School project

[jeppebundsgaard]

I am planning to do a coding project for middle schoolers in Denmark. I will install phcode on my own server so the students can access it from their chromebooks (not a good choice of computer for so many reasons) and other devices. I think I'll reduce some of the functionality so they are not overwhelmed.
I want to let them save their work to a personal website on my server so it can be accessed from the internet to give them the wonderful experience of sharing their work with the world. This needs to be easy and controlled by me (GDPR, you know).
I seem to be able to do these things. But is there documentation somewhere for this kind of use case? Most of the documentation seems to assume that each user either installs a client or uses the phcode.dev-web-version.

[abose]

Hi @jeppebundsgaard, thanks for raising this!

Phoenix Code (both the browser and desktop app) doesn’t store any user data on our servers all files stay local.

• In the browser version, everything lives in the user’s browser storage (unless a folder is opened, in which case its directly on disk).
• In the desktop app, files are saved directly to disk.

Right now, there isn’t a built-in system to sync or save user projects to a backend server.

There is a Share Project option in the right toolbar, which temporarily uploads the project to our servers for preview. That copy is only kept for 3 days and then deleted - it’s mainly meant for quick demos, not long-term hosting.

So just to confirm, are you thinking of:

1. Replacing the backend for the “Share Project” feature with your own server, so shared projects are hosted there?
   or
2. Letting students save and publish their projects to your own server directly (a full server-side storage workflow, which isn’t currently supported)?

If you’re aiming for the second case, then some major rework is needed. but for just case 1(hosting) it may be relatively simpler if you disable a few features.

[jeppebundsgaard]

Hello @abose, and thank you for the marvelous work on phcode!
I think my aim is your second point - I am used to do these things in php, and it doesn't have to be shiny and professional (not at first, anyways).
Kids are wonderful! But sometimes they find it fun to mess with each-other, so I think it would be a good idea to backup their work periodically to a server, so someone could not easily clear out the browser storage while they went to the bathroom... :-).
Anyways, could you point me in the right direction on how to change the backend for shared hosting?
Thank you so much for your help!

[abose]

Got it. A few quick clarifications:

1. Are you planning to self-host the Phoenix Code browser app?
   If so, you’ll need two domains: one for the editor (e.g. editor.yourdomain.com) and another for live preview (e.g. preview.yourdomain.com). Phoenix Code only runs over HTTPS and won’t load from a LAN IP because of the security setup.

2. The desktop app doesn’t have this limitation since browser trust relies on domains and SSL certificates.

3. You’ll also need to make some code changes so Phoenix Code trusts your new domain. You can do this locally in your fork.

That said, the simpler approach might be to use the hosted version at phcode.dev and just write a small extension that replaces the “Share” function with your own backend endpoint.
This way, your setup stays in sync with all upstream Phoenix Code updates, and you won’t need to redo code changes every time there’s a new release.

Based on your approach(extension/self hosted), i can help with the next steps.

[jeppebundsgaard]

Are you planning to self-host the Phoenix Code browser app?
If so, you’ll need two domains: one for the editor (e.g. editor.yourdomain.com) and another for live preview (e.g. preview.yourdomain.com). Phoenix Code only runs over HTTPS and won’t load from a LAN IP because of the security setup.

My plan is to selfhost - then I can make it as easy as possible to the users (they don't have to install anything, they can just log in using their usual credentials).
Sounds good to use two subdomains.

The desktop app doesn’t have this limitation since browser trust relies on domains and SSL certificates.

My experience with kids and computers is that the fewer thing they should do before they are set to go, the better. And the browser-app works perfect, I think.

You’ll also need to make some code changes so Phoenix Code trusts your new domain. You can do this locally in your fork.

Yes, I am ready to do this - even though I acknowledge that it will make things a little harder for me.

That said, the simpler approach might be to use the hosted version at phcode.dev and just write a small extension that replaces the “Share” function with your own backend endpoint.
This way, your setup stays in sync with all upstream Phoenix Code updates, and you won’t need to redo code changes every time there’s a new release.

I understand, and I am a little scared by this, but I think it will be the best solution for the kids. I might regret...

Based on your approach(extension/self hosted), i can help with the next steps.

Thank you so much, it is so kind of you!

[abose]

I was looking through the code, and yeah, there are a few spots that would need changes. We’ve got some major releases coming up this month, so time is a bit tight right now.

What timeline are you looking at?

One possible approach for now: you could start by writing the extension to handle project syncing separately. Once that’s working, it can later be merged into your fork and self-hosted. That way you’ll get a feel for how much effort it takes to maintain, but on a much smaller code base related to phoenix.

Phoenix Code has a pretty tiny core - most features are built as extensions. We follow the same pattern internally: new features usually start as extensions and get merged into core once they’ve stabilized.

Here’s how you can get started:

• Extension template: https://github.com/phcode-dev/extension-template
• Current sync example: https://github.com/phcode-dev/phoenix/blob/main/src/extensionsIntegrated/Phoenix/serverSync.js
• Create a backend for uploads based on the extension implementation.
• If needed, implement your own backend logic and hook it up in the new extension.
• Extension docs: https://docs.phcode.dev/api/getting-started

Our resources are a bit constrained right now, but after the release, I can help with the necessary core changes to support custom domains. For now, just try out the above steps - it’ll give you a good sense of how Phoenix Code is structured and how easily it can be extended.

[jeppebundsgaard]

Thank you once again! I am overwhelmed by your kind support. I'll start on the approach you suggest, and get back when I'm either stuck or finished :-).

[jeppebundsgaard]

Hello @abose ,
I managed to produce a working extension that uploads to a custom server. I also implemented creation and validation of users.

The server side script is written in node.js - my first experience with that language. So maybe I have made some beginner's mistakes :-). I learned a lot along the way!

I have relied heavily on the serverSync-script you referred me to. I really enjoy working in the whole ecosystem of phcode - it is well-functioning and very well documented.

I tried to create an extension - but it fails when building. I don't understand the error message. https://github.com/jeppebundsgaard/phcode_selfhost/releases/tag/v0.0.1

Thank you so much again for all your help.

[abose]

Publish is failing likely due to name in package.json file not following format github-jeppebundsgaard/phcode_selfhost . followed the readme file in the extension template for filling fields in package.json

[jeppebundsgaard]

Thanks! That helped. I get a message that "Draft or PreRelease builds cannot be published." So it should be fine - I have set the pre-release flag.
What are the expectations to an extension before it is submittet as an actual release? Can I just do it, or should I ask someone to test it first?