application. Use it to check if the app has been updated since the last time the user logged or refreshed their browser.

It was inspired by Wufoo's similar service, as described by founder Kevin Hale in “How to Build Products Users Love” in “How to Start a Startup”.

Made by the team at Weld (www.weld.io), the code-free app and web creation tool:

Screenshot

Usage

Note: this is currently the backend only.

Example:

curl http://localhost:3002/api/updates?from=1991-01-03

...would return a list of updates since Scorpions released “Wind of Change”, or an empty JSON array if nothing had changed.

How to Run

Just start with:

# Set password used in API requests
export UPTODATER_PASSWORD=MYPASSWORD

grunt

Server will default to http://localhost:3002

Queries

List new:

curl http://localhost:3002/api/updates?from=2014-11-28

List all:

curl http://localhost:3002/api/updates?all=true

Add new update:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{ "title": "Example feature", "description": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.", "imageUrl": "https://placekitten.com/g/800/600" }' http://localhost:3002/api/updates?password=MYPASSWORD
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{ "title": "Minimum post" }' http://localhost:3002/api/updates?password=MYPASSWORD
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{ "title": "Maximum post", "description": "", "authors": "", "url": "", "imageUrl": "", "dateCreated": "2015-01-01", "reloadNeeded": true, "priority": 1 }' http://localhost:3002/api/updates?password=MYPASSWORD

Edit update:

curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{ "title": "New name of feature" }' http://localhost:3004/api/updates/5477a6f88906b9fc766c843e?password=MYPASSWORD

Delete update:

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3002/api/updates/5477a6f88906b9fc766c843e?password=MYPASSWORD

Delete all:

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3002/api/updates/ALL?password=MYPASSWORD

Data properties

var UpdateSchema = new Schema({
	title: { type: String, required: true },
	description: String,
	authors: String,
	url: String,
	imageUrl: String,
	dateCreated: { type: Date, default: Date.now, index: true },
	reloadNeeded: { type: Boolean, default: false },
	priority: { type: Number, default: 2 }, // 1-3
	style: {} // CSS styles
});

Implementation

UpToDater is based on the Yeoman Express generator with the "MVC" option.

Deploying on Heroku

# Set up and configure app
heroku create MYAPPNAME
heroku addons:add mongolab
heroku config:set NODE_ENV=production

# Set password used in API requests
heroku config:set UPTODATER_PASSWORD=MYPASSWORD