Open Book

A web platform for book clubs to organise, read, and grow together.

Built with Django REST Framework (Back-End) and React (Front-End)

Table of Contents

• Mission Statement
• Target Users
• Features
  • User Roles
  • Book Clubs
  • Books
  • Meetings
  • Announcement's board
  • Notifications
  • Pages / Endpoint Functionality
  • Nice To Haves
• Technical Implementation
  • Back-End
  • Front-End
  • External Integrations
  • Git & Deployment
• Back-End Implementation
  • API Specification
  • Database Schema
• Front-End Implementation
  • Wireframes
  • Branding

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Mission Statement

Open Book is an all-in-one platform designed to simplify and enrich the book club experience. It replaces the scattered mix of group chats, spreadsheets, and calendar invites with a single, purpose-built space where readers can organise clubs, vote on what to read next, track their progress through a book, hold meaningful discussions chapter by chapter, and schedule meetings with integrated RSVP.

Whether it's a small group of friends or a larger community of readers, Open Book gives both organisers and members the tools to keep their book club active, structured, and engaging; without the usual coordination headaches.

Currently in MVP stage

Target Users

Open Book serves two primary user groups:

Book Club Owners are the people who take the initiative to bring readers together. They need tools to create and manage clubs, schedule meetings, open voting rounds, set reading milestones, and moderate discussions. Open Book gives them a centralised dashboard to handle all of this without juggling multiple apps.

Book Club Members are readers who want to participate without friction. They want to join clubs easily, vote on the next book, update their reading progress, discuss chapters with fellow readers, and RSVP to meetings. Open Book makes the reading experience social and structured so members stay engaged between meetings.

Features

Open Book allows users to create or join book clubs, suggest and vote on books, track individual and group reading progress with chapter milestones, participate in threaded chapter-by-chapter discussions, and schedule meetings with RSVP functionality. The platform supports both private (requested join) and public (open join) clubs with role-based permissions for organisers and members.

User Roles

Role	Access	Description
Owner	Can create clubs, manage club settings, accept members, and schedule meetings.	The person who runs a specific book club. A user can be an owner in one club and a member in another.
Member	Can join clubs and RSVP to meetings.	A regular book club participant. A user can belong to multiple clubs.

Book Clubs

Feature	Access	Notes / Conditions
Create club	Any authenticated user	User becomes the owner of the club they create.
Edit club details	Owner	Name, description, genre tags, visibility.
Delete club	Owner	Soft delete preferred. Members are notified.
Set visibility	Owner	Private (Requested join) or Public (anyone can join).
Join club	Any authenticated user	Public clubs: instant join. Private clubs: requested join.

Books

Feature	Access	Notes / Conditions
Search books	Any authenticated user	Search via Google Books API by title or author.
Select current book	Owner	Marks a book as the club's current read.
Change reading status	Owner	The owner selects the status of the book they have previously selected.

Meetings

Feature	Access	Notes / Conditions
Schedule meeting	Owner	Title, date/time/lenght, description, select meeting in person or virtual.
Edit meeting	Owner	Update details before the meeting.
Attending meeting	Member, Owner	Details posted on the announcement's board
View meetings	Member, Owner	Upcoming meeting details.

Announcement's board

Feature	Access	Notes / Conditions
Post comment	Owner	Write an open message, the system add the time the commment was created.

Notifications

Event	Recipient	Description
Accepted or Rejected members	Owner	When asked to join a private club and it is only for private bookclubs

Pages / Endpoint Functionality

Page	Functionality	Notes
Home	Marketing page with features overview, CTA to sign up, carousel with the bookclubs highlights and platform stats.	Public access.
Register	Create account with username, email, password.	Public access.
Login	Authenticate with email and password. Stores locally the JWT token.	Public access.
Dashboard User	Pofile picture, name, description, bookclubs I own and bookclubs I belong to. Also a CTA to create a bookclub	Authenticated.
Dashboard BookClub	Banner, profile pic, title, description, genre, No of members, notifications, historic reading and meeting planner	Authenticated.
Announcement's board	Book updates, link to virtual meeting and meeting agenda	Club members only.
Meetings	List upcoming meetings, book now CTA, schedule new meeting (Owner).	Club members only.
Create Club	Form: name, description, visibility, upload an image.	Authenticated.
Profile	View/edit personal info, profile picture, bio.	Authenticated.

