Physics 9 transition helper

This Discord bot was built for the UC Davis Physics 9 Discord server to automate repetitive admin work done at the end of every quarter, such as archiving the old channels that used to correspond with a particular professor's class.

Slash commands have been implemented.

Server Transition Instructions

The main requirement for server transition (other than creating the new quarter's channels) is that we preserve the previous quarter's channels in case of academic misconduct concerns, as anything arising at the end of a quarter can take some time to process. This means that we delete channels on a one quarter delay. For example, the transition to Spring 2023 would involve deleting the (archived) Fall 2022 channels, archiving the Winter 2023 channels, and creating new Spring 2023 channels.

Server Transition Checklist

This checklist was last updated 7 January 2024.

1. Send a message in the announcements channel saying that we are currently in the process of transitioning the server for the next quarter. This message should contain a note that course specific channels and course selection might be unavailable until this process is complete.
2. Edit the permissions for the "Sorting/Selection" category to remove the "Student" role's access. This prevents people from randomly reacting as you make the changes, which makes things a bit easier to keep track of and also means you don't have to worry about leaving someone with an invalid role configuration.
3. Perform the Bot Commands checklist below.
4. Perform the Reaction Role Updates checklist below.
5. Draft a message saying the transition is complete. We basically have a template for this, so just grab a previous message and update the term. Getting another mod to proofread this is a good idea, but they've certainly been sent out without such luxuries at 3am before.
6. Update permissions for the "Sorting/Selection" category to allow people with the "Student" role to see it again.
7. Send the message drafted earlier. Make sure to @everyone.

Bot Commands

1. Erase archived channels from two quarters ago using /erase.
   • /erase 9A Mitchell [Archived]
2. Archive channels from last quarter using archive.
   • /archive 9B Mitchell
3. Remove existing 9A, 9B, etc. roles from server members using /strip
4. Create categories for new courses with create.
   • /create 9C Mitchell

Reaction Role Updates

The server's reaction roles are set up using Carl-bot. To update the reaction roles we use for course selection and section selection, first log in to the Carl-bot website using your Discord account. Then, under the "Reaction Roles" section (currently in the Utility part of the sidebar), you will find the previous quarter's reaction roles.

1. Clear all reactions on the course selection message in #course-selection.
2. Check that all courses offered the current quarter have a configured role reaction (e.g., if 9A and 9B are being offered, these can be selected).
3. Remove role reactions for any courses not offered this quarter. Add a note at the bottom of the #course-selection channel saying which courses are not offered.
4. React with the appropriate reaction roles for the current courses to allow people to easily click on them. Please do so in the order that the message in the channel shows.
5. For each section being taught other than PHY 9D:
   • Remove existing reactions from the message.
   • Remove reaction roles set up in Carl-bot.
   • Edit (or remove and resend) the existing message in this section channel to show available sections this quarter (we only care about individual professors, not individual professors' individual discussion sections).
   • Add reaction roles in Carl-bot for each section.
   • React with each reaction on the message, again in the order that the professors appear.
6. For PHY 9D, if it is being offered, make sure the global channels are working.
7. Try to make sure that everything is set up correctly — this doesn't take long to do, and it's much better than students being unable to select the correct roles. Just pretend you're a student in each section and make sure the correct roles are assigned when you click on the reactions.

Functionalities

Commands for server transition between quarters

• /erase some existing channel category: Erases channel category. Deletes the role associated with the category.
  • Note: the category must end with [ARCHIVED].
• /archive some existing channel category: Moves category to bottom of list and appends [ARCHIVED] to its name, enabling it to be deleted later. Deletes the role associated with the category.
  • Note: the category must start with 9 or PHY, and it must not contain the string GLOBAL.
• /strip: Strips roles 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, and 9H from everyone.
• /create some new channel category: Creates a custom category and a matching custom role, and limits the category to be visible only to that role.

Technologies used

• discord.py
• discord.ext.commands
• Discord API

Usage

To get started, get a bot token and create an env.py:

TOKEN = 'your-discord-bot-token-here'
PREFIX = ','
DEBUG_ID = '123456789'

Install discordpy if necessary (python3 -m pip install discord).

The owner of the bot can sync commands by @ing the bot with command dev-sync or global-sync.

Note: Nothing, not even granting every single other permission, was enough for the bot to function without admin permissions.

Add our instance here.

License

Released under GNU GPL v3.