Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with webapp

Background Gmail automation, what program(s) to use?

querty — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:51:49 -0800

I want to write a script to automatically check for new emails with a certain gmail label, then check the message body for a link containing a certain keyword or phrase and click on it. The logic part should be easy, but what program(s) should I be using for this? Requirements...

• Needs to run in the background
• Needs to follow clicked link to continue further action on the new page

CasperJS with PhantomJS looks promising and might just do the job. But Gmail could change their UI at any minute which may break my script.

Are there any other programs that may help?

Good web app allowing fundraising participants to accept credit cards?

delfuego — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 18:40:59 -0800

I'm the director of a local road race that raises funds for our public school, and I'm looking for a reasonable online app that lets us solicit credit card donations via individual participant pages which would associate given donations with the participants who solicited them. Generically accepting credit cards for online donations is fairly easy, and since we're a 501(c)(3), there are even good options out there that charge us lower fees for donations. But for this road race, we have a group of people who choose to raise money in return for a free bib; for these folks, we need to be able to tie donations to the specific people who raised the money (that's the way we know who gets the free entry to the race). So if John Doe wants to raise money for his bib, I need to be able to go into the web app, create a page for John, and then give him the URL so that he can let his friends and family donate via the page. The backend would then tell me that John's page generated $X in donations, and I'd know when he hit the level needed for his free entry.

We use an online race registration system that has this exact service in place, but its overhead charges are usury-level awful -- $1 per credit card transaction plus 6.5% of the total amount charged, which is way way way way higher than even the standard, much less the nonprofit, rates that we can get with Paypal, Stripe, or any of the other reasonable services. So I'm investigating what other options we have, and I'm sure that in 2013, someone has tied one of the fantastic new online credit card transaction engines into a system like this!

Spinning, exploding Excel-driven web app: How or should it be?

metajc — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:45:34 -0800

Sometimes, I am a front-end web developer. Frequently, I meet new people at work who want to turn really complicated Excel documents into dazzlingly interactive web applications. Besides Excel's "Save to Web App" or "Save to SharePoint" features, such people ask if I can tap into an industry to support this -- perhaps scads of agencies and web-based or downloadable tools that make "websites" or at least customizable, interactive reports from Excel spreadsheets, data, and calculations. I'm yet to find this an abundance of examples of this. Are there? If so, what do you call them? If you use Google Analytics, MailChimp or Hootsuite, you are familiar with bouncing, cheerful report graphs and charts.

I know that those specific tools required teams and years worth of custom programming. I assume that these apps also derive their presentations from databases that are not Excel files. People seem to passionately believe, however, that there has got to be an easy way to pour Excel spreadsheets into a machine that spits out more simplistic but nonetheless animated pie charts, line charts, map charts, bar charts, etc. You can customize the colors and fonts! Click here to add your logo!

I've been Googling all morning and I see a few discussions on StackOverflow about how to pipe data into and out of this or that via Ruby, Python, Django or PHP. I see a few homebrewed applications that sort of do something via Javascript.

For the sake of specification, say I have an excel file with multiple tabs. Each tab has thousands of rows and nearly 50 columns. The existing Excel charts are based on calculations of those tabs. Is there a web or intranet-friendly tool that will eat that spaghetti and excrete more colorful, JQuery-powered whirligigs?

I don't mean to come off as sarcastic to the believers or naive to those who know. It just seems a tall order to me. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

Where's that resume webapp?

tomcochrane — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:25:02 -0800

I'm looking for software or a webapp where I can enter entries and details for a CV or resume into a database and easily pick and chose items from that database to build CVs for different purposes. Any ideas? The ability to tag or code each entry with dates or categories would be fantastic too.

Special order web app ideas?

dance — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:53:24 -0800

I'm looking for a web (or desktop at a push) app that will help me track customer special orders. These are essentially items we don't carry in the shop as normal but order in for people as and when.

It should be able to keep track of date, customer name, price agreed etc.

For extra points it could email/SMS (UK) the customer when the product comes into stock (we'd have to tell it with a tickbox or similar the product was in).

For extra extra points it might email a list of all open tickets to a defined address at the end of each day.

Any ideas? I've looked at various project management web apps and "to do" lists but none seem appropriate.

Thanks!

