Talent and casting portal with app payment endpoints and contest module

The challenge

An Indian digital agency brought us in to develop and support a talent and casting portal for the entertainment industry. The platform combined an artist directory organised by category, job postings from coordinators and employers, paid membership packages and a companion Android app built by another developer. The app relied on web services from the portal, and the business wanted members to be able to pay for packages inside the app.

The portal had grown over several years, so new work had to fit around an existing database, a heavily customised OpenCart build and a WordPress media blog, while the live site kept running for members and recruiters.

What we did

• Mobile-app web services. We fixed the directory API that the Android app used, which had been returning empty responses, and resolved coordinator job errors, popup inquiry capture and package display issues.
• In-app payment endpoints. We built the server-side request and response scripts that the app's BillDesk in-app payment SDK calls, so payments started in the app could be verified and recorded by the portal.
• Core portal fixes. In 2017 we fixed jobs failing to save because of a date bug, directory paging and sort order, the registration and payment approval flow, and discount price display on membership packages.
• Event and contest module. For a talent contest we added event pages with rounds, contestant pages and booking forms, with SMS and email notifications to participants and the team.
• Member experience. We sent login credentials by SMS from the landing page, added a left-hand menu and comment history to the user dashboard, reworked the category page layout, filters and buttons, and improved the mobile menu.
• Maintenance. We worked through the agency's change lists in 2017 and 2020, including moving the site to https.

Tech stack

PHP, MySQL, OpenCart, WordPress, BillDesk In-App Payments, SMS gateway API