DEV Community: Flipsnack

Flipsnack - the fastest PDF converter

Flipsnack — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 11:02:00 +0000

As you may have heard by now, Flipsnack is a flipbook software that allows users to create and share digital publications with an interactive 3D flipping effect.

With this tool you can create interactive publications in two simple ways, you can either do it from scratch, by designing your entire publication from top to bottom or by uploading a PDF document and simply customizing it according to your own taste and needs.

Flipsnack is a software designed for all types of users, whether we’re talking about high skilled professionals or enthusiastic beginners, not only because of its' intuitive interface but also because it comes equipped with a large variety of fully customizable templates in its' built-in library.

At this point, we are all well aware that PDFs play a significant role in our professional lives so let’s dive in and see how this platform has come to the point of owning the fastest pdf converter at the moment.

Road map to the fastest PDF converter

Flipsnack has been on the market for more than 10 years now and from the very beginning has been focusing on its’ users needs, this platform is still on the rise and you can tell that by its’ constantly increasing number of users and its' constant efforts to develop the software continuously.

In 10 years, Flipsnack has upgraded not only its’ features but also its’ converter, by changing the entire architecture of the software. The main goal was to obtain a high-speed converter that could lay out high-quality publications.

In order to achieve that goal, Flipsnack’s development team had to come up with a whole different tool in order to facilitate the conversion process. The first challenge they encountered at this point was to learn how to control the new in-house tool and the second one, was to create a suitable architecture in order to bring out the new converter.

After a lot of research and development in this direction, which implied many benchmark tests, we are now talking about a completely new converter with a whole different architecture and an upgraded flow.

The new architecture consists of the following technologies:

Serverless, the development team used the AWS Step function in combination with Aws Lambda and AWS SQS.
Event-driven, each Pdf is represented as a JSON message and put into a Queue(Aws SQS).
Highly concurrent, each 10th page of the PDF is processed in a separate lambda function ex: 5000 pages PDF is running on 500 lambda function in parallel which processes 10 pages at a time.
Flow:

To have a better understanding of how these upgrades done behind the scenes actually work, let me put it this way: if until now a 5000 pages PDF would’ve converted into a flipbook in over 25 minutes, now it would take approximately 20 seconds for the same document to convert after the upload.
As simple as it may sound it was quite a bumpy road to get the product to the point of being the fastest PDF converter out there, the research and development took almost 8 months because the development team had to continuously analyze and optimize the process.

Security compliant software

Another main goal for Flipsnack, in creating a new converter, was to obtain an, even more, security-compliant software. Basically, the system behind the tool scans every processed PDF on the servers and then gets them on a protected storage.

Users can rest assured that no sensitive data will get public, everything that you share is entirely under your control because Flipsnack offers multiple privacy options such as: public; unlisted ( not indexed by search engines, the only way to view the flipbook is through a direct link); password-protected and private.

Flipsnack’s conversion process

The new architecture is not only safe and fast, it also supports high-flow conversions. For a better picture, the development team made an experiment and simultaneously uploaded 1000 PDFs, consisting of a total amount of 18000 pages, and they were converted in approximately 3 minutes, the entire flow, meaning the conversion and response time, was done in 7 minutes.

Flipsnack’s conversion process is very straightforward, you can upload, convert and share in 4 easy steps:

Upload the PDF you want to convert or use the bulk upload option if you want to convert more documents simultaneously.
Customize your document by adding interactive elements and brand the appearance with custom colors and logos.
Publish your flipbook as public or private, depending on what audience you want to reach.
Share the customized PDF via link, email, or website embed.

Another time-efficient fact when using Flipsnack’s PDF converter is that users can easily share their publications in multiple ways. You don’t have to worry about the size of the file being too big and not being supported by the email provider, now you can instantly share your desired flipbook via link.

Users can also easily share their flipbooks on social media, by simply copying and pasting the link on their post, or directly from their Flipsnack account, by adding a social media button to their publication. Other cool sharing options like website embedding, and turning the publication into a QR code are also available.

Another strong selling point when it comes to using Flipsnack is that you can track and optimize your flipbook so that your readers can have the best experience. The software offers valuable insights about how your audience engages with your converted PDF, such as impressions, views, and average time spent on the targeted publication.

Statistics: Flipsnack vs. competition

Flipsnack aimed to obtain the fastest pdf converter on the market and in addition, came up with statistics to prove that the desired result was successfully achieved.

