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Tech Reports for FOSS United Platform

📌 Project Board: FOSS United GitHub Project

Please find the TLDR reports for each blog in blog posts and forum thread:

April 2026

Project stats: git commands before reading code

Big month - schedule page got a full redesign just in time for ChennaiFOSS 2026, code of conduct enforcement added across all registration flows, CFP reviewer workflow improved, and clubs got holistic documentation.

PR Highlights

Schedule Page Redesign

  • #1548 Schedule Page Redesign
    Rebuilt from scratch. Two views - list (default) and all-day timeline grid.

Credits: Jeswin Josu (the macbook designer)

Visit: ChennaiFOSS 2026 Schedule

Code of Conduct

Added CoC acceptance across all registration flows. No opt-out, checkbox is required:

  • RSVP form - agree to abide by FOSS United Code of Conduct before submitting
  • Buy Tickets - CoC checkbox on attendee detail step
  • CFP form - accept CoC checkbox on submission
  • Visit: https://fossunited.org/code-of-conduct

Field added to RSVP, Ticket Attendee, and CFP Submission doctypes to record acceptance.
Things are now strict, contact Siddharth upon this.

CFP Reviewer Workflow

  • #1565 Inline Edit on Proposal Detail Page
    Reviewers and proposal owners can now edit proposal fields (title, description, tags) directly on the public proposal detail page without going to the dashboard. Field descriptions shown in edit mode.

  • #1553 Granular CFP Submission Permissions
    CFP reviewers are now granted access to Frappe desk - needed for using frappe's built-in tools (assigning, email, comments, etc.) during review cycles. Permission level are granular, allows only one review, rest of the field read-only.

  • #1544 Proposal Review Improvements
    Withdrawn proposals hidden by default in review list. Toggle to show/hide reviewed proposals. Filter and sort work reliably now.

  • #1547 Speaker Contact Info Field
    Added contact_info field to CFP Speaker doctype - needed for IndiaFOSS speaker coordination.

  • CFP insight reload on status change. Review list reloads when a new review is submitted.

  • Speaker card made compact on submission detail page.
  • Common ProposalListItem component extracted - reused across proposals list and review page.
  • CFP submission detail page now shows the speaker's submitted profile card with a direct link to their public profile.
  • b751b084d: Show Submitted by FOSS User Profile (respecting their cfp_visibility) and link speaker email to profile if exists.
  • Improved Accessibility (a11y) for whole proposal submitting form.

DocShare for Events

  • #1552 DocShare Event to Event Volunteers
    Events are now shared via Frappe's DocShare to all users in the event's event_members table (Volunteers). Only gives read access, purpose is for them to help in Ticket checkin for that event, thus access to dashboard page to read.

FOSS Hack 2026

Clubs

  • #1556 FOSS Clubs Documentation
    New club documentation covering what a FOSS Club is, how to start one, and what support is available. Messaging on clubs website updated to match.

Credits: Siddharth Shivkumar (Educational Program Manager)

  • #1562 Docs Restructure for Clubs & Initiatives
    Revised clubs doc structure, onboarding resources, and corrected docs across other initiative pages.

  • #1561 Best Practices - heyguys.cc
    Added heyguys.cc as a best practice example in the clubs overview page.

  • Added search bar to clubs listing page. Layout made more compact with tighter gaps.

Tests

  • #1560 Test Factories
    Factory helpers added for FOSSChapter, FOSSChapterEvent, and RSVP — makes writing unit/integration tests significantly less boilerplate.

Credits: Harsh Tandiya (OG maintainer)

Accessibility

  • #1495 Skip to Main Content Link
    Added a "skip to main content" anchor link at the top of pages - standard keyboard/screen reader accessibility feature.

Credits: @nimiverma

FOSS United Newsletter Subscribe

Every signup form will show checkbox to signin a user for our monthly fossunited newsletter managed via Listmonk.

Visit: https://fossunited.org/newsletter

ICS Calendar Enrichment

ICS files generated for events now include more fields - description, location, organiser info. Makes calendar entries actually useful when downloaded from event pages.
Also in Desk, added a "Download to Calendar" helper for signups to help track.

Permission Cleanup

  • Removed "All" permission from grants doctype, was unnecessarily broad.
  • event_volunteer lookup reduced from N+1 queries to two DB calls.
  • Added permission_query_conditions hooks to filter list views — only shows doctypes linked to the current user's Chapter Team Member record. Proper Frappe row-level security instead of relying on role-based filtering.
  • Removed if_owner from CFP submission permission levels — was incorrectly applied on levels other than owner.
  • Tests added for permission_query_conditions hooks to catch regressions.

RSVP Insight Drawer

RSVP insight rows now open a details drawer on click, showing full attendee data and action buttons in context, helps to wrap long form text and show in focus.
Also provides Action buttons (Accept, reject and checkin)

Bug Fixes

  • Dark mode: project edit input background no longer shows browser default white.
  • Ticket tiers now sorted by active status then price on buy tickets page.
  • T-shirt size is now mandatory for attendees who want one; insight sorted by size.
  • Ticket transfer shows toast error and redirects guest to login (was silent before).
  • Team list card no longer overflows on long names.
  • CSS now uses mtime version param on includes for proper cache busting (F Chrome users).
  • CFP page migrated away from Tailwind (styles.css) to Bootstrap — was getting purged in production.
  • RSVP requires_host_approval switch now shows with its description text.
  • Check-in insight has a refresh button to reload data without full page reload.
  • Like button now uses filled icon when active (was always outline before).
  • Breadcrumb ignore_indice no longer incorrectly modifies href on remaining items.

