I’m exploring the possibility of building an auction system using Airtable as the backend and Softr as the frontend, and I’m hoping to get some insights on its feasibility. Here’s what I’m aiming to create:
Use Case:
An auction system featuring 6 items, each represented by an image.
Users should be able to place bids on these items.
A way to recognize and identify users for subsequent bids.
Real-time (or near real-time) updates of bid prices as new bids come in.
Proposed Structure:
Airtable:
Items Table: Contains fields for item details, current highest bid, auction end time, and images of the items.
Bids Table: Linked to the Items table, recording each bid along with user identification.
Views: For active auctions, ended auctions, and item-specific bid histories.
Softr:
Auction Pages: Using Softr to create an intuitive, user-friendly front-end that displays items, allows users to place bids, and shows real-time updates as bids come in.
User Authentication: Leverage Softr’s built-in user management features to handle user sign-ups, logins, and user-specific pages.
Real-Time Updates: Softr can connect seamlessly to Airtable and display dynamic, real-time updates of auction bids via its list and detail views, auto-updating as new bids are placed.
Key Questions:
Real-time Bid Updates: Is the combination of Airtable and Softr sufficient for real-time updates? While Airtable can handle frequent updates, Softr’s integration and refresh capabilities would be crucial for ensuring that users see the latest bids.
Scalability & User Management: What limitations should I be aware of in terms of the number of simultaneous users or scaling the number of items? Does Softr’s user management handle a growing user base effectively?
Enhancements & Integrations: Are there any third-party tools or integrations with Softr and Airtable that could improve performance, such as automating notifications for outbid users or enhancing real-time updates?
User Identification & Duplicate Bids: How would you recommend handling user identification in a way that prevents duplicate bids from the same user on the same item?
Data Integrity & Race Conditions: What’s the best approach to prevent race conditions when multiple users bid simultaneously? Any tips for ensuring data integrity during high activity?
Welcome to the community! This is a good breakdown, and seems like a good app!
As with most things, I think you’ll find that you CAN build this in Softr. However, it’s not our typical use case and thus there might need to be some custom code that you need to implement to get all of the desired functionality.
For example, you could do bid updates using our action buttons, but you’d need to refresh the page to see the updates (not real time) like your post says. But using custom code, you can force a page load after the form submission to make it appear real time.
However, if a user is a on page, and waits on that page for a while, and then makes a bid, there is a chance that the data on that page is no longer the latest and could also cause some problems.
Scalability isn’t a problem, but just make sure there is a pricing plan that fits your needs.
Duplicate bids could be handled/protected in Airtable via automations, or even using visibility settings in Softr (if you get creative)
Hope this insight helps you make the right decision for you app!
With only 6 users though, Supabase is overkill. Airtable should be fine until you reach many thousands.
Otherwise, the bids will update on every page load, but still if a user doesn’t load their page, they could miss out on an update. Otherwise, you should be good!
We call popups “modals”. You want to create a detail page for the “big” and then navigate to open that page, but open with a “Modal” instead of navigate to the page.
thank you, is there a workaround on Softr’s free plan to allow an action button to be used by users without requiring them to log in? My use case doesn’t need a signup/login process for users to place bids in the end.