SysPonto - Django Real-time Attendance System

This project is a web-based attendance management system built with Django, featuring distinct dashboards for students, teachers, and administrators, along with real-time notifications powered by Django Channels.

Quick Install Guide

🎮 Teachers and Students already created, just pick one:

• Teachers: prof.silva, prof.santos, prof.costa
• Students: student1 to student8
• Password: password123 (for all accounts)

Test Flow:

1. Login as teacher → Generate attendance code
2. Login as student → Enter code → Submit
3. See real-time updates in teacher dashboard

For a test (developer) version download in Releases

Screenshots

Login Page

Index Page

Teacher Dashboard

Student Dashboard

Student Justify Absence or later view

Absence Justification View in Django

Calendar

Database schema

Features

User Authentication & Authorization: Secure login and role-based access for students, teachers, and admins.

Student Dashboard:

View enrolled courses and upcoming class sessions.

Submit attendance codes for active classes.

Real-time notifications for attendance validation.

Teacher Dashboard:

View classes they teach.

Generate unique, time-sensitive attendance codes (10-minute validity).

Receive real-time notifications when students submit attendance codes.

Validate student attendance submissions.

(Future) Display attendance statistics and plots (e.g., using Chart.js).

Admin Dashboard:

Comprehensive user management (create, edit, delete students, teachers, and admins).

Course and class session creation and management.

(Future) Overall attendance reporting.

Real-time Notifications: Instant feedback and updates for teachers on student submissions, and for students on attendance validation, using Django Channels and WebSockets.

Technology Stack

Backend:

Python 3

Django: The web framework.

Django Channels: For asynchronous capabilities and WebSocket communication.

Redis: Serves as the channel layer backend for Django Channels, enabling real-time messaging. # Frontend: HTML5

CSS3 (with Bootstrap 5 for responsive design and components)

JavaScript: For client-side logic, WebSocket handling, and dynamic UI updates.

Database:

SQLite3 (default for development)

PostgreSQL (recommended for production environments) ## Other Libraries: asgiref: ASGI support.

channels_redis: Redis backend for Channels.

Setup Instructions

Follow these steps to get the project up and running on your local machine.

Prerequisites

Python 3.8+

Django 4.0+

PostgreSQL (or your preferred database)

Redis Server:

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu): sudo apt update && sudo apt install redis-server

macOS (Homebrew): brew install redis

Windows: Refer to the official Redis documentation for installation.

Ensure your Redis server is running before starting the Django application.

1. Clone the Repository git clone <repository_url> # Replace with your actual repository URL cd attendance_system

2. Create a Virtual Environment (Recommended) python -m venv venv

3. Activate the Virtual Environment macOS/Linux:

source venv/bin/activate

Windows:

.\venv\Scripts\activate

4. Install Dependencies

Install all required Python packages using pip:

pip install -r requirements.txt # Assuming you have a requirements.txt, or:

pip install Django daphne channels channels_redis redis

5. Database Setup

Apply database migrations and create a superuser:

python manage.py makemigrations

python manage.py migrate

python manage.py createsuperuser # Follow prompts to create an admin user

6. Run the Development Server

Start the Django Channels development server using Daphne:

daphne -b 0.0.0.0 -p 8000 attendance_system.asgi:application

Your application should now be accessible at http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

Populate with Test Data

cd attendance_system_django

python manage.py create_test_data --clear

Quick Reset for Fresh Testing:

python3 manage.py clean_database --confirm

Run again:

python manage.py create_test_data --clear

Usage

Access the Admin Panel: Log in as the superuser at http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/ to:

Create Users (assign roles: student, teacher, admin).

Create Courses.

Create Class Sessions for courses.

Enroll students in courses (Enrollment model).

Student Dashboard:

Log in as a student.

Navigate to /student/dashboard/.

Enter attendance codes provided by the teacher for relevant classes. Notifications will appear upon successful submission and validation.

Teacher Dashboard:

Log in as a teacher.

Navigate to /teacher/dashboard/.

Click "Generate New Code" for a class session. The code will appear and be valid for 10 minutes.

Observe real-time notifications as students submit codes.

Click "Validate" next to a student's name to confirm their attendance.

Future Enhancements

Interactive Calendar: Fully integrate Calendar handling 30 days next of classes.

Attendance Plots: Implement interactive statistical plots (e.g., bar charts of attendance frequency, line graphs over time) using libraries like Chart.js or Plotly.js.

User Profile Management: Allow users to update their own profiles.

Notifications UI: Enhance notification display with more visually appealing elements or a dedicated notification center.

Search and Filtering: Add search and filter options for courses, classes, and attendance records in dashboards.

Course Enrollment Workflow: Implement a student self-enrollment process.

Email Notifications: Integrate email notifications for certain events (e.g., upcoming classes, attendance reports).