The development team conducted an experiment that involved analyzing Flipsnack’s top competitors and their converter’s speed. The research took into account the number of pages in a PDF file, split into the following categories: PDF with 1 - 10 pages; 10 - 50 pages, and 50 - 200 pages. Basically, they tested the main competitors to prove that Flipsnack can outperform each and every one of them.

Sum up: top reasons to choose Flipsnack’s PDF converter

If you’re still looking for some conclusive evidence before using Flipsnack’s PDF to flipbook converter, try the free trial to take a look at some of the greatest features.

Here are the top reasons why users choose Flipsnack as a PDF converter and at the same time some of the platform's strongest selling points:

Free online converter
User-friendly interface
Wide range of interactive features
Security-compliant platform
Brand control
Multiple sharing options
Built-in templates library
Integrated statistics
Custom links
Update under the same link

Author: Silvana Costa - Marketing Specialist at Flipsnack

Teamwork at Flipsnack: Developing a development team

Flipsnack — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 06:56:05 +0000

Working on a project as a single developer can be a very different experience from having two friends working on the project or a team of dozens of developers. Working in a team has its benefits, but can also have its disadvantages, and may not work for everybody. It’s not easy to have a fully functioning and efficient team and to get to a point where the team is self sufficient, cohesive, and successful. But once all the pieces start to fall into place, it will be an incredible feeling. Not only will projects run more smoothly, but everything within the team in general will, too.

Here at Flipsnack we are at a point where we work together efficiently, as a well-oiled machine. Work gets done and we are proud of what we have achieved. We communicate well, have the freedom to decide how features are implemented, respect each other and our work, and we are happy to come to the office to have fun and create extraordinary things.

We’re not perfect but we try everyday to do our best, and above all else, we respect and trust each other. We are happy to have reached this level of trust and we can say that teamwork is at its peak. Learning to put the team and our users first is what drives our everyday work. We always help each other both at the office and outside work, and we never want to compromise this.

How the Flipsnack development team operates efficiently

Having a great team ultimately comes down to the people. Everyone needs to have common values, the right set of mind and attitude towards teammates, work, and life in general. Each team should have a common goal to strive for and core values that are reflected in their work. Obviously not everybody will be a good fit for the team, but that doesn’t mean that they’re unprofessional, mean, or incapable. It simply means that person would probably thrive in a different environment.

Once you have the right people on your team, you have to lay down the rules by which it will function. We went through the same process and all of us agreed on a set of rules that we should follow. These rules have to be followed by every team member, new and existing. New arrivals must mold to fit our team, not the other way around. Team members are in charge of maintaining the core values and culture, as well as making sure that every new team member embraces them.

An important thing to note is that these rules are not set in stone. Depending on the situations that may come up during our work, we may have more flexibility in enforcing the rules or even changing them if the need be.

Coding style guides

One of the important and most basic things we agreed upon at first was our coding style. A company-wide coding standard ensures that everyone writes code the same way and enforces consistency. Ultimately, this translates to a much more maintainable project. It allows your team to write code that everyone in the company can read and update.

Our coding style largely follows the one from Airbnb, with some changes that we thought were more appropriate for us. As I mentioned, we have a certain flexibility in setting rules and following them. In our case, everyone uses an ESLint plugin with their IDE of choice. The agreed rules are followed to the letter, at least until we believe that a rule may hinder our work. Only once we can all agree to making changes and then upon the change itself will, we actually make that change.

Our style guide is like a living organism - our coding style is still evolving according to our needs. It doesn’t really matter who’s style your team is following, it’s more important that there is a style and everyone in the team sticks to it.

Code review

An important process for our team is code review, as there are many ways to do it. We chose the code review as an extra step between a git commit and a git push. We use Arcanist and Phabricator to send the latest commit to code review. Once the code is approved, we can push it. This assures that the code getting to production is checked by several people and the possibility of a bug creeping into the project is highly decreased.

Pair programming

Often times when working on complex tasks it’s recommended to have an extra pair of eyes to help out, so we use pair programming as part of our development process. Some developers may be less willing to do pair programming for various reasons but we encourage it as much as possible. Keep in mind that this technique is very popular and helps share knowledge from more experienced developers to juniors. Also, it can help developers solve very complex or hard tasks together as a team, rather than having to sit for days in front of a screen to look for a solution. This also means that the best solution is usually chosen to solve the problem.

Here at Flipsnack we often do pair programming and we noticed that it does not hurt our efficiency. Instead, it helps us finish the most difficult tasks faster and reduces risks because… well… two heads are better than one.

Technical terms/ language/ terminology

Make sure you all speak the same technical language. It is imperative that all team members know the technologies used within the project and have some minimal understanding of them and the project itself. It’s really hard to have everybody in the team at the same level of experience and knowledge, especially since there are new members coming to the team and others leaving. But it is necessary for all of them to have a common language to communicate their problems, solutions, and share knowledge or ideas. This is done by having a system in place that lets new team members get up to speed with the project and technologies, either by having mentors teach and guide them or having up to date documentation about the project.

Here at Flipsnack, every new hire goes through an onboarding process during which they learn about the project, its features, the technologies we use, and are guided by mentors throughout the whole process. During this time, we also focus on helping new teammates better integrate with the team.

SCRUM

Another tool on our belt is SCRUM. We use Scrum to manage our day to day work and the development of our projects. This started a few years ago when we realized that the way we worked was not getting us ahead anymore and more problems started to appear.

Over the past few years we refined and customized the processes to suit our needs and to make sure that SCRUM doesn’t prevent us from doing our jobs properly.

For example, at first, during the daily meetings each of us were simply stating what we’ve done the previous day and what we’ll do the current day. We noticed that often times we started explaining various problems we encountered and got lost in details so that the meeting got longer and really unproductive. Now we are focusing more on the problems we encounter and how we can help push the sprint goal to finish. This has made our daily meetings more relevant, focused, and shorter.

Since we use SCRUM, we needed a tool to handle the management and flow of our tasks from new, to work in progress, to done. For this, we use Jira. Now, everyone in the team can see the progress and help others so we can finish the agreed goal by the end of the sprint.

Other departments in the company use Trello for task management simply because it’s more suited to their needs. The main point is that you need a system to manage your tasks. A system that is easy to follow and it’s suited to your requirements and needs.

We learned to communicate well with each other and with the other departments. Team building and monthly team bonding events also helped us achieve that. Besides that, we celebrate each birthday by taking a break as a team, having a few cakes and socializing. In the mornings, we also have our coffee together or simply have a chat for a few minutes before beginning work. Plus, many of us became friends and are getting together outside of work as well. Don’t underestimate the power of simple communication! It takes some time to get there, but it’s worth while.

How we learn from our mistakes

Trust is a crucial element in a team. I really feel safe when I know I can push any new feature to production without the stress or fear that something might go wrong. If that ends up happening, I know any of my teammates can jump in and fix the problems.

We try not to blame someone for a mishap. Instead, we fix the problem and learn from it so it won’t happen again. We encourage an environment of trust, respect and responsibility, each of us being responsible for our tasks but also with making sure the team is efficient and that the project moves forward. Everyone pitches in and we don’t blame anyone when things go wrong.

The most important aspect of any team

The most important aspect of a team are the people. If teammates don’t share the same values, are not interested in the project, or simply put, don’t give a damn, this could eventually affect the team to the point where it no longer can be considered a team. At that point, it’s just a handful of developers working on some tasks.

Communication and respect is key. If they lack, then that’s not a team.

Our culture is one of sharing: knowledge, ideas, improvements to our team, our workflow and ultimately our product. Everyone knows what to do or who to turn to for help. Everyone contributes in different ways to the welfare of the team and the project. If someone needs a vacation, the rest can very well cover their work. Our team is more than the sum of its parts.

Our conclusion

It’s not easy to transform a handful of people into a great team. We had a bit of a rough start and it took us a while to get here but we do not regret it. We tried different tools, rules and processes and noticed how the team developed after introducing or changing them. We discarded everything that slowed us down or did not help us. And finally, we were left with those that helped us improve our team and our work.

To summarize, the ingredients for a great team are only a few. You need the right people and to have some rules and processes in place so that they can help improve the team. Both in their own tasks and to help them or teach them to communicate as well as possible. At some point in time the team will start to evolve and improve by itself, iterating over the tools, rules and processes it uses.

Author Bio: Claudiu Neaga is a web developer at Flipsnack for 9 years with a love for web development. He is passionate about code and helping junior devs grow and reach their potential. During his career, he's been working with different programming languages but right now he really loves JavaScript and React and looking forward to TypeScript.