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The Admin Panel

The Admin Panel is your central command center for managing all aspects of TriviaFlow. This is where you create and organize quizzes, manage media, configure game settings, and monitor active sessions.

TriviaFlow uses a modern, dark-mode compatible interface (powered by django-unfold) to make content management as pleasant and intuitive as possible.

Accessing the Panel​

By default, the admin panel is accessible at:

https://quiz.your-domain.com/admin/

Log in with the superuser account you created during the deployment.

First Time Login

If you haven't created an admin account yet, run: docker compose exec web python manage.py createsuperuser

Game Management​

This section contains everything related to creating and controlling your quiz games.

Quizzes​

Location: Game Management > Quizzes

This is where you'll spend most of your time building content. Quizzes are containers for questions that can be played individually or as part of a playlist.

Creating a Quiz​

  1. Click Add Quiz
  2. Title: Give your quiz a memorable name (e.g., "80s Pop Culture", "Science Trivia")
  3. Description: Optional internal notes for yourself
  4. Questions: Add questions inline using the built-in editor:
    • Text: The question displayed on screen
    • Duration: Time limit in seconds (defaults to 20s)
    • Options A-D: Four possible answers
    • Correct Option: Select A, B, C, or D as the correct answer
    • Question Image: Optional image shown during the question
    • Resolution Image: Optional reveal image shown after the answer
Quick Workflow

Create quizzes faster by using the Import feature to upload entire quiz files at once. See Import & Export for details.

Managing Quizzes​

From the quiz list view, you can:

  • Edit: Click any quiz to modify its title, description, or questions
  • Clone: Duplicate a quiz to create variations
  • Export: Select one or more quizzes and use "Export selected Quizzes (ZIP)" to download a backup
  • Delete: Remove quizzes you no longer need
  • Search: Use the search bar to find quizzes by title
  • Filter: Filter by creation date or other criteria

Sessions​

Location: Game Management > Sessions

This section displays all active and past game sessions (lobbies).

What You Can See​

  • Room Code: The unique code players use to join
  • Playlist: Which quizzes are queued for this session
  • Active Status: Whether the session is currently active
  • Current Question: Progress through the quiz
  • Created/Modified: Timestamps for session tracking
  • Connected Players: Number of active participants

Session Actions​

  • View Details: Click on a session to see full information
  • Deactivate: Uncheck "Active" to close a lobby and disconnect all players
  • Delete: Remove old sessions to keep your list clean
Live Session Management

While you can manually edit session data (like question index) in the admin panel, it's strongly recommended to use the Game Master Dashboard for controlling live games. Direct database edits can cause synchronization issues.

Game Configuration​

Location: Game Management > Game Configuration

Access comprehensive game settings including:

  • Lobby behavior (max simultaneous games, timeouts)
  • Scoring system (base points, time bonuses, minimums)
  • Question defaults (duration, answer changes)
  • Display options (leaderboard size, language)

See the Game Configuration guide for detailed settings.

Presets​

Location: Game Management > Presets

View and manage game mode presets (Competitive, Casual, Educational). These are pre-configured setting bundles that can be applied when creating new game sessions.

Media & Content​

Image Library​

Location: Media & Content > Image Library

TriviaFlow uses a centralized image repository where you upload images once and reuse them across multiple questions.

Adding Images​

  1. Click Add Image
  2. Title: Choose a descriptive name (e.g., "Eiffel Tower - Blurred")
  3. Image File: Upload your image (JPG, PNG, WebP supported)
  4. Click Save
Naming Convention

Use prefixes to organize your images:

  • Logo: CompanyName
  • Celebrity: John Doe
  • Landmark: Eiffel Tower
  • Movie: Star Wars Poster

This makes searching much faster!

Using Images in Questions​

When editing a question, you'll see dropdown fields for Question Image and Resolution Image. Start typing the title you gave your image to search and select it.

Why Two Images?

TriviaFlow supports a powerful two-phase reveal system:

  1. Question Image (Optional): Displayed while the timer is running and players are answering.

    • Example: A blurred movie poster, a zoomed-in photo, a partially hidden landmark

  2. Resolution Image (Optional): Displayed after the timer ends or when the answer is revealed.

    • Example: The unblurred version, the full photo, the complete landmark view

Common Use Cases:

  • Blurred Challenge: Show a heavily blurred image → Reveal the clear version
  • Zoom Puzzle: Start with an extreme close-up → Show the full object
  • Mystery Reveal: Display a cryptic clue image → Show the answer with context
  • Progressive Disclosure: Hide key details → Reveal the complete picture

This creates engaging "Aha!" moments and makes the reveal more satisfying for the audience!

Managing Images​

  • Edit: Update titles or replace image files
  • Delete: Remove images (automatically removes the physical file from disk)
  • Search: Find images by title
  • Bulk Actions: Delete multiple images at once
Image References

Before deleting an image, check if it's used in any questions. The system won't prevent deletion, but questions using that image will lose their visual component.

Questions​

Location: Media & Content > Questions

While questions are typically created inline when building a quiz, you can also access all questions individually here.

This is useful for:

  • Bulk editing: Modify multiple questions at once
  • Finding questions: Search across all quizzes
  • Quality control: Review questions without opening each quiz
  • Reusing questions: Copy questions to other quizzes

User Management​

Users​

Location: Authentication and Authorization > Users

Manage user accounts that have access to the admin panel and Game Master Dashboard.

User Roles​

  • Superuser: Full access to everything (you)
  • Staff: Can access admin panel but with limited permissions
  • Regular Users: No admin access (used for other features if applicable)

Creating Additional Admins​

  1. Click Add User
  2. Set username and password
  3. Check Staff status to grant admin panel access
  4. Check Superuser status to grant full permissions (optional)
  5. Save

Permissions​

For staff users (non-superusers), you can grant specific permissions:

  • Quizzes: Add, change, delete, view
  • Sessions: View, change, delete
  • Images: Add, change, delete
  • Questions: Add, change, delete
Security Best Practice

Create separate staff accounts for team members rather than sharing the superuser password. This allows for accountability and controlled access.

Additional Features​

Import & Export​

The admin panel includes powerful import/export capabilities for backing up and sharing content.

Export:

  1. Navigate to Game Management > Quizzes
  2. Select the quizzes you want to export
  3. Choose "Export selected Quizzes (ZIP)" from the Actions dropdown
  4. Click Go
  5. Download the ZIP file containing quiz data and all associated images

Import:

  1. Click the Import Quiz button
  2. Upload a TriviaFlow ZIP file
  3. Confirm import
  4. The system recreates quizzes, questions, and adds images to the library

See Import & Export for detailed file format information.

Admin Interface Customization​

The admin panel interface can be customized:

  • Dark Mode: Automatically adapts to your system preferences
  • Language: Set via game configuration
  • Django Unfold Theme: See Django Unfold Theme for advanced customization

Quick Navigation Tips​

  • Dashboard: Click "TriviaFlow" logo in top-left to return to the main admin dashboard
  • Breadcrumbs: Use the breadcrumb trail at the top to navigate back
  • Search: Most list views include a search box in the top-right
  • Recent Actions: The dashboard shows your recent edits
  • Quick Links: Use the sidebar to jump between sections

Next Steps​

Now that you understand the Admin Panel, you're ready to: