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comparing designs
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tag design progression
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original concept
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inspiration ~ code wars
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figma prototype
Inspiration
Finding good quality videos on YouTube is hard, so we've created a way for students to learn what the video is about, without the need to watch it.
What it does
Our chrome-extension adds voted tags to YouTube's UI so now any viewer can create a tag or vote on other tags that suit the video.
These tags will then be shown on YouTube's search results, now anyone searching for videos can make a better decision on which to pick and waste less time watching low-quality content.
How we built it
We injected react into a chrome-extension while using MongoDB, Node.js, and express.js as our backend. By using the MERN stack we managed to build a scalable and fast application right on top of YouTube.
In order to authenticate users, the extension uses Google OAuth2 to request an access token to fetch the user profile and save it on MongoDB.
That way we can keep track of which tags you've voted and limit the number of votes per person.
Challenges we ran into
Setting up the tag model in the database turned out being harder than we expected, but similar to the vote system we had in place.
injecting react into each and every item in the search results array on YouTube was quite tough. We had to make sure each tag got sent to the right video as it was stored in our db.
Authentication was actually too secure! We had some trouble testing our endpoints since we needed an access token to access our API.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We managed to get our voting system injected dynamically within YouTube.
Our changes didn't break our other features! It's a feat. of our clean code for sure 😉
What we learned
- Lot's about YouTube's UI and Google OAuth.
- How easy it can be to innovate with people you've worked with before.
- Always record the pitch early.
What's next for ScholarMode Search
Heaps of new updates in the pipeline, including a reputation system to promote collaboration and gamify the learning process. We'd love to create in-built tests & resources for creators to share with their viewers. Later down the track, we'll implement dashboards for students to keep track of their learning.
We hope that our initial extension will be approved by google soon so you can download it and tell us what you think 😊
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