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This guide covers all administrative tasks for managing your Wecode installation, including system configuration, user management, and maintenance.

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System Overview

As an administrator, you have full access to all Wecode features including:
  • System settings and configuration
  • User management (creating, editing, bulk import)
  • Class (Lop) management
  • Problem and assignment oversight
  • System maintenance and security

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Accessing Admin Settings

Navigate to the Settings page from the main navigation menu. Only users with admin or head instructor roles can access these settings.
Permission Required: Admin role only for modifying system settings

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System Settings

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General Configuration

The settings page (/settings route, handled by setting_controller.php) provides access to core system configuration:
1

Navigate to Settings

Click on “Settings” in the main navigation menu
2

Configure Basic Settings

Update the following essential settings:
  • Site Name: Your Wecode installation name
  • Timezone: System timezone for all date/time operations
  • Theme: UI theme selection
3

Save Changes

Click “Update Settings” to apply your changes

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Critical System Paths

These settings are critical for system operation. Changes require server access and should only be modified by system administrators with technical knowledge.
Tester Path (tester_path)
  • Location of the code testing and evaluation scripts
  • Used for judging submissions
  • Must be accessible by the web server
Assignments Root (assignments_root)
  • Base directory for storing all assignments, problems, and submissions
  • Requires write permissions for the web server
  • Contains subdirectories:
    • /problems/{problem_id}/ - Problem test cases and descriptions
    • /assignment_{assignment_id}/ - Assignment-specific files
    • /assignment_{assignment_id}/problem_{problem_id}/{username}/ - Student submissions

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Submission Limits

File Size Limit (file_size_limit)
  • Maximum upload size for student code submissions (in KB)
  • Default: Varies based on installation
  • Affects both file uploads and pasted code
Output Size Limit (output_size_limit)
  • Maximum output size for program execution (in KB)
  • Prevents infinite loops from consuming disk space

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Registration Settings

Enable Registration (enable_registration)
  • Toggle public user registration
  • When disabled, only admins can create accounts
Registration Code (registration_code)
  • Optional code required for self-registration
  • Leave empty to allow open registration (when enabled)
  • Students must enter this code during signup

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Late Submission Policy

Default Late Rule (default_late_rule)
  • Mathematical expression for calculating late penalties
  • Uses variables: delay, extra_time
  • Example: max(0, 100 - delay/3600) (1% penalty per hour)
Submit Penalty (submit_penalty)
  • Additional penalty per submission attempt
  • Used in some grading schemes

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Display Settings

Results Per Page (All) (results_per_page_all)
  • Number of items shown in submission lists
  • Default: 30
Results Per Page (Final) (results_per_page_final)
  • Number of items in final submission views
  • Default: 30
Week Start (week_start)
  • First day of week for calendar displays
  • 0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday

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Queue Configuration

Concurrent Queue Processes (concurent_queue_process)
  • Number of parallel judging processes
  • Higher values = faster judging but more CPU usage
  • Recommended: 2-4 depending on server capacity

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Language Settings

Default Language Number (default_language_number)
  • Default programming language for new problems
  • Corresponds to language ID in database
Default Trial Time (default_trial_time)
  • Hours of access for trial student accounts
  • After expiration, student accounts become guest accounts
  • Set to 0 or null for unlimited access

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Security Settings

IP White List (ip_white_list)
  • Restrict access to specific IP addresses or ranges
  • Format: Comma-separated list of IPs or CIDR ranges
  • Example: 192.168.1.0/24, 10.0.0.1
  • Leave empty to allow all IPs
Be careful when configuring IP whitelisting. Incorrect settings may lock you out of the system.

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User Management

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Viewing All Users

Access the user list at /users to see all registered users:
  • Username and display name
  • Email address
  • Role (Admin, Head Instructor, Instructor, Student, Guest)
  • Account creation date
  • Trial time (if applicable)

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Creating Individual Users

1

Navigate to User Creation

Click “Users” → “Add New User”
2

Enter User Details

  • Username: Unique identifier (required)
  • Email: Valid email address (required)
  • Password: Minimum 8 characters (required)
  • Display Name: Optional friendly name
  • Role: Select from available roles
3

Submit

Click “Create User” to add the account

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Bulk Adding Users

For adding multiple users at once (e.g., enrolling a class):
1

Navigate to Bulk Add

Go to “Users” → “Add Multiple Users”
2

Prepare User List

Format each user on a new line with comma-separated values:
username, email, password, role, display_name
Example:
student1, [email protected], password123, student, John Doe
student2, [email protected], random[12], student, Jane Smith
# This is a comment and will be ignored
instructor1, [email protected], securepass, instructor, Dr. Johnson
3

Password Generation

Use random[N] to auto-generate a password of N characters:
  • random[8] generates an 8-character random password
  • random[12] generates a 12-character random password
4

Submit and Review

  • Paste your user list into the text area
  • Optionally enable email notifications
  • Click “Add Users”
  • Review the results showing successful and failed additions
Lines starting with # are treated as comments and ignored. Empty lines are also skipped.

