Introducing: The Forum Helpers Dashboard

[Accio1]

Problem

When the 3.0 studios update was released, the restriction was added that managers would no longer be able to edit the description of studios. This caused The Forum Helpers application process to be removed from the studio description and added to the website instead, so it could be edited more easily in the future. However, this means that updating the codeword or application status requires a pull request to be submitted and approved, which is not efficient.

Solution

Introducing: The Forum Helpers Dashboard, a website where Forum Helpers can easily log in and perform actions such as opening or closing applications, changing the codeword, or updating their biography.

How to use

To use The Forum Helpers Dashboard, visit: https://theforumhelpers.herokuapp.com/ and then type your Scratch Username into the username field. Press submit and then copy-paste the verification code into this studio. As of right now, this only works for managers (see below for why). You should be signed in, and presented with your dashboard. You have the option to sign out, and see your biography that is currently used on the site. You also have the option to change the codeword and open/close applications. Note: as of #294 being merged, this is live which means your changes will be reflected on the actual site.

Notes

• The Forum Helpers Dashboard is currently in early stages, meaning that the only options available are opening or closing applications, and updating the codeword. In the future, additional features (such as changing your biography) will be added.
• For this reason, it is currently only open to managers. This is because it is traditionally managers who would have editing rights to the description, and the ability to change the codeword and application status.

Contributing

For bug reports or feature requests for TFH Dashboard, please open an issue in this repository. It will be labeled with the "type: dashboard" label to show that it related to TFH Dashboard. Important: For security issues related to TFH Dashboard, please leave a comment on one of my older Scratch projects with your concerns.

Please leave your questions, comments, or concerns related to this dashboard below or in The Forum Helpers studio.

[CST1229]

Who coded it?

[Accio1]

@CST1229 I did

[Shluffy]

Maybe Use a Scratch Account instead?

[Accio1]

@Shluffy use a Scratch account for what?

[CST1229]

Probably for authentication, and Shluffy probably means logging in with your Scratch username and password, which has obivious security issues

[penguinmoose]

Right, doesn't the current auth work fine?

[jeffalo]

this is very cool! is it open source? also i can't pass the login flow, it says i'm not a manager.

[Accio1]

@jeffalo It isn't open source at the moment, but it will be in the future. Are you typing your username exactly as it is on Scratch? You are on the list of managers that I made so it should work.

Edit: On TFH site, your username was inputted in lowercase (and that was the one I used), but your actual username has a capital at the start. The input is case sensitive so I fixed it and it should be working now.

[jeffalo]

thanks!

[Accio1]

@jeffalo You're welcome!

Turns out I forgot to setup a testing database for when I am developing it, so it will be down for maintenance in a half an hour while I make a copy.

[gosoccerboy5]

why does it have to use php

[gosoccerboy5]

I guess php is best for server side stuff?

[Accio1]

PHP is a server side language so that is why I used it. It would be impossible to do it with just vanilla HTML, CSS, and JS. I could have used a different server side language like NodeJS but PHP seemed like the better option.

[penguinmoose]

Nice! I really like the idea. I can't wait for it to be out!

[Accio1]

I'm excited for the next update to release! Would you like an invite to TFH organization on GitHub since you are a member of TFH?

[penguinmoose]

Sure! Yes! I’ll try to help by finding bugs and making suggestions, though I also know quite some web programming (especially CSS).

[Accio1]

Alright, can you please leave a comment on my Scratch profile with your Scratch account just to verify that this account is yours?

[penguinmoose]

Ok, did that just now

[penguinmoose]

Just saying, it says I’m not a manager. Does it actually get the managers through the Scratch API, or does it use an outdated list?

[penguinmoose]

Yes, admins will have a way to add/remove/edit users and give them access to the dashboard themselves by adding them to the list.

But then how will new managers be able to add themselves to the list, or will someone need to add them?

[Accio1]

Yes, admins will have a way to add/remove/edit users and give them access to the dashboard themselves by adding them to the list.

But then how will new managers be able to add themselves to the list, or will someone need to add them?

Admins are responsible for adding all new users.

[penguinmoose]

Yes, admins will have a way to add/remove/edit users and give them access to the dashboard themselves by adding them to the list.

But then how will new managers be able to add themselves to the list, or will someone need to add them?

Admins are responsible for adding all new users.

You mean studio managers, or something else? What does “admin” mean in this case? Does it have to do with people that are on this GitHub thing?

[leahcimto]

Admin so far means @Accio1 and I. I assume it's because we are the two that are most active here and have write access.

[penguinmoose]

Admin so far means @Accio1 and I. I assume it's because we are the two that are most active here and have write access.

I see.

[penguinmoose]

I’m thinking that maybe someone can even apply directly on the website, though that would pose lots of security and spam issues.

[penguinmoose]

Can someone add me to the list? (I'm helloworldbyeworld)

[leahcimto]

See #303. Your name is on the list, and it will be pushed later this week with the dashboard :)

[penguinmoose]

Thanks :)