Let me introduce you to another great project of mine! I’m the founder of SouthCode, an online community based in Tamil Nadu for budding and experienced coders and tech enthusiasts.
Generally, I felt the need for a separate platform for automating large tasks like sending mails to a large group of people, acknowledgements, etc. It’s not something that could be done manually, and since we were also organizing an event called ProtoQuest at that time, I came up with a solution for this. AutoBat would serve as a general automation platform that would receive submissions, send acknowledgements, and handle certificate generation for a large group of people by automating the entire process.
Like every project, I began working on the design first. At this stage, I only had the concept in mind. I started analyzing what all would be required in this project, what tasks this platform must accomplish, and how I could visualize them in a simplified manner. After gathering all the requirements, I decided upon 4 primary pages, excluding the signup/login page:
From the admin’s viewpoint, I decided to work on the Keys page first. It is the initial page that appears right after the admin signs up or logs in. It displays user information, and a QR code is present as well, which, once scanned, redirects to the WhatsApp page.
It also consists of a section where we enter the target link (presumably a Google Form link) and the expected number of entries. Another section comprises the email IDs and phone numbers acquired from the corresponding sheet. I implemented the Bento layout for this page as it helped visualize the required data in a clean and concise manner.
Once I was satisfied with the Keys page, I moved on to the WhatsApp page, which again features a Bento layout. At the top, it consists of the parameters or placeholders commonly used in messages. Below that is a space to type out the required message.
We can make use of the placeholders present in the above section while drafting the message. Once we define the placeholders for one item, it automatically detects them for subsequent ones. On the right-hand side, a Start button is provided to begin the automation process, and below that, we can view the list of teams to whom the message has been sent. The admin can also verify the sender’s information before starting the process.
Similar to the WhatsApp page, I also designed the Email page. Finally, I designed the Certificates page, which consists of a section to upload the file design, define the generation link, and a status section to preview each file along with its generation status.
It includes details like file type, size, and status, indicated by a green tick or a red cross. This helps the admin determine which files have been generated successfully and which have failed. There is also a message draft section where the admin can draft the required message with suitable placeholders and, after proper definition, link the filename with the corresponding placeholder and send it accordingly.
I completed the design process in a short span of time, and I must say it looked good. Overall, the entire concept was effective since it saved time and reduced manual effort.
However, I didn’t get to implement this for the proposed event due to certain constraints. Still, I liked the concept and hope this project will soon be implemented for future events.