The Clan Lord Sentinel

Project help request: automated event scheduling & reminders

Nominally, this is a University of Puddleby matter, but is completely out of character.

The scheduling of classes is the most basic goal of the University of Puddleby, but the tasks that need to be done to make them happen are among the most labour-intensive jobs at the moment. Often, things are overlooked or forgotten (from updating the schedule of classes to instructors forgetting to show up to interested exiles not even knowing that there was a class on).

Many tasks could be automated instead of having to be done manually each time, but we have no system for doing so at the moment. Help is needed to build one. A wishlist is below. Is there any existing software project that could be adapted, or is it better written from scratch?

If only one person is responsible, the work is onerous and the burden of responsibility heavy; if many are participating, the load is lighter for each, and the collaboration might even be fun. An open project, including further features or suggestions not yet thought of may lead to something useful for more than just University classes (e.g. FMOCRs, Pitch Cave expeditions, Newbielympics, concerts, bard rehearsals, etc.)

Please feel free to respond in this forum, or to speak with any of the current University board (Fiona, Paranoidos, Maeght, Connie Crete, Shakyamuni, Aprender), by private message or in-game, if you think you can help in any way (even just suggesting something, or talking through the existing suggestions is a help).

The project

Goals:

1. Tasks that are predictable and mechanical should be automated (currently done manually). Examples:
- booking or changing a class time
- checking for conflicts
- time zone conversion
- web page updating

2. Tasks that are unavoidably manual or unpredictable, or which remain so by choice, should have an automated reminder to the person(s) responsible for doing them.
- teaching a class
- posting announcements (Koppi, Sentinel, Calendar, sunstone, etc.)

Wishlist:

1. Booking a class time

*Any* exile should be able to submit a request for booking a class time. Name and password recommended, but optional.
Any Date, Time, and Time Zone (using standard abbreviations) should be acceptable. Fields for class Title and Description.

Immediately following the booking request,

1a. Check for conflicts
System should check for conflicts with other classes and warn if the start time is 1 hour or shorter apart from another existing class.
Example: if there is a class already scheduled for 6 pm on a certain day, the warning appears for a newer request on the same day starting any time from 5 pm to 7 pm.
This is a warning only, not a refusal to accept the booking (the older class may be known to have been cancelled or changed; the system just hasn't been told yet)

The next step depends on who is booking a class (any exile should be allowed to)

1b i. If from a trusted source (submitted with name and password already on a shortlist), the booking is automatically approved, otherwise

1b ii. If from a non-trusted source (unrecognised name, or anonymous), it is submitted to a moderator for approval.


2. Updates and reminders arising from Approved booking

After a booking is approved (whether automatically or by a moderator), the following actions should happen automatically:

2a. Time zone converted to a few common ones (Pacific time, Eastern time, [daylight saving time or not, as appropriate for the date], Greenwich Mean Time)

2b. University calendar on website updated, with the class, with the several time zones all listed. (Currently, Maeght does it manually. This can and should be automated.)

2c. Message sent to all exiles on a "Notify me of UoP classes" mailing list. (Does not exist at this time. Could be created easily, say using Yahoo Groups. Easily automatable.)

2d. Reminder sent to person(s) responsible for posting Koppi announcements. (Currently, Fiona does it, though not officially responsible. Can not be automated, as far as I can see, short of Delta Tao being willing to let a UoP program make direct changes to their database--subtract 100c from a character's account and insert the Koppi announcement.)

2e. Reminder sent to person(s) responsible for posting upcoming classes on the Sentinel. (Currently, Taryn posts Healer classes, though not officially responsible. *Might* be automatable.)

2f. Reminder sent to person(s) responsible for updating the Puddleby Calendar of events. (Currently, Aprender sends updates to Slyph as private messages on The Sentinel board, and Slyph updates the Calendar manually. *Might* be automatable, at least the messages to Slyph part.)

