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| # BOU 2026 — Best Project voting app | |
| A small self-hosted voting app for the 7 BOU 2026 projects. Every vote is written | |
| as a row (Name, UID, Email, Project, Timestamp) into an Excel file on the server — | |
| no external database needed. | |
| ## What's included | |
| - `server.js` — Node/Express backend. Handles voting and keeps `data/votes.xlsx` up to date. | |
| - `public/index.html` — the page voters use. | |
| - `public/admin.html` — organizer-only results page (tallies + Excel download), protected by an admin key. | |
| - `data/votes.xlsx` — created automatically on the first vote. **Not included** — don't commit it, it contains personal data (names/UIDs/emails). | |
| ## Requirements | |
| This needs a **Node.js host with persistent disk storage** — it writes to a real | |
| file, so it won't work on static hosting (GitHub Pages, S3, etc.) or on | |
| serverless platforms whose filesystem resets between requests (e.g. Vercel/Netlify | |
| functions). It runs fine on a VPS, an internal company server, Render/Railway | |
| "web service" (not "static site"), or any machine you control. Node.js 18+ is recommended. | |
| ## Setup | |
| ```bash | |
| npm install | |
| ADMIN_KEY="pick-a-real-secret" npm start | |
| ``` | |
| The app listens on port 3000 by default (override with `PORT=xxxx`). | |
| - Voters go to: `http://your-host:3000/` | |
| - You (organizer) go to: `http://your-host:3000/admin.html` and enter the `ADMIN_KEY` | |
| you set above to see live results and download the Excel file. | |
| **Set a real `ADMIN_KEY`** before sharing the link with anyone — anyone who knows | |
| the key can see all voters' names/UIDs/emails and the current tally. Without it set, | |
| the server starts with a placeholder key and prints a warning. | |
| ## How voting works | |
| - A voter fills in Name, UID, and Email, then picks one project and submits. | |
| - Votes are matched by UID: if the same UID votes again, their row is **updated** | |
| (their vote changes) rather than duplicated — so one person can't stack votes. | |
| - Writes are queued in the server so two people voting at the same instant can't | |
| corrupt the Excel file. | |
| ## Changing the project list | |
| Edit the `PROJECTS` array near the top of `server.js` (and nowhere else — the | |
| voting page loads the list from the server automatically). | |
| ## Privacy note | |
| The Excel file holds personal data (name, UID, email) for every voter. Store it | |
| somewhere access-controlled, delete it once the vote is over if you don't need | |
| to retain it, and don't commit it to a public repo. | |