Unlocking Community Engagement: A Comprehensive Case Study

Technology Stack

Laravel
Bootstrap
AdminLTE
CSS
Google Maps
MySQL
JIRA
Confluence

The Client

The client owns a community web app, a one-stop place for managing and engaging local communities. The app contains business directories, listings, and yellow pages to serve community people and their needs. This app aims to enhance people’s experiences within communities by helping them remain ‘in the know' about city-wide happenings.

The Challenge

The client contacted Capital Numbers to create this community app from scratch. We had to develop an app that helps people find links to local businesses and services nearby. The aim was to offer a seamless browsing experience for people looking for community information.

We took on the project and discussed more about the client’s vision. As we delved deeper, we realized that the app required three distinct user admins, namely:

The super admin
The community admin
The business admin

Our first challenge was to create a system that accommodates and provisions a growing number of user profiles (community and business admins combined). All admins were supposed to share the standard usability access rights, but some community admins required personalized settings. So, we had to customize accordingly.

Our next challenge was adding modules like event calendars, push notifications, emergency alerts, local ads, map searchings, reporting features, etc. Each module needed critical customizations (like custom fields and word counts) to suit the client’s needs.

Our third challenge was to create a user impersonation. We needed the impersonation for the super admin to operate as a community admin (if required) and manage the entire app better.

The Solution

Capital Numbers assembled a skilled team of two backend developers, one frontend expert, and one QA. Our team went ahead with the following techs to build the app.

We used Laravel as the backend architecture. Laravel is great for traffic handling. It’s highly performant under heavy traffic loads. Its built-in authentication assures appropriate user access rights. It also separates the underlying logic from interface environments, which enables easy upgrades. Plus, it allows seamless integrations of third parties (like Google Maps).

We next installed AdminLTE in Laravel to create the admin dashboard templates. AdminLTE is a popular, open-source web app template for developing admin dashboards and control panels. It is a highly responsive HTML template based on the CSS framework Bootstrap. It contains ready-to-use pages and components (like charts, widgets, and icons). So, we customized AdminLTE to build the UI of this application’s backend.

We customized Roles and Permissions for some community admins and business users. While making these customizations, we ensured no unwanted data transfer between user accounts. We additionally wrote validation rules to prevent duplicate entries.

Moreover, we added impersonations to allow the super admin to temporarily log in as a community admin and remotely fix issues. This way, the super admin got better control over communities, and the communities didn’t need to trade their data with the super admin to get remote support - a win-win for both.

Next, we added other features and modules like event calendars, push notifications, emergency alerts, local ads, reporting capabilities, etc. Because this community app was supposed to cater to users from different US time zones, we synced time zone clocks using custom APIs to let all users get event updates in their local times. We also used the third-party service Google Maps to help users track local events.

We chose MySQL to store all backend data. MySQL was an obvious choice because it offers exceptional data protection and support.

Our team arranged for ten sprints to deliver all solutions. In each sprint, we tested if our service functionalities/customizations behaved as they were supposed to. After thorough verifications, we transferred the assets to the client for them to push to production. Throughout the cycle, we mostly used JIRA, Confluence, and Mattermost for managing the project.

Results

We successfully delivered the entire solution in around 7 months. The resulting product is an all-inclusive community app that promotes civic and community activities.

Here’s more on the app:

User Admin Roles

We successfully created three distinct user admins:

The super admin (who registers community and business admins)
The community admin (who submits/edits community information and updates)
The business admin (who submits/edits business information and updates)

Local Searches

Once community and business admins submit listings, business directories get created. So now, if a user looking for business listings in and around the Fertile city of Minnesota lands in the app, they can browse and discover the following:

Local Community Lists

Fertile - Minnesota
Somerset - Wisconsin
Pipestone - Minnesota
Fosston - Minnesota
Hill City - South Dakota
Crookston - Minnesota
Murray - Kentucky

Local Services in Fertile

Fertile Oil Company (email, phone, address)
Fertile Building Center (email, phone, address)
Fertile Garden Center (email, phone, address)
Fertile Chiropractic Clinic (email, phone, address)
Fertile Fire Station (email, phone, address)

Local Community Updates in Fertile

Fertile Food Shelf
Serving residents of Fertile area
1st and 4th of every month (2 PM - 6 PM) by appointment
At Fertile Community Center
Call City Office for an appointment

Local Facilities in Fertile

Hillside Hayloft Resort (phone, address)
Agassiz Environmental Learning Center (phone, address)
AELC Campground (phone, address)
Sandhill River Golf Course (phone, address)
Fairground Building Rental Space (phone, address)
Concordia Lutheran Church (phone, address)

Local Leadership in Fertile

Council Member (email, phone, address)
Billing Clerk (email, phone, address)
City Administrator (email, phone, address)

Local News Lists in Fertile

Community pool closures
Community gym closures
Roadblocks
Detours and traffic updates

With many such listings, life becomes much easier for community users looking for specific information.

Google Maps

People also get the accurate location of their preferred destination because of Google Maps we integrated.

Push Notifications

Moreover, municipal residents get push notifications about:

Council meetings
Videos
Concerts
Fairs
Agendas

Emergency Alerts

Residents also get emergency alerts about:

Urgent road closures
Severe hailstorms
Tornado warnings
Forest fires
Sudden lockdowns

Reporting Feature

People can report to civic authorities about local issues like:

Waste management
Potholes
Water supply
Sewerage
Power cuts
Deliberate vandalism
Graffiti

Event Calendars

People can create reminders on built-in calendars for events like:

Poetry reading sessions
Book lovers meet

Local Business Advertising

Local ads further make it easier for people to find plumbers, electricians, fire stations, houses for sale, etc.

A Trusted Source of Community Information

All in all, this app is a single source of truth that community users swear by. It provides verified contact lists of as many local authorities as possible within a single interface, relieving people from relying on inefficient sources for community updates and information.