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https://github.com/Khan/snippets

Code related to collecting and pushing weekly snippets
https://github.com/Khan/snippets

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Code related to collecting and pushing weekly snippets

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README 

        
Snippet Server

==============



This server supports writing and reading weekly snippets -- status

updates -- for a group of people.



When I joined Khan Academy, my first project was to write a version of

the weekly-snippet server I had worked with [at

Google](http://blog.idonethis.com/google-snippets-internal-tool/).

Years later, with the help of many other intrepid Khan Academy

employees, it's ready for the world!



While there are [many](https://weekdone.com/)

[snippet](https://www.workingon.co/)

[systems](https://www.teamsnippets.com/) out there, this one is

optimized for simplicity (also, free-ness).  For instance, it prefers

single webpages with lots of info over paging, queries, or fancy

javascript.  Filling out a snippet involves writing into a textbox: no

fields or text editors or other barriers to productivity.  (Markdown

is available for those who want nice formatting.)  This makes it easy

to learn and easy to program with.



What are weekly snippets?

-------------------------



A weekly snippet is an (ideally) brief description of what you did the

last week.  To give an idea of 'brief': the snippet-entry textbox is

sized for 4 bullet-point entries, each 80 characters or less.



Your snippets are visible to everyone else on your email domain.  (So

my snippets are visible to everyone who logs in to KA snippet server

with a `@khanacademy.org` email address.)  Depending on your

configuration options, they may also be visible to everyone else on

your server.



Why have snippets?

------------------



Different people might have different purposes for weekly snippets:



* Instead of a weekly standup or other meeting where everyone shares

  what they've done in the last week, they can just read (and write)

  snippets.

* Managers can read snippets of their direct reports to make better

  use of 1-on-1 meetings.

* You can look over your own snippets when writing a self-evaluation

  or applying for a promotion, or when you have any other need to remind

  yourself what you've worked on.



I've found this last reason is particularly compelling.  I also use

snippets as a simple "time and motion" study: when I have too many

things to put into snippets one week, I know I'm being spread too

thin!



Another benefit of snippets is serendipidous helping: by reading

someone's snippet, you may discover a task or problem they're working

on that you can help with, that otherwise you would never have known

about.



What are snippets not good for?

-------------------------------



Some people go into a snippet system with unrealistic expectations and

are disappointed.



* Snippets do not work well for large groups, say **over 100

  people**.  If you have 1000 people using your snippet server, it is

  neither practical nor useful to read through everyone's snippets

  every week.



* Snippets are, by design, a low level tool: they show you trees but

  not the forest.  The snippet system does not support "rolling up"

  groups of snippets or having team-based snippets (though certain

  individuals could certainly choose to have their own snippets refer

  to a team's progress).



* Snippets do not provide context.  If you don't already know what

  someone is working on, their snippet may well be more confusing

  than enlightening.



At Khan Academy, the entire company uses one snippet server.  The

snippets are divided into various categories, some functional, some

project-based.  I like to skim over the snippets for people in

unrelated categories such as "facilities" or "recruiting."  I read

more closely the snippets in projects I'm interested in but not

working on, such as "mobile."  And I read most closely the snippets of

people in my own project or closely related projects.



How do you use the snippet-server?

==================================



After setting up your settings, to control things like how public your

snippets are and whether you want to use plain text or

[markdown](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/), there are

only two web pages: the one where you write your snippets, and the one

where you read everyone's snippets for a week.



The administrator can set up the system to send you reminder emails to

write snippets, or to email when snippets are ready for a week.  (The

snippet server can also use chat systems for this.)



System requirements

-------------------



The snippet server is built on top of [Google

AppEngine](https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs), and uses Google

services for authentication.  To use it, you need to clone the

[snippet github project](https://github.com/Khan/snippets) and then

upload it to your own appengine instance.  (It uses few resources, so

Google's "free tier" would work fine.)



