FRATERNITY WEBSITE PROJECT

Development Process

We began this project by first building the foundation using Django. From there we assigned various tasks to each team member in our WebDev team to complete. First we had to create the 'HOME' app which would cover what visitors would see when making their way to our website. Featuring our History, Code of Ethics, Rush Information, and Homepage.

Secondly, with the 'AUTHENTICATE' app, which was developed to handle our user authentication and account management. We had to cover all bases with this app as we had a hierachy of users that needed to function right. We creates different levels like 'Alumni', 'Executive', 'Brother', 'Potential New Member', and more!

Next, we focused on our ability to have real-time polls to better run our weekly fraternity chapter. We created 'PARLEY-PRO' to handle real-time user interaction where brothers can vote 'Aye' or 'Nay' on any topic that our Executive Board poses.

Lastly, we wanted to focus on providing better tools for our brothers. By creating the 'PHILANTHROPY' and 'NEWMEMBER' apps we had better control over our information about tracking hours needed for brothers and up to date information on new members. Knowing how both were progressing with completing their goals for the semester.

All together, our website is a massive upgrade from our previous one. We plan to host it locally to maximize cost-effectiveness and allow us to have full control over our project.

Technical Challenges

Our biggest challenge in this project was trying to navigate around each other while we built the website. With a team of four active contributors and two brothers in training, it left us sometimes having conflicting work spaces which effectively rendered some updates actually setting us back.

By learning together how to function in a fullstack Web Development team we were able to figure out how to ultilize our workspaces more purposefully. By sitting down during our meetings and understanding our GitHub worked and how to branch the code we started having better design patterns and ran into near zero conflicts down the line.

All in all, my brothers and I were able to develop the website exactly how we envisioned and we are proud of the work we've done. We plan to continue to update the website into the future so that it can be a tool for future brothers to use and enjoy.

// Example code snippet
@login_required # Used for Live Update
def poll_results(request):
    aye_votes = Brother_votes.objects.filter(user_vote_choice='Aye').count()
    nay_votes = Brother_votes.objects.filter(user_vote_choice='Nay').count()
    return JsonResponse({
        'aye_votes': aye_votes,
        'nay_votes': nay_votes
    })

Key Features

• Fully Functional Website for the Fraternity
• Secure and Protected User Account Functionality
• Multiple Tools for Fraternity Members
• Custom Graphic Design and Branding

Lessons Learned

Through working on this project I became more ingrained within my fraternity and really understood the principles of which we are founded upon. Science, Friendship, and Duty are the three pillars of our organization and it felt great to be apart of something where I could demonstrate these attributes.