Contributor Spotlight

  • Harsh Tandiya: test factories for FOSSChapter, FOSSChapterEvent, RSVP (#1560)
  • Siddharth: clubs documentation and initiatives docs restructure (#1556, #1562)
  • Poruri Sai Rahul: heyguys.cc clubs best practice (#1561)
  • @nimiverma: skip to main content a11y link (#1495)

March 2026

Metric Count
Issues Closed 18
PRs merged 50

March was the month for FOSS Hack 2026, previous FOSS Hack results page is live, there were stream of contributions from the hackathon participants for the platform. We rolled out three new RSS feeds, redesigned the ticket purchase page as a step-progress wizard, launched the partner projects page, and delivered a dedicated accessibility pass. The dashboard sidebar also got a long-overdue refactor using frappe-ui's SideBar.

PR Highlights

FOSS Hack Results Page

  • #1480 FOSS Hack Results Page
    The results page for all FOSS Hack is now live, showing previous year winners with project and their team. Also shows quick statistics of each year.

    Visit: FOSS Hack Results Page

  • #1478 Participant Disqualification & Linking
    Added disqualification control for hackathon participants as a desk only action. Each participant entry now links to their associated team and project for easier post-event management.

  • Hackathon project pages now validate whether the hackathon has ended — project details become read-only after the event concludes to preserve the final submission state.

  • Added a license field to hackathon projects so contributors can specify the open-source license used.
  • Mentors on the hackathon page are now ordered alphabetically by full name.

Ticket Purchase Redesign

  • #1511 Step-Progress Ticket Wizard
    Complete redesign of the buy tickets page as a multi-step wizard: Select Tiers → Attendee Details → Verify → Billing -> Download Ticket. Adds a step progress indicator, mandatory field markers (asterisk), and proper dark mode theming across all steps.
    Also added to preview and download ticket for better UX (and avoid emails for tickets)

Dashboard Sidebar Refactor

  • #1492 frappe-ui Sidebar Integration
    Replaced the custom dashboard sidebar with the official frappe-ui sidebar component for better consistency and long-term maintainability.

  • Collapsible Sidebar with Icons
    The sidebar is now collapsible with icon support for child navigation items — helpful on smaller screens and for users who prefer a compact view.

RSS Ecosystem Expansion

Three new RSS feeds added this month, completing the core RSS ecosystem:

A shared RSS base template and grant fetch helpers were introduced for consistent feed structure across all feeds.

Credits: @ni5arga (Nisarga Adhikary) for the RSS work.

See RSS documentation for the full list of available feeds.

Partner Projects Page

  • #1448 Partner Project Template Page
    New dedicated template page for partner and contributor projects with a responsive grid layout, project type indicator icons (contributor vs partner), and search functionality. Bidirectional redirect from the old partner-project URL path is in place.

    Visit: FOSSUnited Partner Page

Accessibility Improvements

Significant accessibility work shipped this month, with multiple contributions from FOSS Hack participants:

  • #1456 ARIA Roles Across Templates
    Added ARIA roles and semantic attributes across Jinja templates for better screen reader compatibility.

  • #1489 ARIA Labels on Icon-Only Buttons
    All icon-only buttons across public pages now have aria-label attributes for screen reader support.

  • #1490 Dashboard FileUploader & CommentBox Accessibility
    Added aria-label attributes to icon-only buttons in FileUploaderArea and CommentBox components.

  • #1493 TextEditor Toolbar Accessibility
    All toolbar buttons in the TextEditor component now have proper aria-label attributes.

Credits: Jenisha Dsouza for the FOSS Hack 2026 accessibility contributions.

Security

  • #1467 DOMPurify HTML Sanitization
    Replaced the custom cleanedHTML helper with DOMPurify for robust, well-tested XSS prevention. DOMPurify package also bumped to latest version.

  • #1471 Profile Image Size Limit
    Enforced maximum file size validation on profile picture uploads with proper decompression bomb error handling, preventing oversized or malicious image uploads.

Credits: @ni5arga (Nisarga Adhikary)

Performance

  • #1468 Non-Blocking Font Loading
    Fonts are now loaded asynchronously using font-display: swap. Removed legacy font formats (TTF/WOFF1) — all supported browsers use WOFF2. Reduces render-blocking and improves page load performance on first visit.

User Profile Enhancements

  • #1459 Projects Section on Profile
    User profiles now include a dedicated projects section showing hackathon and partner project contributions alongside events and talks.

  • #1479 Volunteership Visibility
    Event volunteership now appears on user profiles even when the user is not a chapter member, giving volunteers proper recognition.

CFP Improvements

  • #1509 Edit Proposal Button
    Proposal owners can now edit their CFP submissions directly from the public proposal page without navigating to the dashboard.

  • CFP submission pages now embed the talk video as an inline frame when a YouTube URL is provided via the talk_video field.

  • Fixed CFP form to prevent duplicate submissions using a local submitting state ref.

Event Improvements

  • #1476 Concluded Event Message
    Events that have ended now display a clear "this event has concluded" message on the public page instead of showing stale registration prompts.

  • Chapter events page now shows all events regardless of publish status, giving organisers full visibility in the dashboard.

  • Grant events now support a search URL parameter in the timeline for linking directly to filtered views.

Localhost & Check-in

  • #1445 Localhost Participant Check-in
    Added check-in functionality for localhost hackathon participants, accessible from the dashboard attendee management page.

  • #1458 Check-in Email Group
    Localhost attendees are automatically added to a dedicated check-in email group on acceptance, enabling easier bulk communication.

  • #1455 Emailing Permission Fix
    Chapter and localhost email sending is now restricted to localhost organisers and chapter members only.