The people using your snippet server must log in using Google (aka

Gmail) accounts.  The snippet server works particularly well with

companies that use [Google Apps for Work](https://apps.google.com).



Access control

--------------



When a snippet server is first set up, the administrator restricts it

to specific domains.  (The Khan Academy server, for instance, is

restricted to `@khanacademy.org`.)  If you want to create a snippet on

the server, you must log in via an email address from one of those

domains.



You can set your snippet to be either "public" or "private".  "Public"

snippets are visible to everyone who has access to your snippet

server.  "Private" snippets are visible only to people on the same

domain as you.  So if you logged in as `[email protected]`, only other

users at `example.com` would be able to see your Snippet.



Email and chat

--------------



The snippet server integrates with email and Slack.



It can send individual emails to people who have not written a snippet

for this week, reminding them to do so.  (Users can turn this feature

off in their preferences.)  It can also send an email to all

registered users, at 5pm on Monday, to say snippets are ready.



It can also send reminders and ready messages via chat.  (In this

case, the reminder isn't individualized.)



Installing and administering the snippet server

===============================================



To install the snippet-server you will need to [download the Google

AppEngine SDK](https://cloud.google.com/appengine/downloads)



Second, you will need a Google AppEngine project set up where this

code will live.  You can create one at

https://console.developers.google.com: click on "Select a project..."

in the top navbar and then "Create a project."



You will then need a name for your AppEngine project.  Let's suppose

you call it `mycompany-snippets`, you can then deploy with



```

make deploy APP=mycompany-snippets

```



Your app will then be available at `mycompany-snippets.appspot.com`.



If you get an error like 'gcloud: not found', it means you need to

add the appengine-SDK location to your `$PATH`.



You may also need to manually trigger an index build for datastore



```

gcloud datastore create-indexes index.yaml

```

(try this if you're seeing 500 errors)



Adding administrators

---------------------



By dint of creating the AppEngine project, you are an administrator of

that project, and thus an administrator for the snippet-server as

well.  In fact, the only way to be an app administrator is to also be

an administrator of the AppEngine project.  You can add administrators

at `https://console.developers.google.com/permissions/projectpermissions?project=mycompany-snippets`.



Everyone who is an administrator on the underlying Google AppEngine

account is also an administrator of the Snippet Server.



First-time setup

----------------



When you log into the snippet server for the first time, you will be

brought to the 'global settings' page.  Fill out these settings and

click 'Save'.  Most are self-explanatory.  The hostname is probably

pre-filled to be `mycompany-snippets.appspot.com`, but if you have set

up a

[CNAME](https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/python/console/using-custom-domains-and-ssl)

(`snippets.mycompany.com`) you can use that instead.



Once you have clicked "Save", you will be prompted to fill in your own

user settings.  This is the first page your users will see, when they

first log in, as well.



Once you've entered your user settings, you'll be taken to the page to

enter your first snippets!



Deleting users

--------------



At any time you are logged into the snippet server, you can get to the

global settings page by clicking the "app settings" button in the top

navbar.  You can modify the global settings there at any time.  You

can also click "delete or hide users".  This allows you to delete

users who are no longer part of the snippet server.  You can also hide

users.



"Deleting" a user in the snippet-server has some non-obvious

semantics:



1. Deleting a user does **not** cause their snippets to be deleted.

(Neither does hiding a user.)  Old snippets will still be visible.



2. Both deleting and hiding a user means their name will not show up

on subsequent weeks' snippet reports.  This is useful for saving

screen real estate.



3. Both deleting and hiding a user means they will not receive weekly

reminder or reporting emails from now on.



4. Here is the difference between deleting and hiding: when you delete

a user, the next time they log into the snippet-server they will be

prompted to re-enter their user settings.  When you hide a user, the

next time they log into the snippet-server it will automatically use

their pre-existing user settings.



As you can see, hiding and deleting are almost the same thing.  In my

own use, I use "delete" when full-time employees leave Khan Academy,

and "hide" when interns end their internship (since we hope they'll

return!).