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Role Permissions

Admin
  • Full system access
  • Can create/modify any user, problem, or assignment
  • Access to all settings
Head Instructor
  • Can create classes (lops) and assignments
  • Can create instructors and students
  • Can manage their own classes and assignments
  • Cannot access system settings
Instructor
  • Can view classes they belong to
  • Can create students
  • Can create problems and assignments
  • Limited to their own resources
Student
  • Can enroll in open classes
  • Can submit to assignments
  • Can practice on available problems
Guest
  • Read-only access
  • Cannot submit code
  • Typically students whose trial period has expired

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Editing Users

Click on any user in the user list to:
  • Update email, display name, or password
  • Change role (admin only)
  • Set trial time duration
  • View user statistics and submission history

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Trial Accounts

Set trial time for temporary student access:
1

Access Trial Settings

Navigate to user list, click “Set Trial Time”
2

Enter Usernames

Enter usernames (space or comma-separated)
3

Set Duration

Choose either:
  • New Time: Number of hours from account creation
  • End Time: Specific date/time when access expires
4

Apply

Submit to update trial accounts. Users automatically convert to guest role after expiration.

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Deleting Users

User deletion is permanent and requires that the user has no submissions. Delete all submissions first.
To delete a user:
  1. Click the delete icon next to the user
  2. If user has submissions, you’ll need to delete them first
  3. Confirm deletion

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Class (Lop) Management

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What are Lops?

“Lop” (Vietnamese for “class”) represents a group of students and instructors. Classes are used to:
  • Organize students into cohorts
  • Assign homework/assignments to groups
  • Track class-wide performance

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Creating a Class

1

Navigate to Classes

Click “Classes” in the navigation menu
2

Create New Class

Click “Add New Class”
3

Configure Class

  • Name: Class identifier (e.g., “CS101 Spring 2024”)
  • Open: Toggle whether students can self-enroll
  • User List: Comma or space-separated usernames to enroll
4

Save

Click “Create Class”. The creator is automatically enrolled as an instructor.

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Managing Class Enrollment

Edit a class to:
  • Add users by entering their usernames
  • Remove users by checking the boxes next to their names
  • Toggle open/closed status for self-enrollment

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Class Scoreboards

View aggregate class performance:
  1. Navigate to the class list
  2. Click “Scoreboard” next to a class
  3. View cumulative scores across all class assignments

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Problem Management

Admins can view and edit all problems in the system.

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Problem Oversight

  • View all problems at /problems
  • Filter by owner, tags, or search term
  • See usage statistics (total submissions, acceptance rate)
  • Edit any problem regardless of owner

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Problem Settings

Allow Practice
  • Enables/disables problem for practice mode
  • Students can submit outside of assignments
Sharable
  • Allows other instructors to use the problem
  • Visible to all instructors, editable only by owner
Allow Input/Output Download
  • Permits students to download test case inputs/outputs
  • Useful for local debugging

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Import/Export Problems

Exporting Problems
  1. Select problems from the problem list
  2. Click “Export Selected”
  3. Download ZIP containing:
    • Test cases (in/out folders)
    • Problem description
    • Metadata JSON file
Importing Problems
  1. Prepare ZIP file in Wecode export format
  2. Go to Problems → Import
  3. Upload ZIP file
  4. Problems are imported with your user as owner

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Assignment Management

Admins can access and modify all assignments.

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Assignment Settings

Open/Closed Status
  • Open: Students can submit
  • Closed: Only instructors can submit
  • Toggle by clicking the status indicator
Scoreboard Visibility
  • Enable to show public rankings
  • Disable to keep submissions private

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Downloading Submissions

For any assignment, you can download: All Submissions
  • Complete submission history
  • Includes all files and judging results
Final Submissions by User
  • One file per student per problem
  • Organized in folders: username/problem_X.ext
Final Submissions by Problem
  • One file per student per problem
  • Organized in folders: problem_X/username.ext

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Rejudging Submissions

Use when test cases or grading logic changes:
1

Navigate to Assignment

Find the assignment needing rejudging
2

Access Rejudge

Click “Rejudge” button
3

Select Scope

Choose:
  • All problems in assignment
  • Specific problem only
4

Confirm

Click “Rejudge” to queue all submissions for re-evaluation
Rejudging resets submission status to PENDING and re-runs all test cases.

