This is the source code for running an Apache Server to provide an overview and help coordinate workload for students of class 8A during the Coronavirus break. It features a dynamically generated table tailored to the respective users subjects, the possibility to store progress on the server and also some more goodies, such as a conference calendar. For the time being it is specifically tailored to this usecase, but it can easily be customized to more general situations.
Check out INSTALL.md to find out how to install this project.
The setup requires creating a file named password.txt in the root directory. This file should only contain the password for letting users log in to the website. This is just one password for the entire class. Users are trusted not to vandalize others progress.
Create a folder called data. User data, progress and work will be stored there.
It is highly recommended to place a file called .htaccess in the data folder. It should have the following content:
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from All
This prevents people from accessing data without being logged in.
Within the data folder, create a folder called work. Place a file called work.txt into this folder.
In it you can note down work using the following structure:
Subject | ID | Description | Resource | Deadline (DD.MM.YYYY)
Example: M | 1 | First assignment | https://www.example.org | 01.01.1994
The ID must be a unique number or string and once it is set, it may not be changed, as it is used for storing progress.
The resource can be plain text, a URL or an assignment (consisting of page numbers and exercises). You can specify a page declaration in config.txt under page_declaration. This string will be used to identify a page. You can then write down an assignment in the format [Your page declaration string] [page number] / [exercises]. By using a semicolon, you can declare another page with assignments.
Example: Let's assume that we defined P. as a page declaration. An example assignment could look like this: P. 74 / 1, 2, 3; P. 86 / 4, 5.
Deadlines are written in European date format (DD.MM.YYYY).
You can write a # symbol for the deadline instead of a date. If you have created a subjects.txt file as described below, the next lesson after school start will be calculated as the deadline.
Within the data folder, create a folder called users. Create files named like the user (without a file extension). Enter the subjects for this user, separated by a comma. You can optionally also enter groups in square brackets.
If desired you can define groups, a collection of subjects, accessible with just their name, so it is not necessary to write dozens of common subjects into the user files.
Within the data folder, create a folder called groups. Create files named like the group of subjects (without a file extension). Enter the subjects of this group, separated by a comma.
Example:
A group called "base" must be saved under data/groups/base. It can then be referenced in student files using [base]. The group file must then contain subjects separated by commas, e.g. M, E, PH
This data type was designed to enable automatic calculation for the next lesson after school begins again, since this date was not fixed for a long time and still might be changed.
Within the data folder, a folder named subjects can be created. Within it, there should be a file named subjects.txt. Subjects can be entered using the following structure:
Subject | 3-letter-weekdays separated by commas (Mon, Tue, ...)
To change the school start date, simply change the value of school_start in config.txt. It can be written in American notation using slashes (/) or European notation using dashes (-).
To add conferences, create a folder called conferences within the data folder. Place a file called conferences.txt into this folder.
In it you can note down upcoming conferences using the following structure:
Subject | Description | Link | Start time (DD.MM.YYYY, hh:mm) | Optional: End time (DD.MM.YYYY, hh:mm)
If the end time is on the same day as the start time, you can instead just write the time (hh:mm), omitting the date. You can also omit the end time completely and the calendar will display it as a one hour block. You can write a # symbol instead of a date and the end time will be calculated using the default lesson length. To change the default length, simply change the value of lesson_length in config.txt. It is written in form of a text string; PHP will automatically convert it into a valid timestamp.
Optionally you can create a file called archive.txt. Past conferences are not automatically hidden by the code, so that rejoining extended video conferences is less of a hassle. Since they need to be removed manually, it can be desired that they still stay visible on the calendar. You can achieve this by pasting past conferences into said archive.txt file.
The about.php and thanks.php pages are placeholders to get you started. Please change these pages accordingly. You need not mention the original author or license as long as you keep the LICENSE file in this repository. However, you do need to keep the section "Open Source Licenses" on the About page.
At modules/constants.php there is an array containing the default subjects that will be displayed if no user is set. If you want to add or remove subjects, change this file according to the schema found there.
The CSS at stylesheets/subjects.css is meant to be fully customized if you create new subjects or are not happy with the default styling.
To change basic styling, you should modify stylesheets/common.css. This should fullfil most of your needs.
In order to change the default title, class or icons, you can change the values of the key: value pairs in config.txt.
If you want to change links, you can simply swap out minor portions of text at modules/common/topbar.php and modules/bottombar.php. To change the title tag of the PHP pages, simply exchange the text enclosed in <title> ... </title> of the respective pages.
- TableFilter, a JavaScript library that allows tables to be filtered and sorted, is used in the frontend. It is licensed under the MIT License.
- FullCalendar, a JavaScript library that renders beautiful, feature-rich calendars, is used in the frontened. It is licensed under the MIT License.
- FontAwesome is the origin of the website icons, all of which are licensed under Creative Commons BY 4.0.