Tickets & Navigation

  • #1322 Ticket PDF Download Fix
    Fixed ticket PDF download to bypass Frappe's print permission restriction — attendees can now download their tickets without needing print document permissions.

  • #1508 Sidebar Navigation Fixes
    Fixed "My Profile" and "Go to Website" navigation links in the header dropdown. Added a "Dashboard" shortcut to the header dropdown for quick access.

Credits: @agriyakhetarpal (Agriya Khetarpal)

Error Handling

  • #1447 Generic Error Handler
    Added a global error handler that shows user-friendly messages for unhandled API and runtime errors, preventing silent failures on user-facing pages.

RSVP & Newsletter

  • #1513 Newsletter Subscription on RSVP Success
    The RSVP success page now shows a newsletter subscription button, making it easy for attendees to subscribe to chapter mailing lists right after registering. Also fixed a malformed OG meta tag on the RSVP page.

Bug Fixes & Polish

  • Fixed the like button to act as a proper toggle — it was not toggling off correctly.
  • Social link fields now automatically prefix https:// when missing to prevent broken links.
  • Ticket and tier descriptions in the dashboard now render markdown correctly (switched from markdown-it to marked using frappe-ui's function).
  • Free coupons moved to a separate child tab in the event dashboard for better organisation.
  • Event DocType list view (desk) now shows RSVP and CFP submission counts directly for quick stats.
  • Removed index_web_pages_for_search from all doctypes — was causing unnecessary search indexing overhead. It has reduced deploy time in "Migration" step (2hr -> 2mins now)
  • Fixed FormActionBar race condition that could trigger duplicate actions on page refresh.
  • Header dialog z-index fix to prevent popup dialogs being obscured by overlapping elements.
  • Attendee list now correctly groups requests by team ID with fixed search filters.
  • User profile now also picks up CFP submissions from Live (upcoming) events, not just concluded ones.
  • CFP form now correctly pushes custom fields after the title field in submission order.
  • #1524 Fixed activity section alignment on user profile and restored the top border.
  • Dashboard sponsor card now uses the common Entity card component for consistency.
  • Removed redundant data structure from event page context.

Docs

  • #1481 Improved Developer Onboarding
    Overhauled the developer installation guide with clearer Docker + frappe-manager steps, Colima/macOS setup instructions, tatsu fix notes, and an expanded troubleshooting section.

See: Developer Guide

  • #1491 Event Deletion Documentation
    Added a note explaining that events cannot be deleted directly from the platform, with documented alternatives: set status to Unpublished/Draft/Cancelled, or contact developers for permanent removal.

See: Event Management Docs

Contributor Spotlight

FOSS Hack 2026 Contributions

Grateful for all the contributors for considering and investing thier time.

  • @jasilfaras (Jasil) — pinned tatsu<5.10.0 to fix install crash on fresh setups (#1474)
  • Jenisha Dsouza — FOSS Hack 2026 accessibility contributions across dashboard components (#1489, #1490, #1493)
  • @aflahaa — refactored newsletter custom CSS with Bootstrap utilities (#1473)
  • @nimiverma - Newsletter Subscription on RSVP Success #1513
    Returning contributors this month:
  • @ni5arga (Nisarga Adhikary) — security, performance, RSS feeds, and profile features
  • @anshi321 (Anshika Yadav) — event UX, security sanitization, CFP improvements, dashboard sidebar refactor, and documentation

February 2026

Metric Count
Issues Closed 8
PRs merged 32

Hello,

February was all about FOSS Hack 2026! We shipped the redesigned hackathon page, added dark mode support to the dashboard, implemented crucial security fixes, and polished the RSVP experience.

PR Highlights

Hackathon Page Redesign

  • #1430 Redesigned Default Hackathon Page
    Complete redesign of default hackathon pages to match the event page design with v3.0 styling. Better visual hierarchy, improved sponsor display, and cleaner navigation. Listing of localhosts, submissions button, mentors and so on.

    Visit: FOSS Hack 2026

  • #1429 Project Contribution Carousel
    Added carousel cards showcasing project contributions on the FOSS Hack 2026 page. Highlights partner projects and informs open contribution to FOSS ecosystem.

    Credits: Jeswin Josu for design.
    View carousel: FOSS Hack 2026 Landing

  • #1417 Hackathon Projects Listing Page
    Enhanced hackathon projects listing page with improved layout and filtering.

  • Updated FOSS Hack 2026 content with partner projects, registration stats, localhost information, and carousel images.

  • Hackathon registration now shows proper validation when closed or past end date to avoid new participants.
  • Added city names for registration convenience.
  • Fixed localhost participant counts to show all applied as interested, balanced with accepted counts.

Dashboard Dark Mode

  • #1428 Dashboard Dark Theme Support
    Added dark mode support to the entire dashboard using frappe-ui color system! The dashboard now respects system theme preferences and provides a consistent dark mode experience.

  • DocsInfo component now has a close button to hide help messages.

  • Applied proper color scales and theme-aware styling across all dashboard components importing frappe-ui method of doing things.

    Related issue to address in the future: #1221

Security Improvements

  • #1398 Rate Limiting & Ticket Transfer Validation
    Added rate limiting to prevent abuse and fixed ticket transfer validation vulnerabilities.
    Credits: @ni5arga (Nisarga Adhikary) and @kewonit (Kartik Kulloli) for security research

  • #1397 Hackathon Participant API Security
    Hardened create_participant API to only act on session user requests, preventing email/profile manipulation.

