# 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.