1. Web Programming Assignment #3: Admin and User Functions
Old Dominion University
Department of Computer Science
CS 418/518 Fall 2007
Michael L. Nelson

2. Requirements - Users Keep track of user stats:
number of posts
date of last post
date joined
“ranking”
e.g.: newbie, user, veteran, no life
make up your own values & formula
make the levels/values editable from admin interface
Users can upload avatars during registration
example:
some users have avatars, some don’t
Avatars & “levels” are displayed when users read posts

3. Requirements - Users
User registration uses "reCAPTCHA" as well as confirmation
Users specify preferences at registration time:
text/plain, text/html, or both
User input is HTML-safe
i.e., "nasty" HTML messages will be part of the test scenario!
Users can edit their own posts
(leave some indicator that the post was edited)
e.g. “this post edited on T23:20:11 by mln”
Users have a “remember me?” option when logging in
example:
server will send a session cookie to the client so the user will automatically be logged in if they return to the BBS in, say, 5 minutes (a real value would be longer)
Explicit “log out” function that terminates the current session & the “remember me” cookie from the above requirement

4. Requirements - Admins
Administrator should have an “overview” of all registered users, summarizing their activities
Administrator functions:
"sticky" messages (stay at the top of the display; can be frozen or not)
(welcome to board, board rules)
(advertisements, featured articles)
“freeze” threads (no more posts, but not deleted)
edit posts (leave some indicator that the post was edited)
delete posts (recursively delete all replies or "children" as well)
check for race conditions: e.g. a post being deleted after a user has begun the reply process but before they hit “submit”
“suspend”, “unsuspend” & delete users
suspend = no messages until suspension is lifted
send re: action to the user in all cases

5. baseURL for Submission
These URLs will be valid for all students
If you are in a group, only 1 URL will have the actual PHP
The “other” URL will auto-redirect to the “right” URL

6. Recommendations
Debug within your group first, then ask for other groups to help debug your operations
Your status report the week before is for the benefit of your peers more than for me…
status report is not optional

7. Grading There will be an in-class demo
Arjun will assign 20 points based on a detailed examination after the class
Do not edit the files after midnight!
Each student will grade the aesthetic appearance of the other groups’ BBSs by ing Arjun (and cc’ing me) a score of 0-3; each group will recv the average value (rounded up)
If you do not send your grades in within 24 hours, you will lose 3 points from your assignment
Grades should be available before the next class