  • #1401 Team Member Validation
    Implemented team member checks in project creation to prevent unauthorized access.
    Credits: @ni5arga (Nisarga Adhikary)

  • XSS Prevention
    Sanitized text editor content across user profiles, project descriptions, CFP submissions, and bio fields to prevent XSS attacks. Content is now cleaned before saving via db.set_value.

  • cb1e74de318476e610f7c0d584d145bbade70419 Free Ticket Security
    Prevented same email from claiming multiple free passes.

RSVP Improvements

  • #1419 RSVP Success Feedback for Guests
    Guest users now get clear success feedback after RSVP submission. Submit button is disabled after click to prevent duplicate submissions.

    Although should be taken care via DB-level uniqueness #1418

  • #1405 RSVP Insights Table Toggle
    Added table view toggle in RSVP insights. Manual check-in button now only enabled during event days for better UX.

    Related: frappe-ui PR #488.
    Credits to Harsh patel for reporting bad design.

  • Adapted RSVP pages to v3 design with improved forms and better visual consistency.

  • Simplified feedback messages - logged-in users can edit their responses directly.
  • Render field macro now supports required field indicators.

Event & Timeline Enhancements

  • #1436 Event Grants in Timeline
    Accepted event grants now appear in the events timeline and RSS feed as upcoming events. Links to external website if provided, otherwise to grants page.

    Visit: Events Timeline

  • #1435 Compact Agenda with Icons
    Made event agenda more compact for halls/dates (especially useful for hackathon pages). Uses talk_video field for online meeting links when no linked CFP or hall is given.

  • Event cards now show "TBA" for location when not specified.

  • FOSS user profiles now only show published events and include events where user volunteered.

Hackathon Management

  • #1425 Email Group Sync Unit Tests
    Added comprehensive unit tests for hackathon participant email group synchronization.

  • #1424 Localhost Email Group Sync
    Hackathon participants are now automatically synced to localhost email groups based on their localhost status.

  • #1414 Hackathon API Unit Tests
    Added unit tests for hackathon API endpoints to ensure deterministic behavior and catch regressions early.

  • #1415 Team & Project Stats
    Fixed landing page stats to show proper team and project counts with correct localhost attendance numbers.

  • #1412 Permission & Controller Updates
    Added controllers and permission checks for deterministic modification. Prevents participants from joining multiple teams simultaneously.

  • #1411 Permission Decorator
    Introduced decorator utility to wrap functions with permission checks for chapter members and hackathon team participants so we can reuse it for many API endpoints.

  • #1407 Localhost Sponsors
    Added event sponsors table to localhost hackathons for better sponsor management.

  • #1406 Localhost Description Field
    Added description field to localhost hackathons for additional information.

  • #1438 Hackathon Button Loading State
    Disabled buttons during API fetch to enable single request per click and prevent duplicate operations.

  • Fixed team join errors due to recent permission updates.

  • Localhost pages now use event sponsors for sponsor display.
  • Project issue/PR can now be added via frappe-ui documentResource.
  • Localhost now properly sets image background and text colors.
  • Registration rate limiting added to prevent spam.
  • Fixed hackathon test suite to allow registrations properly.

Jobs & Grants

  • #1396 Job Board Publish Date
    Added publish_date field to job board for better tracking and scheduler handling. Jobs now use publish date consistently across pages.

  • Jobs now show publish date information on listing pages.

  • Auto-email notifications sent to team when jobs are posted.

Code Quality & CI

  • #1423 Frappe Semgrep & PR Linter
    Added Frappe semgrep rules and conventional commit linter checks to CI pipeline for better code quality and consistency.

    Credits: Harsh Tandiya for informing for best practice

UI/UX Polish

  • #1408 Common Functions Bundle
    Removed redundant common_functions.js includes as it's already bundled in website.bundle.js after redesign.

  • SearchListView improvements:

  • Set pixel width for columns for uniform display
  • Added text truncation and wrapping for long content
  • Reduced horizontal scrolling

  • Applied consistent styling across ticket insights, project issues, attendee lists

  • Breadcrumb macro now:

  • Controls ignoring items from auto-generation
  • Builds dynamic breadcrumbs from macro for localhost pages

  • Uses proper v3 theme colors

  • Theme toggle only initializes if present on page to avoid console errors.

  • Sponsor tier headings now use v3 text colors.
  • Fixed z-index for sponsor card edit buttons.
  • Applied v3 select and control themes from grants pages.
  • Icon improvements: using report-search icon for list search.

Templates & Macros

  • Render field macro now supports required field indicators.
  • Web templates now properly include custom.css (fixed Firefox/Chromium compatibility).
  • Removed redundant custom.css and common_functions.js includes from HTML templates.

Backend Improvements

  • Permission checks ensure only chapter members or localhost organizers can send emails.
  • Improved API calls with direct function calls for permission checks.
  • Better decorator-based permission validation.
  • Direct status filtering for events instead of complex queries.

Dependency Updates

  • ESLint: 9.39.2 → 10.0.1
  • eslint/js: 9.39.2 → 10.0.1
  • eslint-plugin-vue: 10.7.0 → 10.8.0
  • globals: 17.1.0 → 17.3.0
  • markdown-it: 14.1.0 → 14.1.1

  • cryptography: 46.0.3 → 46.0.5

    Planning to bump other dependency manually via #1437

New Contributor Spotlight

  • @ni5arga (Nisarga Adhikary) made significant security contributions:
  • #1398: Rate limiting & ticket transfer validation fixes
  • #1401: Team member validation in project creation
    Credits also to @kewonit (Kartik Kulloli) for security research

January 2026

Metric Count
Issues Closed 14
PRs merged 42

Hey everyone,

January kicked off with significant improvements focused on FOSS Hack 2026 preparation, Events Timeline redesign (much needed), and Grants page overhaul. We've also enhanced the dashboard with better localhost management.

