ExpoVotingApp

A web application that allows expo visitors to vote on their favorite Junior Design project.

Release Notes

Version 1.0

Features

The expo voting app supports the following roles and role-specific functionalities:

Attendee

Cast one vote on a team's project
Search for a specific team or project
Leave comments for a team

Organizer

View voting results
Upload .csv file of projects
View comments left for teams
Send comments to teams
Delete inappropriate comments

Administrator

Change attendee password
Change organizer password

Defects and Future Work (in order of descending importance)

The app’s database is currently hosted on www.freemysqlhosting.net, however, this site requires a biweekly renewal to utilize the free storage. The database should be hosted on a local SQL server.
When running the Flask app on the jrdesign.cc.gatech.edu virtual machine during the expo, the app crashed unexpectedly. The cause could not be diagnosed, but the issue was fixed by signing into a different account on the virtual machine and running the website from a different account.
The map of the Klaus Atrium was not incorporated in our application; adding an interactive floor map would help clients and other attendees find specific teams by their location and discover information about teams at the expo.
Currently, the application can only be accessed by attendees on Georgia Tech wireless connections. If possible, anyone should be able to access the app as visiting clients may not have access to Georgia Tech internet networks. Server Help Email: helpdesk@cc.gatech.edu.
Another feature to implement is a pop-up or separate page to confirm a user’s voting choice. Currently, after selecting “Vote,” the vote will be counted, and the user will no longer be able to submit any votes.
A feature we didn’t have enough time to implement was to support separate voting for the multiple sessions throughout the day. Ideally, users would only be shown the session 1 projects during session 1 and likewise with session 2. Additionally, the same user should be able to vote once in each session.
In conjunction with the previous feature, the results viewing should separate the teams between session 1 and 2 so that a winner from each session can be selected.

Install Guide

Pre-requesites:

Python 2.7
Pip
Git

Dependent Libraries that must be installed:

Flask
Flask-MySQL

Download Instructions

To run the application, you must clone this repository to your computer. To do so, run the following command in a command prompt

$ git clone https://github.com/arbermuharemi/ExpoVotingApp.git

Running the Flask Application

To run the flask app, open the command prompt and navigate to the folder that holds the full application. Ensure that you have virtualenv installed on your computer using these instructions.

If you don't have a venv/ folder in the project directory, run the following command:

$ virtualenv venv

Installing packages

Be sure you have the proper packages on the virutal environment to run the app. These include flask, flask-mysql, and Flask-Mail

$ pip install flask
$ pip install flask-mysql
$ pip install Flask-Mail

Testing/Development (Local)

In the command line, enter the following lines to activate the virtual environment and run the flask app:

change main.py to the file name of the file where the program starts

Mac/Linux:

$ . venv/bin/activate
$ export FLASK_APP=main.py
$ flask run
    * Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000/

Windows:

$ venv\scripts\activate
$ set FLASK_APP=main.py
$ flask run
    * Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000/

Now, just head over to http://127.0.0.1:5000/ to view the locally running application.

Running the Site (Public)

Connect to the school VPN following this instructions
Connect to jrdesign.cc.gatech.edu (the virtual machine) via Windows Remote Connection using your GT username @ gatech.edu (eg: amuharemi3@gatech.edu) and GT password to login.
If the ExpoVotingApp directory doesn't exist, clone this repository to a directory on the virutal machine

In the command line in the jrdesign.cc.gatech.edu desktop, enter the following lines to activate the virtual environment and run the flask app: