Skip to content

Getting Started Guide

This guide will help you set up your development environment for contributing to the Not Alone app. The app is built using Anvil's web framework and integrates with several external services.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • A GitHub account
  • A PayPal business account
  • A DigitalOcean account (for Discourse hosting)
  • Basic knowledge of Python and web development

1. Anvil Setup

  1. Visit anvil.works
  2. Sign up for a free account
  3. Choose the "Free" plan (sufficient for development)

2. Fork and Clone Repositories

Anvil Squared Repository

  1. Fork the anvil-squared library
    • Visit https://github.com/yahiakala/anvil-squared
    • Click "Fork" button
    • Go to your Anvil.works account and click "Clone from GitHub" under the "Create a new app" section.
    • Enter the URL to your forked repo, and authenticate with your GitHub account.
    • Click "Clone App"

Main Application Repository

  1. Fork the Not Alone repository:

    • Visit https://github.com/yahiakala/notalone-app
    • Click "Fork" button
    • Go to your Anvil.works account and click "Clone from GitHub" under the "Create a new app" section.
    • Enter the URL to your forked repo, and authenticate with your GitHub account.
    • Click "Clone App"

  2. Set up dependencies

    • Go to Settings > Dependencies
    • Use the pencil icon to edit your dependencies, but do not change the versions.
    • Make sure the anvil_extras dependency is set to point to a third party dependency with dependency ID C6ZZPAPN4YYF5NVJ. See here for more info
    • Make sure the anvil_squared dependency is set to point to your clone of the app as a local dependency. Use the pencil icon. Do not change the tag.

Local Development Setup

Not even going to go into this, you'd have to be an expert to figure this out.

3. Set up Mailjet and Discourse

See Discourse Setup

4. Set up PayPal

See PayPal Setup

10. Additional Resources