PR Highlights

Events Timeline Redesign

  • #1375 Events Timeline Redesign
    Complete redesign of the events timeline page with v3.0 design language.
    Visit: Events Timeline

  • #1383 Split Timeline into Upcoming & Completed
    Timeline page now splits events into two clear sections - Upcoming and Completed events. Some filters are shown only for completed events.

  • #1380 RSS Feed for Events Timeline
    Added RSS feed support for upcoming events on the timeline page for easy subscription and tracking.
    Feed: Events Timeline RSS
    More to be added for other pages.

  • Lazy loading implemented for event banner images to improve page load performance.

Grants Page

  • #1347 Grants Landing Page Redesign
    Complete redesign of the main grants page with updated content and v3 styling.
    Visit: Grants

  • #1348 Individual Grants Details Page
    New dedicated page for each grant type (Project Grants & Event Grants) with detailed information and filters.

  • #1349 Grants Directory Redesign
    Redesigned grants directory page for better discoverability and filtering via project tags.

  • #1350 Improved Grant Directory Listing
    Enhanced listing page with better sorting and categorization via pagination of 50 items per page.

  • #1356 Grantees Page
    New page showing all grant recipients across different grant types indicating total amount disbursed.
    Visit: Grantees

  • #1379 Event Grant Doctype Updates
    Added new fields (event_description, status options like "Ongoing" and "Disbursed") to Event Grant doctype for better tracking via web forms.

  • #1387 Event Grant Amount Migration
    Migrated grant amount field from Data to Currency type for proper formatting and calculations.

Hackathon & Localhost Management

  • #1345 Hackathon Participant Counts
    Added team and participant count display on hackathon index pages.

  • #1358 Hackathon Dashboard Layout Fix
    Fixed layout issues in hackathon dashboard pages for better UX.

  • #1360 Localhost Attendees with SearchListView
    Hackathon localhost attendee acceptance now uses SearchListView component with team-based grouping for better organisation.

  • #1361 Edit Localhost Page
    Added dedicated page to edit localhost hackathon data with proper validation ensuring only organisers can access.

  • #1365 Localhost Layout as Parent
    Localhost hackathon pages now use consistent parent layout for better navigation.

  • #1366 Localhost Email Group Integration
    Accepted hackathon participants are automatically added to localhost email groups for communications.

  • #1368, #1369 Common Mailing Component
    Refactored mailing functionality into reusable component. Added mailing feature for localhost hackathons.

  • commit 4c0698163efa228cc4a568e2b6a5146fbfc47034: Redesigned hackathon project page in v3 style.

Event Check-ins & RSVP Improvements

  • #1359 RSVP Insights Error Messages & Docs
    Added error message display and documentation info component to help organisers troubleshoot issues.

  • #1374 Waiting List Info
    Events page now shows waiting list information. Attending counts only show accepted RSVPs.

  • #1392 Ticket Check-ins SearchListView
    Ticket check-in dashboard now uses SearchListView for faster searching and better performance.

  • #1393 Ticket Check-in Insights by Event Days
    Ticket check-in insights now show data grouped by event days, similar to RSVP check-ins.

  • commit 8a9a74: RSVP page now shows "RSVP Closed" message if form is unpublished and removed RSVP button to avoid 404 page.

  • Added docs link to event RSVP pages for user guidance.
  • Schedule page now defaults to current day's date for better UX.

Event Management

  • #1342 Edit Event Button for Concluded Events
    Added "Edit Event" button visible to organisers even for concluded events. Uses proper permission checks via check_if_chapter_or_event_core_member.
    Credits: @Pranav1921

  • #1382 Event Publishing Toggle
    Dashboard now has toggle button to publish/unpublish events directly from event details page.
    This has been added akin to #1364 to allow deleting event.

  • #1354 Sponsor Sorting Enhancement
    Event sponsors now sorted with Industry Partners (patrons) appearing first, then by date of confirmation within each tier, or alphabetically.

  • MyChapters component now ignores events without end dates to prevent display issues.

  • MyChapters now uses API function to show events for better data consistency.

Dashboard UI Components

  • #1370 Common Save Action Bar
    Multiple dashboard pages now use unified sticky save action bar at bottom for consistent UX across:
  • Event details editing
  • Chapter details
  • RSVP forms

  • Hackathon configuration

  • SearchListView component enhancements:

  • Added support for preferred export columns for CSV download.
  • Used across ticket insights, free coupons, RSVP insights, and check-ins.
  • Improved performance and code reusability.

Payment & Tickets

  • Razorpay payment capture now includes event name and ID in description for easier filtering in razorpay dashboard.

User Profiles

  • OpenGraph Support for FOSS Profiles
    Added meta_block for user profiles to generate OG images for better social media sharing.

Templates & Macros

  • #1362 Common V3 Navbar & Theme Toggle
    Introduced reusable v3_navbar macro with theme toggle for consistent navigation across redesigned pages.
  • Breadcrumb macro now builds crumbs automatically if not passed (useful for simplified paths)
  • Applied across grants, events, volunteers, and other v3 pages

Documentation

  • Added FOSS Hackathon information to docs.
  • Updated docs with event check-in system information for RSVP insights dashboard.
  • Added screenshots for check-in insights workflow.
  • Dashboard pages now include DocsInfo component with help links.

Performance

  • Lazy loading implemented for event timeline banner images.
  • Event cards now use lazy loading for better initial page load.
  • Reduced unnecessary API calls via refactored functions.