Advice on converting a python program to a web app?

conrad101 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 05:04:03 -0800

Hi I have programmed on eclipse, a reasonably straightforward program in Python 2.7 that applies image filters to user selected images e.g. by turning them to sepia, black & white, negative, etc. It uses Tkinter for the graphics user interface and the program functions ok. However, I was thinking about how to turn this into a web app. So to transfer this to an Amazon cloud server, I understand that for the client side user interface I would need to convert the program by adding html and javascript to the client side while python handles the server side? Does anyone know of any tutorials or other resources that are particularly good at covering web apps like this using python, html and javascript?

inb4 google wave

JimmyJames — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 05:45:14 -0800

Do you know of any online solutions to collect submissions from a group of people and then archive it in a useful way? Back story:
Currently, my Admin will ask teachers to write down followup questions, ideas, thoughts, etc on Post its after a staff meeting.
These ideas are sometimes re-typed and emailed out, or occasionally just put on the wall for the rest of the meeting.
I'm looking for a solution so that we could as a staff, compile our ideas into a online place and store them so that they would be archived and accessible. We all have laptops at staff meetings.

I envision it going something like this:
"Staff, please write down any resources/strategies you use to scaffold lessons for English Language Learners on the X"
X= newfangled wiki, forum, app...

Staff submits these ideas via simple GUI.

Submissions are easily viewed and archived as staff resource.

The solution could be something that is web based app, a third party website or even something I could install like a wiki or a forum.

Any and all resources that sound remotely useful are welcome. I'd rather sort through a ton of ideas than have people be afraid of it not being quite right. We would be happy to change our procedure to fit the right platform.

Thanks in advance.

nice work--can I just take that from you? k-thx-bye

libraryhead — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 09:42:56 -0800

I have a really interesting idea for a web app that I've been kicking around for a while. Today I discovered a site that implements some of the core functionality, but seems to be a low-priority side project for the developer. I'm thinking about asking if he wants to work together. Good idea? I'm not a programmer. I have a lot of domain knowledge and contacts in the area, a strong user experience concept, self-taught front-end production skills, and the drive and enthusiasm to launch this as a real product.

The developer is a Ruby on Rails pro who has a day job at a well-known social site. The hobby site is well-designed and functional, but maybe a little too minimal to be of much use. It needs a few more key features and some attention to UX to really have a chance of going anywhere. It also hasn't gotten much uptake or notice since launching last fall.

My husband is a RoR developer and has said that he will work with me on this project, but there's a limit to how much time he can put in. Rather than knocking ourselves out to create a MVP that's more or less a clone of this guy's hobby site, I'd like to approach him about working together.

I could see either partnering with him on a long-term basis or, if he's bored with it, him handing over the code and Mr. Libraryhead picking up where he left off. Ideally we could compensate him somehow, but buying the site for anything more than token money is not really an option. For this to make sense for me, I'd need to have quite a bit of say in the future development of the project. I'm open to collaboration, but if I can't expand it in the ways I have in mind, I'd rather make it from scratch.

If you were the developer in question, how would you feel if this happened to you? How can I frame this as something other than, you did a bunch of work and now I want to swoop in and take it over?

If it matters, at least some of the code is up on GitHub with "The MIT License". I really don't know enough about OpenSource etiquette to even parse what that means. It seems to be an open invitation to build something based on his work, but I'm guessing that doesn't extend to a directly competing site.

Links, links everywhere

Memo — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:45:52 -0800

I love the One Thing Well blog and the newish The Toolbox. Are there any other good link blogs similar in purpose (links to resources and webapps instead of news/articles)?

Help me track myself, or: 23.2% chance of the East Village

suedehead — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:57:10 -0800

How can I write an algorithm that predicts my future location? I'm working on a project that involves tracking my location with OpenPaths, and creating a website displaying a map of probable locations that I would be at the current point in time, based on two factors: the time of day and day of week.

So, if you accessed the website at 4:52pm on a Tuesday, the website would calculate according to historical location data, the probability that I'm at X, Y, and Z locations at 4:52pm on Tuesday. This information would be shown on a map with vague fuzzy locations, so the point is not so much that the user knows exactly where I am, but that he/she gets a vague sense of where I might be. This is a screenshot of a prototype website, built with a mix of php and python, in which gradients are overlaid onto a Google Maps-driven site.

I have everything working except for the actual algorithm. Currently the website just grabs data from a similar timeframe, and privileges the data if it happens to lie on the same day of the week. So if I've been somewhere at 5:10pm on a previous Tuesday, it'll display that moment with a higher opacity than a 4:52pm location point on a previous Saturday, for example. But this algorithm leads to certain inaccuracies -- for example, my schedule depends on the specific day of the week, but I can't just look at weekday data, since I also follow cycles of day/night that are similar across all spectrums.

I'm trying to implement a better, 'real' algorithm. Would anyone happen to have any ideas for an effective and relatively accurate algorithm to thus predict my location based on historical data? I'm not interested in hyper-accuracy, since I'm trying to obfuscate my specific location anyways, just a kind of proof-of-concept workability.

