ABOUT PROJECT
Atlistis is a vibrant marketplace designed to curate the very best of the Azores into one seamless digital hub. By blending curated offerings with community-driven interaction, Atlistis doesn’t just connect people to places; it creates a living ecosystem that celebrates the authenticity and vibrancy of the region.
When Blake, the founder, realized that his platform needed more than ad-hoc freelancer input, he turned to Roobykon Software to elevate Atlistis to the next level. Our team stepped in to provide the technical stewardship the project deserved: ongoing maintenance, feature optimization, tailored customizations, and forward-looking improvements that keep the marketplace both resilient and competitive.
Key Challenges
During the Atlistis project, one of the key challenges we faced was translating the client’s vision into actionable, custom features within the Sharetribe platform. While the platform offered a strong foundation for marketplace functionality, Atlistis required tailored enhancements to reflect the unique tourism experience of the Azores. Our team needed to carefully balance platform limitations with custom development, ensuring that each new feature not only met the client’s expectations but also maintained platform stability and scalability.
Another challenge was managing dynamic communication and rapid iterations in a remote, on-demand workflow. Blake and the team relied primarily on Slack for day-to-day coordination, which meant we had to be highly responsive, organized, and clear in our messaging.
TECHNOLOGY STACK
Solution Highlights
To bring Atlistis’s vision to life, Roobykon leveraged Sharetribe, the leading marketplace platform, as the foundation for a scalable, community-driven experience. This enabled seamless onboarding for both travelers and local service providers, while providing the flexibility to customize workflows, listings, and booking processes. To ensure secure, smooth transactions across the platform, we integrated Stripe, empowering users to pay confidently in multiple currencies while giving hosts reliable payout options.
To make the platform truly accessible to an international audience, we implemented Google Translate APIs, allowing static content, dynamic content, and emails to be translated in real time without sacrificing clarity or context. The entire platform is hosted on Render, providing a robust, cloud-based environment that ensures high availability, fast load times, and simplified deployment workflows. Combined, these solutions created a reliable, scalable, and user-friendly marketplace tailored for the unique tourism ecosystem of the Azores.
The process
01
Project kickoff: The Atlistis journey began in October 2024, with Blake’s vision of a community-driven Azores marketplace. Initial efforts focused on outlining core functionalities, identifying the target audience, and defining the technical requirements for the platform.
02
Feature delivery: By December 2024, all core marketplace features were delivered, enabling users to browse listings, make bookings, and interact with local service providers.
03
Post-launch enhancements: After the initial launch, Roobykon stepped in to take the platform to the next level. Our main focus was on improving the search experience and implementing advanced availability management to make the platform more intuitive for travelers and more efficient for hosts.
04
Ongoing maintenance & optimization: Since joining the project, our team has continued to provide regular maintenance, feature updates, and strategic enhancements.
Main Features
Listing calendar refactoring
One of our first priorities was to enhance the listing calendar, ensuring a smooth and intuitive booking experience for both hosts and travelers. We optimized the calendar’s backend logic and frontend interactions so that availability updates are seamless, accurate, and easy to manage.
HomePage redesign
To elevate the user experience from the first interaction, we redesigned the homepage while keeping the header intact. The hero section remains fully manageable from the admin panel, allowing the client to upload a low-profile image of their choice. We added a section that mirrors the search page functionality, but with horizontal filters for faster, more intuitive browsing.
Translation and minor fixes
To make Atlistis truly accessible and polished, we implemented a range of enhancements covering translations and minor UX fixes:
- Emails translation: Transactional and authentication emails now support multiple languages, ensuring all users receive messages in their preferred language.
- Translation feature: We resolved issues to ensure all listings are accurately translated, extending support beyond English and Portuguese and integrating the translation service seamlessly across listing pages.
- Footer fixes: Layout issues were corrected to provide a consistent, professional look across devices.
- Post a new listing/edit listing pages: Forms and UI elements were refined to make listing creation and editing intuitive.
- Search page optimization: Filters, sorting, and display logic were improved for faster, more reliable search results.
- Listing page enhancements: Missing translations and logic for the translation service were added to ensure fully localized listing details.
RESULTS
The teamwork between Roobykon and Atlistis has brought structure, expertise, and scalability to a platform that previously relied on freelancers with limited Sharetribe experience. By taking over ongoing development, we have provided Blake with a reliable team for regular maintenance, updates, and feature-driven customizations, ensuring the platform operates smoothly while continuously evolving. The website now functions as a comprehensive guide to Azores tourism, connecting travelers with events, services, and accommodations through a low-code MVP populated with rich content and practical guides.
With Roobykon’s support, Atlistis is now positioned to refine its focus based on real user feedback, narrowing the platform’s scope to target high-value tourism services.
Lessons from Atlistis
Working on the Atlistis marketplace has been an incredibly rewarding journey for our team at Roobykon. From the very beginning, we faced the challenge of taking over a project that had been built by freelancers with limited experience in Sharetribe. Stepping into an existing codebase meant navigating unexpected technical quirks, incomplete logic, and gaps in functionality. At first, it felt like a maze, but each challenge became an opportunity to sharpen our problem-solving skills and deepen our understanding of Sharetribe’s architecture in real-world applications.
As we implemented new features — from the homepage redesign to the translation system and calendar refactoring — we learned the importance of thinking strategically, not just technically. Today, thanks to Atlistis, our team is stronger, more adaptable, and more professional. We’ve grown not just as developers, but as partners who understand how to turn a vision into a functional, thriving marketplace that serves both users and the business effectively.
MORE PROJECTS
