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Lastly, we made some cosmetic changes to the splash image to reduce its look as a button. Some users tried to click on the splash image, for no reason but that they wanted more interaction. Because each image has a border around it, it gives it the slight affordance that makes it look like a button. Thus, we removed this border to make them look more like pure images.
Implementation
The major features that required the most attention to improve from prototype to beta version included logging in, searching for events, creating events, and uploading songs. We implemented the login system using a simple php library called Light OpenID. Specifically, we limited the available Open ID providers to Google, allowing the user to log in with his or her Google account. Once the Light Open ID library had authenticated the user's credentials, we gathered the necessary user information from the authentication request and stored it in a loosely encrypted form using a PHP Session.
To enable search, we developed a simple algorithm to scan all available event data for strings matching the user input. The application used PHP to connect to a MySQL database, so we used the SELECT SQL query with regular expressions to allow for dynamic search capabilities. To create events we used the CREATE SQL query, submitting text data for the basic information of the event. Since the flyer image was binary data, we used a BLOB column to store it in the database along with the rest of the event information.
Finally, the event page called for multiple key features in the upgrade from prototype to beta. The upload feature used the standard php file upload method, saving the file to a predefined place on the server. To allow the user to listen to the song we used a simple embedded flash player provided free by Google. The source of the player could then be set to the uploaded song's filepath on the server which could then download the data for the user to listen to.
Evaluation
Briefing
We appreciate you taking the time to partake in our evaluation. Our website is called RemotePlaylist and it enables users to upload, download, and browse music that are being played at variety of different venues. As a partygoer, you can search for an existing party or you may create a party of your own. As the website states, “RemotePlaylist is a social music recommendation engine that lets you request your favorite songs before going to the actual party. That way, you know you're going to have a good night before even leaving the door.”
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This will require figuring out a way to incorporate likes/dislikes into the position in which the parties are ordered. (MajorMinor, Flexibility and efficiency)
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