Appalerts App

The appalerts site app enables SODAR Core apps to generate alerts for users. The user will receive a notify about these alerts anywhere on the site even if they are tied to a specific project.

Basics

The app consists of two plugins: the site app plugin for alert displaying and the backend plugin to create and access alerts from your SODAR Core based apps.

Installation

Warning

To install this app you must have the django-sodar-core package installed and the projectroles app integrated into your Django site. See the projectroles integration document for instructions.

Django Settings

Add the app into THIRD_PARTY_APPS in config/settings/base.py as follows:

THIRD_PARTY_APPS = [
    # ...
    'adminalerts.apps.AdminalertsConfig',
]

Next, make sure the context processor for app alerts is included in the TEMPLATES dictionary:

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': {
                # ...
                'projectroles.context_processors.app_alerts_processor',
            }
        }
    }

To set the interval for JQuery status updates in the title bar, use APPALERTS_STATUS_INTERVAL and provide the value in seconds. Example:

APPALERTS_STATUS_INTERVAL = env.int('APPALERTS_STATUS_INTERVAL', 5)

URL Configuration

In the Django URL configuration file, add the following line under urlpatterns to include adminalerts URLs in your site.

urlpatterns = [
    # ...
    url(r'^alerts/app/', include('appalerts.urls')),
]

Migrate Database and Register Plugin

To migrate the Django database and register the appalerts site app plugin, run the following management command:

$ ./manage.py migrate

In addition to the database migration operation, you should see the following output:

Registering Plugin for appalerts.plugins.SiteAppPlugin
Registering Plugin for appalerts.plugins.BackendPlugin

Base Template Include

If your site is overriding the base site template, the following snippet should be added in the javascript block of {SITE}/templates/base.html to enable appalerts JQuery:

{% block javascript %}
  {# ... #}
  <!-- App alerts Javascript -->
  {% include 'projectroles/_appalerts_include.html' %}
{% endblock javascript %}

Usage

When logged in as an authenticated user, you can find the “App Alerts” option in your user dropdown menu. This displays a list of active alerts that you currently have in the system. Under the dropdown menu labeled ‘Alert Operations’, you have the option to dismiss all active alerts or view previously dismissed alerts.

When you are anywhere on the site, a notification about existing events will appear on the top bar of the site.

_images/app_alerts.png — App alert list and title bar notification

Backend API

For creation and management of alerts, it is recommended to use the backend API to retrieve and use the plugin, without the need for hard-coded includes. The add_alert() helper is also provided to simplify alert creation. See the accompanying API documentation for details.

Note

The logic for alert life cycle management is mostly left to the app issuing alerts. Alerts with an accompanying project or plugin will get deleted with the accompanying object. Please try to make sure you will not e.g. provide a related URL to the event which may no longer be valid when the user accesses the alert.

Backend Django API Documentation

The backend API can be retrieved as follows.

from projectroles.plugins import get_backend_api
app_alerts = get_backend_api('appalerts_backend')

Make sure to also enable appalerts_backend in the ENABLED_BACKEND_PLUGINS Django setting.

class appalerts.api.AppAlertAPI[source]

Bases: object

App Alerts backend API

classmethod add_alert(app_name, alert_name, user, message, level='INFO', url=None, project=None)[source]

Create an AppAlert.

Parameters:

app_name – Name of app plugin which creates the alert (string)
alert_name – Internal alert name string
user – User object for user receiving the alert
message – Message string (can contain HTML)
level – Alert level string (INFO, SUCCESS, WARNING or DANGER)
url – URL for following up on alert (string, optional)
project – Project the alert belongs to (Project object, optional)

Raise:

ValueError if the plugin is not found or the level is invalid

Returns:

AppAlert object

classmethod add_alerts(app_name, alert_name, users, message, level='INFO', url=None, project=None)[source]

Create an AppAlert for multiple users.

Parameters:

app_name – Name of app plugin which creates the alert (string)
alert_name – Internal alert name string
users – list of User objects
message – Message string (can contain HTML)
level – Alert level string (INFO, SUCCESS, WARNING or DANGER)
url – URL for following up on alert (string, optional)
project – Project the alert belongs to (Project object, optional)

Raise:

ValueError if the plugin is not found or the level is invalid

classmethod get_model()[source]

Return AppAlert model for direct model access.

Returns:: AppAlert class