Baran Çelik
Computer Engineer & Full-Stack Developer
From Broken Screen to Digital Enterprise: The Journey of Notorium
🚀 How Notoryum Was Born
The spark for Notoryum came from a casual summer conversation. While chatting with a friend, I said, “Imagine a platform where students could instantly access lecture notes.” We looked at each other and thought, “Why aren’t we building it ourselves?” Initially planned as a joint project, circumstances led me to take the reins solo.
The real turning point happened during the holidays. My laptop fell and the screen shattered, leaving it nearly black. Repairs would take at least two weeks, but I refused to waste that time. Armed with just my tablet and some Linux terminal magic, I set up a screen-sharing connection. Tweaking Wi-Fi settings via terminal and battling small glitches was challenging, but eventually, I managed to use the tablet as a makeshift screen. And that’s when the first lines of Notoryum were written—10 days of pure tablet coding until my laptop was fixed and the project could really take off.
💻 Technologies That Power Notoryum
Backend: Written from scratch using PHP.
Hosting: Started on a free service (InfinityFree); future plan: VPS for more control and performance.
Email: Integrated email verification and notifications using Mailjet API.
⚡ How It Works
Note Sharing: Students upload notes; peers browse, like, and purchase. Platform takes a small commission, and the rest goes to the seller.
Subscription Perks: Subscribers unlock premium features like posting announcements, access to extra tools, and more.
Announcements: Visible to all, but only subscribers can message the poster directly.
Messaging: One-on-one chat interface inspired by WhatsApp; both parties must be subscribers to connect.
Future Vision: AI-powered features like note summarization, smart Q&A, and quick topic extraction are on the roadmap.
🔥 Challenges on the Road
Free Hosting: InfinityFree limited speed and security, creating hurdles.
Payment Integration: Without a tax certificate, most providers rejected me. Temporarily, I implemented a manual IBAN-based solution.
PHP Limits: Real-time messaging and dynamic features were hard with PHP, prompting a move to Express + NestJS for the next iteration.
🎓 Lessons Learned
Building a project from scratch demands patience, motivation, and solid planning.
Even under tough conditions (broken laptop + tablet), creation is possible.
Each step taught new skills; Notoryum became more than a platform—it evolved into a personal journey in software development.
🏁 The Takeaway
Notoryum is still evolving, but it’s already an incredible learning journey. It’s not just about building a platform—it’s about creating a tool that genuinely helps students while leaving a lasting mark on my path as a developer and entrepreneur.