New Contributor Spotlight

  • @Pranav1921 made their first contribution:
  • #1342: Added edit event button for concluded events with proper permission checks

December 2025

Metric Count
Issues Closed 10
PRs merged 37

Hi everyone,

December was a quieter but productive month as we wrapped up the year amidst holidays and year-end slowdowns. This month focus has been early groundwork for upcoming FOSS Hack 2026, ensuring the platform enters the New Year in a more stable and maintainable state.

PR Highlights

New Page & Announcement

Tickets

  • #1300 Redirect /tickets to buy-ticket page or RSVP page.
    In fossunited platform typical event page link is in the format of https://fossunited.org/chapter/event

  • Now, https://fossunited.org/chapter/event/tickets -> redirects to buy-ticket page if its an paid event or else send you to rsvp page. /rsvp, /cfp and /schedule works over the permalink.

  • #1301 Apply custom field to each attendee in buying ticket
    Previously we had custom field applied to all attendees ticket, but these custom field data can act as survey to collect preferred choice. Given a switch toggle this can apply to all or each ticket.

  • #1310 Ticket insights with Custom fields
    Ticket insights in dashboard will now also show custom fields data. Now ListView is grouped based on tier and whole data can be downloaded as CSV.

  • #1319 Searchable ticket insights list
    Ticket insights dashboard now uses the shared searchable ListView component.

  • Faster filtering for large events

  • Cleaner UI and reduced redundant code

  • API refactor simplified ticket insight data retrieval using query builder for better maintainability.
    refer: https://frappe.io/blog/engineering/evolving-frappes-orm-for-security-and-flexibility

Events

  • Added missing projects showcase and community partner cards just like sponsor cards.

  • #1304 Hide markdown format comments in description
    Using <!-- Some text --> will now be hidden via CSS rule in event description.
    Note: It still might appear in page SEO (meta).

  • #1304 Show OSM preview for event map link
    Show map preview for the map_link provided. Works with gmaps (maps.app.goo.gl) and OSM links.
    We use Leaflet via CDN to show the preview image.

  • #1321 Event map preview improvements
    Introduced map_coordinate field for events.

  • Cleaner handling of empty or invalid map links
  • Enables consistent preview rendering without repeated parsing

RSVP

  • #1302 Refactor getting RSVP data
    Was kinda over-complicated before, now made simplified to just work as intended.

RSVP Insights

  • #1327 Simplified RSVP insights API
    Refactored RSVP insights backend to use a flat, deterministic data structure.

  • #1328 Searchable RSVP insights with CSV export
    Reused the generic searchListView component to:

  • Client-side search RSVP responses

  • Export filtered data directly as CSV

  • #1343 Event check-in via attendee list view
    Organisers can now manually check-in attendees directly from the RSVP insights dashboard.

  • Useful for bulk or assisted check-ins
  • Complements self check-in flow without backend changes
  • Includes undo option for same-day check-ins

CFP & Reviews

  • #1309 Notify Chapter members if an approved proposal has been withdrawn
    A nudge email is sent to notify if only an approved proposal was withdrawn by the proposers.
    Note: Email is only sent to chapter members, proposer is not involved.

  • #1312 Proposal review notifications
    Introduced email notifications when a proposal receives a new review or updated remarks.

  • Notifies proposers and CCs speaker emails
    Credits: Aryak for previous work (#982)

  • #1339 Increase reference link length for CFP submissions
    Long reference links (Google Docs, slides, blogs) are now fully supported.

  • Increased limit to 250 characters

  • Desk improvement: CFP submissions without session categories can now be edited via desk UI

Grants

  • #1344 Optimised Grants Directory manifest updates
    Reduced server load by updating grant manifests only when changes are detected.
  • Removed scheduler dependency
  • Uses lightweight triggers on page visit

  • Clear distinction between last_updated and actual manifest changes

  • #1340 Complete redesign of Suite of Grants pages

  • New Grants page design with more structural and uniform design

Performance & UI Components

  • Searchable ListView optimisations:
  • Added debounced search

  • Cached rows using WeakMap for faster filtering on large datasets (>2000 rows)

  • Multi-select component now handles empty data gracefully and improves required-field error visibility.

Accessibility

  • #1308: Improved keyboard navigation and ARIA labelling across:
  • Proposal lists
  • Dashboard sidebar navigation

  • My Proposals page
    Credits: @grittyuffy (Keerthana)

  • #1306: Added missing alt text to images across dashboard and main site, improving screen reader support.
    Credits: @ig-imanish (Manish Kumar)

New Contributor Spotlight

  • @RuchikaByte made their first contribution:

  • #1275: docs: add information on event mailing functionality

  • @grittypuffy made their first contribution:

  • #1308: a11y: Improve keyboard navigation for proposals in dashboard and sidebar navigation

  • Continued accessibility improvements across dashboard and proposal flows.

  • @Praneel7015

  • #1314: Added speaker support and online event options for chapter events

  • @ig-imanish made their first contribution:

  • #1306: Improve accessibility: Add missing alt text to all images across dashboard and main site

November 2025

Metric Count
Issues Closed 19
PRs merged 40

Hi everyone,

November brought some major additions to the platform! We've introduced a Grants Funding Directory inspired by floss.fund, implemented RSVP Check-ins for better event management, and launched Host Approval workflow for RSVPs. The new Events Page redesign with v3.0 design is now live, alongside the First Commit initiative page. We've also added comprehensive Free Ticket management for organisers.

