Student Builds Flask-Based Campus File-Sharing Platform to Replace WhatsApp Chaos
A tertiary student developed ComradeHub, a live web platform built with Python and Flask, to centralise revision materials, past exam papers, and lecture notes that were previously scattered across WhatsApp groups and personal devices. The platform restricts uploads to safe file types such as PDFs, images, and Office documents, while stripping potentially malicious code before saving files to the database. Access is role-based: guest students can search and download materials, while an admin login unlocks a dedicated toolbar with file deletion controls and a one-click session lock for shared computers. The developer also tailored the search system to be case-insensitive and to fall back on original filenames when upload forms are incomplete, improving discoverability across participating Kenyan campuses. A key technical lesson involved Flask's routing system, where the developer found that HTML links must map to explicit Python route functions rather than pointing directly to template files.
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