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Language Management

Configure supported programming languages at /languages:
  • Language name and file extension
  • Compiler/interpreter commands
  • Default time and memory limits
  • Sorting order for display

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Adding a Language

Adding languages requires configuring the tester system. This is an advanced operation requiring server access.

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Plagiarism Detection (Moss)

Integrate with Stanford’s MOSS (Measure of Software Similarity) for plagiarism detection.

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Setup Moss

1

Obtain Moss User ID

Register for a MOSS account at http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/
2

Configure in Wecode

Navigate to Moss page, enter your Moss User ID
3

Test Connection

Click “Update” to save and verify configuration

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Running Moss Detection

1

Select Assignment

Navigate to the Moss page and choose an assignment
2

Run Detection

Click “Detect Plagiarism”
3

Wait for Results

Processing may take several minutes. Status shows “awaiting response”
4

View Results

Click the generated Moss link to see similarity reports

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Maintenance Tasks

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Database Backups

Regular backups are essential. Back up both the database and the assignments_root directory.
Recommended backup strategy:
  1. Daily automated database dumps
  2. Weekly full filesystem backups of assignments_root
  3. Store backups off-server

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Disk Space Management

Monitor disk usage in:
  • assignments_root/ directory (submissions and test cases)
  • Database size (submission records)

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Queue Monitoring

Check the queue status to ensure submissions are being processed:
  • Navigate to Queue page
  • View pending submissions
  • Check for stuck items
  • Manually trigger queue processing if needed

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Log Files

Monitor application logs for:
  • Failed submissions
  • System errors
  • Authentication issues
  • File permission problems

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Security Best Practices

1

Use Strong Passwords

Enforce minimum password requirements (default: 8 characters)
2

Enable IP Whitelisting

Restrict access to known networks for added security
3

Regular Updates

Keep Wecode and server software up to date
4

Monitor Access

Review user login times and activity regularly
5

Backup Verification

Test backup restoration periodically
6

File Permissions

Ensure assignments_root has appropriate permissions (typically 755 for directories, 644 for files)

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Troubleshooting

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Submissions Stuck in Queue

Symptoms: Submissions stay in PENDING status Solutions:
  1. Check queue worker is running
  2. Verify tester_path is correct and accessible
  3. Check file permissions on assignments_root
  4. Manually trigger queue processing
  5. Review error logs

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Users Cannot Upload Files

Symptoms: File upload errors Solutions:
  1. Check file_size_limit setting
  2. Verify PHP upload_max_filesize and post_max_size
  3. Confirm assignments_root write permissions
  4. Check disk space

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Moss Not Working

Symptoms: No Moss results generated Solutions:
  1. Verify Moss User ID is correct
  2. Check tester_path contains moss script
  3. Ensure moss script is executable (chmod +x)
  4. Verify network connectivity to Moss servers

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Assignment Time Issues

Symptoms: Wrong start/finish times Solutions:
  1. Verify timezone setting matches server timezone
  2. Check system time on server
  3. Ensure timezone is set in both settings and PHP configuration

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Advanced Configuration

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Customizing Late Penalties

The late_rule field accepts mathematical expressions using: Variables:
  • delay: Seconds after deadline
  • extra_time: Extra time allowed (seconds)
Functions:
  • Mathematical: max(), min(), abs(), floor(), ceil()
  • Trigonometric: sin(), cos(), tan()
  • Exponential: exp(), log(), pow()
Examples: 
// Linear decay: 1% per hour late
max(0, 100 - delay/3600)

// No penalty within extra_time, then 0
delay <= extra_time ? 100 : 0

// Exponential decay
100 * exp(-delay/86400)

// Step function: 20% off per day
max(0, 100 - floor(delay/86400)*20)

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Email Configuration

Configure email settings for notifications (requires server mail configuration):
  • Mail From: Sender email address
  • Mail From Name: Sender display name
  • Reset Password Mail: Template for password resets
  • Add User Mail: Template for new user notifications
Email functionality requires proper SMTP configuration in Laravel’s .env file.

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Summary

As an administrator, you control all aspects of your Wecode installation. Key responsibilities include:
  • ✅ Configuring system settings and paths
  • ✅ Managing user accounts and permissions
  • ✅ Organizing classes and instructors
  • ✅ Monitoring system health and queue status
  • ✅ Maintaining backups and security
  • ✅ Supporting instructors and students
  • ✅ Troubleshooting issues
For instructor-specific features, see the Instructor Guide. For student features, see the Student Guide.

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