aktivisda-canva-like/docs/admin/backtivisda.md

Backtivisda

Backtivisda is Aktivisda's Content Management System (CMS). It allows you to administer your Aktivisda instance on a daily basis (modify images, create new templates, etc.).

In practice, Backtivisda is a modified version of Aktivisda where

1. Data is always synchronized with your Gitlab project: we use the Gitlab API to retrieve this data.
2. There are additional features for manipulating images.

Backtivisda interacts with the Gitlab instance hosting your data and with a server where remote operations (image compression, vectorization, etc.) are performed.

Requirements

To work, you deepend on two tokens to authenticate:

• with Gitlab: to do this, create an access token for the project.
• with the image processing server: either you have your own server, or you can request a token from [email protected].

The .env.backtivisda file must also be set up correctly.

Operating Principles

!> Good to know for the time being, changes are not saved on your computer. In particular, this means that all your changes disappear every time you refresh your browser (the famous F5).

Here's what happens when you make a modification with Backtivisda :

1. Go to /backtivisda ;
2. The site is then downloaded by your browser from a server where a compiled version of backtivisda is available.
3. You enter your two tokens (only the first time, after that these tokens are saved in your browser);
4. Backtivisda will then download the data from Gitlab. Data is downloaded as and when required (e.g. background images are downloaded when you go to this page).
5. You make the manipulations you wish: adding or modifying images, templates, etc.
6. Once you're satisfied, go to the Synchronize page, check your changes, write a message and click on Synchronize.
7. A commit is created and sent to Gitlab. This is a package of all your changes. A save point is immediately created, allowing you to undo any changes;
8. This commit creates a compilation Pipeline (see section Pipelines) on Gitlab.
9. This pipeline waits for a worker to become available. Today, for technical reasons, this worker is not always available. After 4 hours, if no worker is available, continuous integration fails;
10. Once the worker is available, Aktivisda is compiled with the new data (a few minutes);
11. The new site is transferred from the worker to the server in charge of the service (via FTP or SSH);
12. Aktivisda is now available! You can see this by looking at the Last Update date in the Aktivisda navigation bar.