Location-prediction algorithms seem to result in a slew of massively complex algorithms. Some simple machine learning/markov model/decision tree would be interesting, I think, but I'm not sure how to apply location (gps coords), day of week, and time as two different variables and one output. I've looked at the Google Prediction API, which is perfect, except that it can only deal with one result, not two (lat & long coordinates). Something even more simple would suffice. Any ideas? Thanks!

MeFi Academics: Describe the perfect conference web app

Deathalicious — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:14:16 -0800

MeFi academics: imagine you're attending a conference. Describe the your dream conference web app/website. I'm working on a web-based app (with schedule, planner, maps, etc) for an upcoming academic conference. I'm looking for things you've loved or hated about conference apps you've used in the past, as well as any wondrous ideas that exist only in your head.

What features are essential?
What features do you never use?
What are things you find frustrating at conferences that good technology might help to resolve?

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING:
The web app will be designed to work on a broad range of devices.
The data will be real time (that is, it will not have outdated times or rooms)
No ads, flashy graphics, or UI gimmicks.

AND ALSO:
Funds and tech aren't infinite. For example, we can't embed RFID tags on everyone's badge and get their exact location inside the building.

NIFTY ASIDE:
Are you familiar with QR codes? Would you be willing to use QR codes to do things like check into presentations, view upcoming presentations in a room, add event to your planner, or go directly to a discussion forum?

Which tool do I need?

luriete — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:19:45 -0800

Looking for a social media tool that allows visitors to our website to sign & send a pre-written email (and to possibly add their own comments or edits as well, but that's not 100% necessary) to a group of local politicians. I've seen things like this many many times on social and political campaign websites, but have no idea if there's an out-of-the-box solution or if we need to hire someone to write it. Our group, SactoMoFo (Sacramento Mobile Food) is trying to push for a change to local regulations that effectively restrict food trucks from operating inside the city limits; after a 3,500 signature petition and a few events (one of which brought in the entire city council and 10,000 attendees), the city promised to revisit the current regulations, but after one particular local restaurateur lobbied the city heavily against changes, they've now dropped the issue. We want to get it in front of them again, and this will be one of many tools we use to do it.

Making artwork "pop" on the web

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:40:44 -0800

Question for a web app I'm building... How can I distort a flat image as though it were projected onto a contour, using JS/jQuery and HTML5 or ColdFusion's server-side image processing? What I'm imagining is some sort of drawing tool that lets users design their own clothing patterns. They do this on a flat canvas. But I want to provide a way to "see what it looks like" on a virtual mannequin. This requires warping the image along the torso edges and bust, for example, to simulate depth in a natural way. I don't need to animate it or show multiple angles, though I'd like to offer a variety of body types, both male and female. Ideally I could provide a customizable (for me, not the users) depth map for each body type, and let the software do the rest. Especially if the alternative is figuring out a complicated chain of mathematical functions, and trying to tweak them manually in code!

I'm still in the brainstorming phase so go ahead and re-interpret my methodology or think way outside the box. I do have to use ColdFusion. Flash isn't an option for this project, and neither is WebGL. I'm trying to avoid browser-specific hacks too, though I've already decided to go full HTML5; IE is not supported. I'd prefer if this thing works in Firefox, Chrome, and Safari though.

I've never done any kind of 3D programming, so if this question crosses into that territory, please speak to me as if I were a very small child. Links to tutorials would be nice too! If what I'm asking for isn't possible, what are my next best options?

Alternatives to Joe's Goals?

Homo economicus — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:59:45 -0800

I'm looking for a website or mac app along the lines of Joe's Goals, but with more features and polish. Do similar alternatives exist?

Getting from concept to execution

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:23:41 -0800

I'm developing a web app in Open BlueDragon with a MongoDB backend. So, uh... how do I deploy this thing, anyway? I installed OpenBD and MongoDB for a few reasons, one of which was price (you can't beat free!). Everything's coming along nicely and I love this platform. I was just obliviously writing code on my laptop when the thought occurred to me... I have no idea how to move to a production environment when the time comes. I'll break it down into five specific questions:

What are some reliable hosting companies that support both OpenBD and MongoDB? I don't anticipate needing oodles of bandwidth and I'm on a shoestring budget.
Could I use a BlueDragon host instead of OpenBD, without needing to change my code? What would be the pros and cons of that?
What do I need to know, in general, about making the switch from developer to site admin? With regards to security procedures, monitoring, and the like? The more of this my host will take care of for me, the better.
Should I be using GitHub? I never have, and don't really understand the point, but all the cool webdevs do it, so maybe there's some reason that I don't know about? An overview of the service would be very helpful for me.
More of a business question: How do I monetize this? It's a browser-based MMO space trading game. It's important to me that it remain free-to-play, free from ads, and with none of those Farmvillian in-game microtransactions. An acquaintance of mine suggested Kickstarter but I've never used it, and I'm concerned that it only pays an initial sum rather than an ongoing stream. I'm not looking to get rich here, just to cover my costs. I will have donation links in the site footer, maybe that alone would be sufficient over time?