Nice To Haves

• Book voting/polls.
• In-platform book rating (instead of external rating).
• Sharing book to another user (send notification).
• Multiple organizers per club (cap of 3 suggested).
• Calendar integration (e.g., Google Calendar).
• Notification system.
• Full discussion threads (beyond simple organizer note).
• Override external book ratings with platform ratings.
• Advanced member management.
• Leave club: Member | Member can leave at any time.
• Remove member: The organiser can remove a member from the club.
• Multiple organisers: An owner can promote a member to co-organiser.

Technical Implementation

Back-End

• Python
• Django
• Django REST Framework
• SQL Lite
• JWT Authentication (SimpleJWT)

Front-End

• React
• React Router
• Axios (API communication)
• React Query
• Tailwind CSS

External Integrations

• Google Books API (book search and metadata)

Git & Deployment

• Back-End: Deployed to Heroku
• Front-End: Deployed to Netlify
• Database: Heroku Postgres
• Version Control: GitHub with feature branch workflow
• API Testing: Insomnia

Back-End Implementation

API Specification

Authentication

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
POST	/api-token-auth/	Sign up to app	{"email", "username", "password"}	201	None
POST	/users/	Log in to app	{"password", "user_name"}	201	Users

Users

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
GET	/users/{id}/	Get current user's profile	—	200	Users
POST	/users/{id}/	Create a profile	{"name", "image", "meeting_type", "location", "genre"}	201	Users
PUT	/users/{id}/	Update user profile	{"name", "image", "meeting_type", "location", "genre"}	201	Users

Clubs

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
GET	/clubs/	Retrieve a list of all book clubs	—	200	All
POST	/clubs/	Create a new book club	{"name", "description", "banner_image", "created_at", "is_public", "meeting_type", "location", "status"}	201	Users
GET	/clubs/{id}/	Get details of a club	—	200	Users
PUT	/clubs/{id}/	Update the club details	{"name", "description", "banner_image", "created_at", "is_public", "meeting_type", "location", "status"}	201	Organiser
PATCH	/clubs/{id}/	Change the club status to inactive or active	{"status"}	201	Organiser

Members

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
GET	/clubs/{id}/members/	Retrieve a list of members and pending members for a book club	—	200	Organiser
POST	/clubs/{id}/members/	Join a book club	{"user_id", "requested_at", "status"}	201	Users
PATCH	/clubs/{id}/members/{id}/	Respond to a membership request (Accept / Decline)	{"status"}	201	Organiser

Club Books

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
GET	/clubs/{id}/clubbooks/	Display club book history	—	200	Club members
POST	/clubs/{id}/clubbooks/	Upload a book to the club (retrieve from Google Books)	{"name", "description", "cover_image", "book_url", "status"}	201	Organiser
PATCH	/clubs/{id}/clubbooks/{id}/	Change club book status (to read, reading, read)	{"status"}	201	Organiser

Meetings

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
POST	/clubs/{id}/meetings/	Schedule a meeting	{"title", "description", "date-time", "duration", "meeting_type", "location"}	201	Organiser
PUT	/clubs/{id}/meetings/{id}/	Update meeting details	{"title", "description", "date-time", "duration", "meeting_type", "location"}	201	Organiser
POST	/clubs/{id}/meetings/{id}/	Register to join a meeting	{"member_id", "registered_at"}	201	Members

Announcements

HTTP Method	URL	Purpose	Request Body	Success Code	Auth
GET	/clubs/{id}/announcements/	List all announcements for the club	—	200	Club members
POST	/clubs/{id}/announcements/	Create a new announcement	{"message", "created_at"}	201	Organiser

Database Schema

Schema:

Front-end Implementation

Branding

Fonts

Role	Font	Style
Headings	Lora	Elegant serif with calligraphic roots. Literary and trustworthy.
Body	Nunito Sans	Clean, rounded sans-serif. Friendly and easy to read.

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lora:ital,wght@0,400;0,500;0,600;0,700;1,400&family=Nunito+Sans:wght@300;400;500;600;700&display=swap');

font-family: 'Lora', serif;              /* Headings */
font-family: 'Nunito Sans', sans-serif;   /* Body */

Colours

Primary

Name	Hex	Preview	Usage
Terracotta	#C9624A	🟧	Buttons, links, active states
Terracotta Light	#FBF0EC	🟨	Hover states, tags, soft backgrounds

Secondary

Name	Hex	Preview	Usage
Teal	#5A8F8B	🟩	Success states, progress indicators
Teal Light	#EBF4F3	⬜	Status badges, secondary backgrounds

Wireframes