Resser
1.0.0
RSS reader based on WeChat applet is open source, beautiful and complete
I wrote a manuscript directly for the WeChat open community and used the entertainment and information sections. WeChat does not allow it to be online, so I can only meet you in this form.
Extended reading: A game to get a glimpse of the limited and unlimited mini-programs
The "Resser Reading" (hereinafter referred to as "Reading") we developed is an information aggregation and reading applet based on RSS/ATOM. It is characterized by low threshold, new attitude and high degree of aggregation.
Too hard to say? Can you understand just by looking at the picture?
Friends who have been exposed to RSS may say, "Oh, it's just an RSS reader. Isn't RSS already half dead?" Indeed, "Yuejian" is an RSS reader based on the WeChat applet platform. However, we have lowered the threshold for using RSS, allowing ordinary users to follow almost all the content they like (from WeChat official accounts, Bilibili to Weibo, etc.) as easily as following WeChat official accounts, while advanced users can also continue RSS Use your usage habits to develop various advanced functions.
Since the mini program is still in the competition stage, in order for the judges to use the latest version of the mini program as soon as possible, we have not yet officially launched the mini program, so unfortunately everyone will not be able to experience the functions of the mini program for the time being.
As a school student, it is not easy to take time out of busy courses and exams to develop a complete small program. Being able to complete this project before ddl is mainly due to our team's good time planning and task arrangement. As the captain, I divide the competition process into three major processes: preparation, development, and refinement.
Since the purpose of developing this small program is to participate in the competition, of course, the ultimate goal is to win the prize. Therefore, in April, the team experienced 30 award-winning mini programs last year and analyzed the interface, operation, and novelty of the mini programs. While experiencing these excellent works, we also benefited a lot. The points that surprise us in the product can serve as reference and inspiration for subsequent development, and the parts that are not easy to use in the product also sound the alarm for us in advance.
Before participating in the competition, no one in our team had experience in developing small programs. However, with the spirit and courage of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, we followed the lessons and courses on the Xuetang Online - premium Chinese MOOC platform. The official development documentation provides an initial introduction to the mini program.
Of course, learning the development of small programs is not a one-way process of absorbing knowledge. Learning while doing is the best way to get started.
Considering that our process of developing small programs is also a process of learning small programs, we do not know whether a certain proposed function can be realized. Therefore, we first determined the general structure of the mini program, that is, the layout of the page, what functions each page should implement, and how to implement it. Through the accumulation of experience, we will gradually fill in the sand in this framework, so that we will not be in the dilemma of "take one step at a time and see one step at a time".
Since the team is very small, consisting of only two people, using various todo tools is overkill. The team collaboration tool we chose is very simple and down-to-earth - QQ group.
Every week, I assign tasks to the team and require team members to submit task reports. This semi-forced DDL can effectively prevent team members from paddling and increase team members' sense of participation to a certain extent.
As the main developer, I divide various functions into four types: basic, advanced, configuration, and charm, and use the Markdown editor Bear to record the completion progress of the functions.
Of course, if you have a larger team, you will need more professional collaboration tools. Slack and Teambition are recommended here.
Although we saw many developers using VS Code and JetBrains series software during the preparation and learning process, we still used the official WeChat developer tools, because the WeChat developer tools are, after all, WeChat’s official IDE specially developed for small programs. The experience is more native, and it is also convenient to learn about the latest trends in mini programs from the IDE's update log.
However, because the WeChat developer tools are not perfect enough, there have been several problems during actual use. Here is a little trick - if there is a problem with the stable version, switch to the Beta version, and if there is a problem with the Beta version, switch to the stable version.
The refinement here refers to the investigation and repair of possible bugs in the operation process of the mini program on the one hand, and the fine-tuning of the user interface and interaction logic on the other hand.
During this process, we opened internal testing activities on campus, listened to different voices, and obtained valuable opinions and suggestions from these internal testing users. In the process of obtaining user feedback, we found that users were particularly lazy to go to the feedback URL we provided to submit feedback, so we added a customer service function to the mini program to help users encounter any bugs or problems while experiencing the mini program. Any suggestions can be given to us without leaving the mini program.
We also completed the drawing of the mini program icon and fine-tuning of the UI one week before the DDL competition.
It is necessary to talk about the design concept of Icon, because after completing the design of Icon, the design of UI is also half completed. Why do you say this? Because the interface color matching of the mini program needs to echo the icon, once the color matching is determined, half of the design is completed.
The icon background colors use Brandeis Blue (Brandeis University blue, azure blue) and Solitude (lonely blue, light blue). Brandeis University is known as the youngest major research university in the United States, and Brandeis University Blue is also given the beautiful meaning of "youth", "practical" and "applied". Just like the small program "Yuejian", it is young and practical. Lonely Blue corresponds to the slogan of the "Yuejian" applet - seeing the unfiltered look of the open Internet, "Yuejian" hopes that everyone can look at the world objectively as an independent individual.
In appearance, the icon consists of Chinese characters and an arc-shaped background. The blue arc symbolizes the earth (within the comfort zone), and the other half of the light blue symbolizes the atmosphere (outside the comfort zone). The word "reading and seeing" is located on the two colors respectively. It is hoped that "reading and seeing" can break the echo wall. Allow users to see a better vision of the world as a whole.
For mini programs, in addition to the functions that users can see, there are also things hidden under the functions and interfaces, such as the size of the mini program, the speed of opening, the setting of boundary conditions, etc. These are things that users do not know. It is easy to perceive, but it also affects the user experience invisibly.
To be honest, before making this small program, I had never found a satisfactory cross-platform RSS reader. Then I happened to see such a competition and wanted to develop a useful RSS reader myself. During the development process, we also investigated many similar products at home and abroad, such as domestic Qingmang Reading, foreign Red Banner Newspaper, Feedly, Inoreader, etc. The more information I checked, the colder my heart became, because almost all of them argued that RSS was dead. But since I have chosen this theme, I have to go all the way. So I went to explore the reasons for the decline of RSS, and summarized them into the following points:
To put it bluntly, there is no profit to maintain the RSS ecosystem, so I wonder if the profit problem of content platforms and content providers can be solved, can RSS be renewed for a second.
We plan to use profit subsidies, bidding rankings, and data feedback to break down the barriers with content providers and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results between the content platform and content providers.
