Web Programming

Assignment #2: Expanded BBS Featuresdue: 10/26/2010

Old Dominion UniversityDepartment of Computer Science

CS 418/518 Fall 2010

Martin Klein <mklein@cs.odu.edu>

Requirements

• Users can now have roles, which are separate from a user’s identity

• admin: “su” or “root” for the BBS -- if there is a function that is possible to do through your web interface, then admin has that capability

• moderator: less powerful than the admin, but more powerful than regular user. separate moderator functionality will arrive later

• the role must be visually displayed for the user and all other users to see

• Your A2:– TACS518 = admin; mklein = moderator– other users may have admin/moderator roles

Requirements

• Admin must have its own interface/page from which to perform BBS functions

– that does not preclude context-sensitive functionality elsewhere in the BBS, but there must be an “admin home page” from which all BBS things are possible

• Admin(s) can add/remove admin or moderator roles to other, existing users

– BBS can have 0 moderators, but must always have at least 1 admin

– implies the ability to list all valid users in the BBS

Requirements

• “Thread” support– support arbitrary depth of replies to replies to replies…– display hierarchy of who replied to whom– many different display “models” possible

• full hierarchy always shown: – http://www.fordfe.com/– http://www.techsideline.com/message_board/football/

• linear / threaded view options: – linear: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=315734

– threaded: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=4442282&mode=threaded#post4442282

– hybrid: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?mode=hybrid&t=315734

Requirements

• Support for multiple forums within a single BBS– e.g. http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6– Administrator can add/delete forums

• (a “forum” is a sub-topic relevant to the entire BBS (e.g., forums for “Agassi Education Foundation” and “Just How Good is Nadal’s New Serve?” within a BBS for “Tennis Talk”.)

• “Pagination” function – administrator can set how many messages/replies to view on a

single “page” (default = 5)– users must have ability to paginate through a forum– what if a thread is longer than what fits on a page?

• “do the right thing…” -- come up with your own, internally consistent model of how to display threads…

baseURL for Submission

• http://mln-web.cs.odu.edu/~username/a2/

• These URLs will be valid for all students

– If you are in a group of 2, only 1 URL will have the actual PHP

– The “other” URL will auto-redirect to the “right” URL

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

Grading

• There will be an in-class demo on 10/26/2010• Nitin will assign 17 points based on a detailed examination after

the class– Do not edit the files after midnight!– Late penalty: 3pts for every 24hrs

• Each group will grade the aesthetic appearance of the other groups’ BBSs

• Email Nitin and cc me a score of 0-3• Each group will receive the average value (same rounding

principle)– If you do not send your grades in within 24 hours, your group will lose 3 points from your

assignment

• Grades should be available before the next class

START NOW!!!