Overview

This was the first project I oversaw at DYM besides DYM Games. Before I got to DYM, they had a simple Flash app that you could input some info and it would spit out a printable PDF newsletter. We decided to create an online version where you could store. You can create up to 5 "publications" (like "Middle School Ministry", and "tech volunteers", and "Parents", for example). Each publication can have unlimited newsletters. It has a drag-n-drop editor to layout your newsletter, pre-built articles, and a few themes. When you're done, you can email a link, post it to your website, or print it out. My favorite feature is that every publication has a "featured" URL. You can replace which newsletter is the featured, so you never have to regularly change out a link on your website!

Behind the Scenes

This app is built in Node JS, runs on SQL and hosted on DigitalOcean. The frontend is jQuery and a lot of love. It's been solid for 6 years with no upkeep.

Involvement

We had a gifted developer who was a student of mine do the development. I got to oversee the project with designs, architecture, and problem solving. For the last few years I have been the maintainer.