Fax for web app

Kellster — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:32:58 -0800

I need to integrate faxing with my web application, and I am having a brutal time finding one that allows the ability to send, receive and (maybe most importantly) create user accounts programmatically (via API). Any ideas?

Building Web Apps

humboldt32 — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:41:54 -0800

I have a request from one of my clients to build a web app that's beyond what I've ever done before. Could anyone point me at some solutions or places to bone-up? I'm a web builder and I'm confident working with HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, mySQL. My Flash-Fu, however, is lacking. Never had the need. I've done some light Flash work but nothing like this request.

My client has asked to have something like this built.

I work with CS3 and I can get myself up to speed (I think). My client also doesn't mind waiting for me to get higher on the learning curve.

Any recommendation for places with templates or samples I can buy to get me going? Lessons, tutorials?

I'd appreciate any advice at all so that I can weigh this request against my reality before I tell her it may be beyond my capabilities.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

How did these web sites get so pretty and dynamic? (e.g. HealthMonth, NirvanaHQ)

jander03 — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:59:19 -0800

How did these web sites get so pretty and dynamic? (e.g. HealthMonth, NirvanaHQ) I've programmed on the web before with PHP and mySQL, so I understand how dynamic websites get data. But these very pretty websites are beyond me even when I look over Ruby on Rails tutorials (it just looks like a standard programming language!).

How are tasks dragged and dropped in Nirvana HQ?
What makes the goal boxes in health month sort of swing into view and resort? Are these simple things to do?

Would love to see a tutorial or a WYSIWYG editor for either.

Help me fix my nifty webapp

sararah — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:27:49 -0800

Help me repair or replace this nifty instrument availability web app on my facility's website. I am trying to update some features on the website for the instrumentation facility where I work. The instrument availability table is something I'm pretty clueless about. As far as I can tell, the script is written in Perl with a MySQL table that collects the logon-logoff information. This was written by some guy named Kyle six years ago, and even my predecessor isn't sure how it is pieced together. We can't even actually find the Perl script buried deep in the web server. So I'm kind of starting from scratch.

What I have:
1. Five (soon to be six) computers that get logged on and logged off multiple times per day. It is possible I may extend this to other machines that are used in the facility in the future, but for now I'm just focusing on the five that I manage. (Obviously there are more than 5 machines in the current table, and some of them are no longer in use, and some should read BROKEN but I don't know how to change the color.)
2. A logon-logoff script on each computer that calculates how much time the user is on the computer which we use for billing purposes (I can get more information on this script if it would be helpful to figure out a solution). This data is collected in a central program for billing purposes.
3. Computers on a variety of platforms. WinXP, a few flavors of RedHat, and some Solaris machines just for funsies. The Solaris machines are the only ones (of my machines) that are actually working with the script right now since the other machines were moved last fall and something in the database was borked when they were brought back online. (VXR300 and VXR400 are the only two of mine that work in the table at the moment. AV600 and DRX400 don't work properly and I have a new one to add.)

What I want:
1. Something similar to the current setup to this that tells users live usage information so they can know what machines are available. It could be fancier than this, or it can be just as simple.
1a. Something that is easily scalable for when we add new instrumentation.
2. Options for open-source or commercial software packages that would do the same thing that I wouldn't have to code.
3. If #2 is not an option, direction as to the best scripting language to use for this task and how to accomplish it. "Hiring a computer science student part-time" is an option we have if I can't figure it out ;)

Thanks in advance!

It's Hard to Google for a web app that is a web service request tester

theRussian — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:38:35 -0800

Help me find a lost web app that sent HTTP requests. Ok, this is my first "help me find this thing I lost" question -- but you guys are generally very good with these.

Website: let you send HTTP requests to a url -- specify POST/GET, add parameters and all that jazz, specify headers (I believe). Had a colorful/pinkish stripey background?

Ring any bells? I used this back in March, and sadly did not bookmark it. I need it for quick testing of a one off web service. I can use curl in the meantime, but this website was pretty useful.