PR Highlights

Events Page Redesign & First Commit

  • #1265 Events Page Redesign
    Complete redesign of events page with v3.0 design language, dark mode support, and better visual hierarchy. Features improved event cards, sponsor display, speaker sections, and social links.
    Note: From now on event banner will be in aspect ratio of 1:1 only. Suggested resolution is 280×280px

Eg: https://fossunited.org/c/mumbai/minidebconf2025

Credits: @jeswinjosu

Grants Funding Directory

  • #1283 Grants Funding Directory
    Introduced funding directory inspired by floss.fund using funding.json manifest schema. Projects can submit their funding information via JSON schema validation.
    Explore Grants Directory

  • #1284 Grants JSON Schema Validation
    Added unit tests to ensure robust validation of funding.json against the schema using floss.fund/api/validate endpoint.

  • #1294 Grants Thesis Page
    Added grants thesis template page with v3 design for detailed project information.

RSVP Self Check-in System

  • #1286 RSVP Check-in doctype
    Added check-in table to RSVP submissions allowing attendees to check-in during event timeline.

  • #1287 Self Check-in Frontend
    Attendees can now check-in via their RSVP edit page during event hours. Shows "Checked for today" status after check-in. Includes automatic handling of custom questions added after initial RSVP.
    Documentation

  • #1288 Check-in Insights Dashboard
    Event organisers can view check-in data grouped by dates in a dedicated insights page with download functionality.

RSVP Host Approval

  • #1282 Host Approval Workflow
    Added host-requires-approval feature for RSVP forms. Organisers can approve or reject RSVPs directly from insights page with email notifications. Includes confirmation dialog for rejections.
    Related issue: #676

Free Ticket Management

  • #1259 Free Ticket doctype
    Imported free ticket code and application doctype from desk into codebase. Includes validation, count tracking, and server-side checks for coupon redemption. Added comprehensive unit tests.

  • #1260 Free Ticket Dashboard
    Event organisers can now manage free ticket codes directly from dashboard. Create, edit, delete, and view coupon IDs for distribution to organisations.

  • #1261 Permission Controls
    Only chapter team members can modify their event's free ticket codes, preventing cross-injection attacks.

  • #1262 Auto-set Event
    Free ticket form now automatically sets event based on coupon code, making it generic for all events.

  • #1258 Free Pass Insights
    Ticket insights now show free pass holders in attendee list and counts.

  • #1257 Ticket Transparency
    Buy ticket page now shows disabled and expired tickets for transparency. Added proper validity checks for date and count.
    Closes: #1183

CFP & Schedule Enhancements

  • #1268 Talk Licensing
    Added license field to CFP submissions with acknowledgment checkbox. Proposers can specify talk licenses upfront.

  • #1266 Talk Video Links
    Added talk_video field to link recorded talks in schedule and CFP pages. Shows video links for past sessions and "Add to calendar" only for upcoming sessions. This video link will be shown in schedule page as well as in CFP linked page.

  • #1270 CSV Download for Proposals
    Reviewers and organisers can now download all proposals in CSV format for analysis. Includes custom answers if marked public.
    #1274 Moved CSV generation to frontend to reduce backend load, properly escaping content to avoid CSV injection.

  • #1269 Schedule Management Filters
    Enhanced event schedule modification page with better filtering options to reduce cognitive load (especially useful for large events like IndiaFOSS).

UI/UX Improvements

  • #1281 Web Accessibility
    Improved accessibility with proper ARIA labels for events page and render fields. Replaced div with nav for breadcrumb items.
    Partially addresses: #788

  • #1293 Mobile Responsiveness
    Adjusted mobile adaptiveness for grants directory, RSVP insights, drawer components, and comment box icons.

  • #1292 Events Grid CSS
    Fixed events card grid to display uniformly without breaking.
    Thanks to Nihal for reporting in telegram.

  • #1280 Comment Review Retention
    Review comments are now retained locally even after page reload using localStorage.
    Closes: #968

  • #1276 Email Drawer UX
    Fixed opacity issues and improved UX for email dialog and scheduling components.

  • #1273 Text Wrapping
    Fixed word-wrap for long links and text content. Added livestream link to event about section.

  • #1272 V3 CSS Standardization
    Applied v3 design CSS across multiple pages. Updated event banner to 1:1 aspect ratio (280×280px).

  • #1263 Profile Activity Placement
    Moved profile activity card below "about" section for better prominence. Hid work tab temporarily.

Documentation

  • #1289 RSVP & Event Docs
    Added comprehensive documentation for RSVP check-ins, event schedule, and related features with screenshots.

Refund Policy

  • #935 Refund Policy Acceptance
    Users must now accept refund policy before purchasing tickets.
    Closes: #898

User Profile

  • #1278 Temporarily hid the Projects, Education, and Resume tabs on user profiles until we redesigned profile page. For now, only the About and Activity sections will be shown.

October 2025

Metric Count
Issues Closed 28
PRs merged 31

Hey folks,

It was Hack-tober month!
We've a new Volunteers Page and with initiation of Dark Theme support was introduced to it, alongside several UI refinements and documentation upgrades. Moving on next month, we will be focusing more on IndiaFOSS related issues and hey if you did not know there are many important (Big) events lined up like MangaloreFOSS, MumbaiFOSS, ChennaiFOSS and more.

PR Highlights

Theme & UI Enhancements

  • #1244 New Volunteers Page
    Added a “Wall of Fame” for active Volunteers with filter and sorting by chapter or user's city.
    Credits: @jeswinjosu
  • #1247 Add dark theme support for Volunteers page
    Introduced system-based dark/light mode toggling and persistent theme preference using local storage.
    Note: Its currently only for Volunteers page (initiation of redesign 3.0)
  • #1243 Fix popover z-index for AutoComplete in EmailFormTemplate
    Which did not show recipients popup before in events mailing page.