2g. Reminder sent to instructor(s) of the class. One to three reminders possible (1 day before, 3 days before, 1 week before). Should be customisable by the instructor(s). (Previously done by Harper; proven to be very important in getting instructors to show up on time, or to at least give timely notice of a rescheduling. Automatable as long as the instructor provides an email address.)

Note: We know the difference that having reminders makes. If reminders (1 to 3) are sent to instructors, they show up for their class 90% of the time. With zero reminders, this drops to 30%.

2h. Reminder sent to person(s) responsible for sending sunstone messages about the class on the day itself (1 hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 5 minutes before, last call when class starts). A single reminder the day before might be sufficient. (Currently done by Fiona, though not officially. Reminder is automatable as long as the person provides an email address. Sunstone messages can not be automated, as far as I can see, short of Delta Tao being willing to let a UoP program make direct changes to their database--insert the announcement into the script of an NPC to be released at the scheduled times.)


3. Deleting, or changing class dates or times

This is exactly the same as "1. Booking a class time", except that the system first asks for an existing class to be identified. After that, it is the same as #1. The old entry is removed. A new entry may go in.

After this, everything in "2. Updates and reminders arising from Approved booking" is immediately put into action again.


This is a lot already. What's doable first? A web form for class booking and updating of webpage, perhaps? What other items do others have, or feedback?

Aprender wrote:Project help request: automated event scheduling & reminders

Still needed, perhaps more than ever before. None of the requests have changed.

There are a lot of them, certainly. Perhaps the following will help:

If you help with any part of the project, you aren't obligated to help with any other part, nor even to continue helping with your own part

In other words, no one expects any single person to build the entire project. If you contribute a small part of it, say a chunk of code, you don't have to stay on and maintain or improve your piece. If you use your own website to show off a prototype, you don't have to be the host for the ongoing project. Contribute what you can and then walk away without guilt.

Of course, it's a given that someone will ask you to continue helping, to improve a first draft, to combine pieces together, and so on. But it isn't expected: we'd like you to, but you're not obliged to.

The lack of activity from the University isn't due to a lack of people willing to teach or help out in other ways--there are many. It's the necessary behind-the-scenes manual work--approaching exiles to teach, checking for class time conflicts, time zone conversion, placing announcements, updating the website schedule, sending reminders--that far exceeds the work of the final teaching of a class and which is the big obstacle to having more classes.

In the University's early days, there were many more classes; on average, one every other day--but there was no way that the people involved could have kept up with all the work that had to be done to make that happen for more than a short time. Much of the work can be automated. Is anyone able to help with this, no matter how little? The wishlist is one message up.

Aprender wrote:2g. Reminder sent to instructor(s) of the class. One to three reminders possible (1 day before, 3 days before, 1 week before). Should be customisable by the instructor(s). (Previously done by Harper; proven to be very important in getting instructors to show up on time, or to at least give timely notice of a rescheduling. Automatable as long as the instructor provides an email address.)

I'd also like the reminders to instructors sent to their Puddleby PO box. I've tried to encourage all the instructors I've solicited to get one.

Aprender wrote:The lack of activity from the University isn't due to a lack of people willing to teach or help out in other ways--there are many.

Recent inactivity may also be due to it being summer (for most of us). At least I hope so. Nearly all of the instructors I've been trying to contact since early July have either been unavailable, or have told me "later".

Taryn.

I wrote some php for ye, addresses some of what ye wanted, it umm, takes data from the forms and puts it in a html file... Its all written in php.

I wrote it in a sorta general way, what I hoped could make it easy to add too.

ye can see it here
http://cloud9905832.dyndns.org/Universi ... /forms.php

Running web server off me comp, if it ain't work'in its cause I'm asleep and comp is off.

Ye can get the source, if ye wants it, from the directory
http://cloud9905832.dyndns.org/University_of_Puddleby/

forms.txt and process.txt and list.txt (all really .php)