Help a Python rookie do something slightly out of his league without flying too close to the sun

Rickalicioso — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:55:14 -0800

[PythonFilter] How can I create a location-based web application using Python? Or, what are some good resources to help me get started with this specific task? I'd like to create a web application using Python (and perhaps Django?) that will calculate the environmental benefits of a residential photovoltaic (PV) system at a user-specified location – details below if interested. I was wondering how I could get started creating such a program. I've made some good headway on a couple of Python tutorials, but I seem to be going at a snail's pace and learning way more than I actually need for this task. Eventually I'd love to be proficient in the language, but for now I'd just like to get my hands dirty with this one project.

I don't have any formal programming experience except for an undergraduate intro course on Matlab, though I'm usually pretty good at figuring out what I need to do for a specific purpose. For example, with my limited knowledge I was able to tool around with Matlab to perform some matrix calculations for another project I was working on (Excel Solver wasn't cutting it). I've also taught myself a great deal of Applescript to automate some of my tasks, mostly working off of existing scripts I found online and modifying them to suit my needs.

Unfortunately, I've been having trouble doing the same with Python. There seems to be so much out there and I don't even know how to get started finding an example that I can use as a rough model. Does anyone have an idea as to how I could get started on this? Maybe some databases that would be helpful? I'm sure there are even better forums to ask this sort of question, so any suggestions on helpful Python-specific message boards would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

—————————

Details of the program:

The only required input for this program is the location: city from a dropdown list, lat/long, or maybe Google Maps integration. Other parameters regarding the PV system (tilt, shading, size, etc) can also be set; otherwise, default values will be used so it's not too complicated for the casual user – very similar to NREL's PVWatts calculator (e.g. San Francisco). Behind the scenes, the location will be mapped to a database of solar radiation resource, and the environmental impacts of the PV system will also be calculated using life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques. At the end, results will be presented based on the financial concept of "return on investment":

energy return on investment: energy produced per unit energy consumed over the PV system's lifetime

greenhouse gas return on investment: emissions avoided per unit GHG emitted over lifetime

financial return on investment (if I'm feeling ambitious), using price estimates for the system and location data to determine relevant federal and state incentives

Results reported in other forms (payback times, hard numbers, etc.) will also be available if the user is interested. Emphasis will be put on ease-of-use as well as an aesthetically-pleasing GUI, but that's all down the road.

How can I annotate/draw on pictures online?

epiphinite — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 09:38:10 -0800

Any webapp/code available that can let people post pictures online and have others annotate them with their comments and drawings? Hi, am trying to see if there is any webapp or readymade code available that will enable people to annotate pictures - not only with comments as is already available in flickr etc. but also to make simple drawings - circles, lines etc. on the picture?

The app should also be able to save these annotations so that when new users come and visit the picture, they can see existing annotations (and drawings) and add their own. Just to give an example of usage - if someone puts up a photo of the empire state building, users should be able to draw circles/lines on it to indicate their offices, the views visible from each floor etc. Hope this makes sense

What was that music webapp I had on my iPod?

Deor — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:26:53 -0800

What was that music webapp I had on my iPod? Help me remember the site I had saved to my homescreen a while ago. I'm fairly sure it was a webapp and not a proper app. I seem to remember the name for the icon was shortened to a two-letter acronym; I thought it was DI for digitalinspiration.com but googling that shows I was wrong. I'll try to describe it anyway: the app had a series of square, colourful icons down the left-hand side, not unlike the style to the iTunes gift card drawings. Each icon represented a category; I definately remember 'lounge', and the others were mostly dance/electronic music related genres like house, groove etc. probably hip-hop stuff too. Definately a cool and groovy site.

How do I launch my webapp?

tempythethird — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:39:22 -0800

How to launch a webapp that derives its value from a community when it has no community? I'm nearing release on a webapp I've been working on for a while. It has a community aspect, though the app is more than just a community.

When it has a community the app will be easier to disseminate and will be more clearly valuable, but I can't pull a community out of my hat. This is a chicken and egg scenario that I'm sure has been overcome many times, but to the best of my knowledge, no one who's managed the trick is talking about it. How does one launch these kinds of apps? How did flickr get started?

And of course I will share it on mefi projects when its ready, but I'd like to have at least a few strategies beyond that.

Image annotation software

sandmanwv — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:42:24 -0800

What's the online (free or low cost) tool that will enable many (20-30 online users) to make annotations and comments on a image (a map in this case)? The audience have varying sorts of technical expertise and are on different networks, but worst-case they can send comments by e-mail.

Preferable that each user do not see other annotations or comments. Great to be able to track comments by user, download them for formatting (csv, xml, etc)