CommentR | Devpost

The main idea behind our project
Features

Inspiration

In the age of the internet where net neutrality is threatened , internet censorship is everywhere, and paywalls are ubiquitous, CommentR aims to provide a way for voices to express themselves freely online. This freedom will allow users to learn if websites may be hiding information for the users, that the user may figure out only once they had paid money, understand what the author means by a statement, or talk with likeminded people on the website. Especially with things such as internet scams, we aim to create a platform where users can help keep each other safe online.

What it does

In essence, users can visit any webpage and open our extension. Doing so will open a unique comment thread on the website. There, registered users can post comments and upvote/downvote others' comments.Through this extension people may be able to have friendly conversations or receive warnings of a websites sketchy business, such as if the website is scamming people.

How we built it

We used html, javascript, and css to build the chrome extension. Then we used react, html and css to build the frontend of the website. Finally, we used python to build the backend, using Flask and PostgreSQL.

Challenges I ran into

One challenge we had ran into is that we had not known about how to create a google extension. We were also inexperienced in connecting frontends and backends.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We were able to effectively finish and create a google extension and a nice looking website. We are especially proud of our design choices in our React App. Our backend follows good REST principles and is decently performant as well.

What I learned

We had learned to create a google extension. We learned how integrate multiple aspects of a full stack.

What's next for CommentR

We will update the chrome extension by improving the aesthetics and add new features, such as replying to others comments and having discussion topics rather than one big chat. We may also look for a way to prevent inappropriate comments on websites by providing some sort of a community run decentralized moderation feature that is different from traditional social media.