ScoringSystem

Overview

A simple LAMP stack based scoring system for multiple judges and users. This system allows administrators to add judges, judges to score registered users, and displays a real-time scoreboard.

Features

• Admin panel to add judges.
• Judge portal for scoring users.
• Dynamic scoreboard with auto-refresh (every 10 seconds).
• Glassmorphism UI design with a dark theme.
• Responsive design for basic usability on smaller screens.

Technology Stack

• Linux (Assumed, typically part of XAMPP/LAMP stack)
• Apache (Typically via XAMPP or a standard LAMP setup)
• MySQL (Typically via XAMPP or a standard LAMP setup)
• PHP (For backend logic and API)
• HTML, CSS, JavaScript (For frontend structure, styling, and interactivity)

Setup Instructions (for XAMPP)

1. Download and Install XAMPP: Get XAMPP from Apache Friends and install it.
2. Start Modules: Launch the XAMPP Control Panel and start the Apache and MySQL modules.
3. Clone Repository: Clone this repository into the htdocs directory of your XAMPP installation.
   • Example paths: C:\xampp\htdocs\scoring-system (Windows) or /opt/lampp/htdocs/scoring-system (Linux).
4. Import Database:
   • Open phpMyAdmin by navigating to http://localhost/phpmyadmin in your web browser.
   • Create a new database named scoring_system (if it's not automatically created by the SQL script).
   • Select the scoring_system database.
   • Click on the "Import" tab.
   • Choose the setup.sql file from the cloned repository and click "Go". This will create the necessary tables and insert initial data.
5. Access Application:
   • Admin Panel: http://localhost/scoring-system/admin.php (or the subdirectory you chose)
   • Judge Portal: http://localhost/scoring-system/judge.php
   • Scoreboard: http://localhost/scoring-system/scoreboard.php

Database Schema

The following SQL script (setup.sql) is used to create the database and tables:

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS scoring_system;

USE scoring_system;

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `judges` (
  `judge_id` INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  `username` VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  `display_name` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL
);

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `users` (
  `user_id` INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  `username` VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  `display_name` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL
);

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `scores` (
  `score_id` INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  `user_id` INT NOT NULL,
  `judge_id` INT NOT NULL,
  `points` INT NOT NULL CHECK (points >= 1 AND points <= 100),
  `timestamp` TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  UNIQUE KEY `unique_user_judge` (`user_id`, `judge_id`),
  FOREIGN KEY (`user_id`) REFERENCES `users`(`user_id`) ON DELETE CASCADE,
  FOREIGN KEY (`judge_id`) REFERENCES `judges`(`judge_id`) ON DELETE CASCADE
);

INSERT INTO `users` (`username`, `display_name`) VALUES
('user1', 'Participant One'),
('user2', 'Participant Two'),
('user3', 'Participant Three');

Table Descriptions:

• judges: Stores information about the judges, including a unique username and a display name.
• users: Stores information about the participants/users being scored, including a unique username and a display name. Includes some initial sample users.
• scores: Records the scores given by judges to users. It ensures a user can only be scored once by the same judge and that points are between 1 and 100. Foreign keys link to users and judges tables, with cascade delete enabled.

API Endpoints

The api.php file provides the backend logic for the application. All responses are in JSON format.

• POST /api.php?action=add_judge: Adds a new judge.
  • Expects username and display_name in the POST body.
• GET /api.php?action=get_judges: Retrieves a list of all judges.
• GET /api.php?action=get_users_not_scored&judge_id=X: Retrieves users not yet scored by the specified judge_id.
• POST /api.php?action=add_score: Submits a score for a user by a judge.
  • Expects user_id, judge_id, and points in the POST body.
• GET /api.php?action=get_scoreboard: Retrieves the current scoreboard data, including total points for each user, ordered by points.

Design Choices

• UI Styling:
  • Theme: A modern dark theme is used for aesthetics and reduced eye strain.
  • Glassmorphism: Container elements use a frosted glass effect (rgba background, backdrop-filter: blur()).
  • Primary Color: #00ff88 (a vibrant green) is used for highlights, buttons, and important elements.
  • Responsive Design: Basic media queries are implemented in styles.css to improve layout and usability on smaller screens (e.g., adjusting form element widths, container padding).
• LAMP Integration:
  • PHP: Serves as the backend language, handling API requests (api.php), database interactions (db.php), and server-side logic.
  • MySQL: Used as the relational database to store judge, user, and score data.
  • Apache: The web server responsible for serving the PHP, HTML, CSS, and JS files.
• Frontend Interactivity:
  • JavaScript (Vanilla JS): Extensively used for client-side logic.
  • AJAX (fetch API): Employed for asynchronous communication with api.php to add judges, submit scores, and load data without full page reloads.
  • Dynamic Content Updates: The judge portal and scoreboard dynamically update content based on API responses.
  • Form Handling: Client-side validation and submission for a smoother user experience.

Assumptions

• The application is primarily designed and tested for a local XAMPP environment.
• No user authentication or authorization is implemented. All pages (admin.php, judge.php) are publicly accessible.
• Error handling is basic: messages are typically displayed on the page or logged to the browser console.
• The root MySQL user with an empty password is used for database connection in db.php, which is standard for default XAMPP setups.

Future Features

• User Authentication: Implement a login system for judges and administrators.
• Real-time Scoreboard: Enhance the scoreboard using WebSockets for instant updates instead of polling.
• Robust Error Handling: Implement more comprehensive server-side and client-side error logging and user feedback.
• User Management: Add features for admins to edit or delete users.
• Judge Management: Add features for admins to edit or delete judges.
• Scoring Criteria: Allow for more detailed scoring metrics or different types of scores.
• Navigation: Add a simple navigation bar or links to easily switch between Admin, Judge, and Scoreboard pages.
• Input Validation & Sanitization: Enhance security by adding more robust server-side input validation and output encoding.
• Session Management: Properly manage judge sessions in the judge portal.

This project serves as a foundational example of a dynamic web application using the LAMP stack. Ensure your XAMPP MySQL server is running on the default port (3306) and that the root user has no password, or update db.php accordingly.