CFP & Review System

  • #1246 Hide others reviews in CFP review tab
    Prevents reviewer bias by showing only the user’s own reviews, reducing cross-influence while keeping public visibility unchanged.
    Related issue: #1004
  • #1239 Format CFP review content
    Enabled tailwindcss typography for better rendering of review text within CFP details page; WYSIWYG!.
  • #1237 Add CFP Status Filter
    Added dropdown filters and clickable insight grids for CFP proposals, improving reviewer workflows.
    for example: IndiaFOSS 2025 CFP (click on those grid cards)
  • #1236 Show CFP reviewer's review status
    Introduced color-coded reviewer status ("Reviewed") and filtering toggles.

Jobs & Grants

  • #1227 Import Job Board from Desk to Codebase
    Migrated job management from the Frappe Desk interface into the platform’s code for better version control and transparency.
    Explore Jobs
  • #1234 Project Grants enhancements
    Introduced logo and grant type fields to the "Project Grants" doctype, enabling categorization of fellowships and year-based grouping.
    refer: Grants page
  • #1240 Auto "Show Speaker" visibility in events page.
    Show speakers tab only if populated and display speaker info by default for past events.

Chapter & Mailing System

  • #1215 Chapter Mailing Page
    Added support for chapter-level mailing and campaign tracking, mirroring event mailing capabilities with Chapter level email groups.
    Users have choice to either "Subscribe to mailing list" or not via their RSVP forms. They can edit their preference in Edit RSVP to update and remove.
  • #1206 Email Group Subscription via RSVP
    Added subscribe to chapter mailing checkboxes on RSVP and ticket forms, ensuring attendees are properly linked to event/chapter mailing groups.

Event & RSVP Management

  • #1213 RSVP toggle improvements
    Users can now toggle RSVP/Un-RSVP directly with updated UI states to let Organiser know that they are "not attending".
  • #1214 RSVP insights grouping
    Dashboard enhancements now group RSVP data by attendance, improving analytics for event organisers. Shows two groups "Attending" and "Not attending" (not shown by default)

Documentation & Developer Tools

  • #1216 Major Docs overhaul
    Merged and enhanced documentation from the frappe Wiki, now with improved navigation, Docker setup guide, search functionality, and content for volunteering, clubs, and events.
  • #1189 Vale Docs Linting
    Integrated Vale for consistent doc style and vocabulary validation.
  • #1204 Simplified RSS feed
    Cleaned up RSS feed to include only blog posts, removing newsletters for better content focus.

Stay nerdy: https://fossunited.org/rss.xml

Internal Improvements & Dependencies

  • #1230 Bump prettier-plugin-jinja-template to v2.1.0
  • #1233 Bump globals from 15.9.0 → 16.4.0
  • #1235 Batch dependency upgrades (vite, esbuild, rollup, postcss, etc.)
  • #1186 Yarn lock bump
  • #1202 Expose user fields in get_session_user_profile API

New Contributor Spotlight

September 2025

Metric Count
Issues Closed 10
PRs merged 32

Hi again,
We had Successfully Concluded our 5th Edition of IndiaFOSS (2025) on 20-21 Sept. This month had most focus on Schedule page.

PR Highlights

Event Management

  • #1125 De-clutter the Events timeline page
    Provided filter to choose Chapter type (City | Club | Conference) and made City filter to show only Cities
    /events pages takes preference to show Only City and Conference, hiding FOSS Club events
    Related issue #1144 and PR #1145
  • #1128 Small Doc on purpose of event_permalink
    Some users might confuse with the term permalink, so added some doc to give info that it means page 'route' (alias)

Ticket Management

  • #1118 Make ticket transfer page public
    We noticed that not everyone who bought ticket had FossUnited account, so with added security tests, we made Ticket transfer page public to avoid exploits.
  • #1147 Added QR code scanner for Ticket Check-ins
    Implemented a QR code based quick check-in scanner to log check-in details. Both pages /dashboard/event/.../quick-checkin and /dashboard/event/.../checkins use this component to scan QR.

Event Schedule

Could not complete the Schedule re-design, so added some features to enhance UX.

  • #1126 Search by Speaker in proposal (CFP) page
    Although it has a frappe filter to narrow, it would be convenient to just type and search by speaker name.
  • #1132 Fix Event Schedule ICS download
    Due to some events having end datetime > start datetime, the API was throwing an error.
  • #1158 Search support in Schedule page
    Search whole Event schedule in flat List based on Talk Title, Speaker name, Designation and category. Also card shows Hall and Date as Indicator
  • #1151 Schedule Download formats
    Schedule can be downloaded in various formats now. CSV | ICS | Orgmode | Markdown and so on.
    Further plan is to make PDF generation in FOSS theme using Typst

New Contributor Spotlight

  • @agriyakhetarpal made their first contribution:
  • #1142: Added Zulip logo for chapters
    With merge of Zulip into svgl, we now have Zulip support into socials link for Chapter Info.

  • Related PR on adding Bluesky and dev.to logo for FOSS user profile page

  • @arunppsg made their first contribution:

  • #1167: Added more docs
    Complementing to #1150, Arun added some missing docs for events, social media and more.


August 2025

Metric Count
Issues Closed 13
PRs merged 19

Hi everyone,

I'm Dilip G (also known as Zororg on Telegram, or with username @idlip), the new Developer for FOSS United. First month on board, after Harsh Tandiya as Developer.
This is my first monthly tech report as part of the FOSS United team. I'd love your feedback on the format, content, or anything you'd like to see added in future changelogs. You can share your suggestions via GitHub Issues or drop me an email; whichever works best for you.

PR Highlights

Jobs & Scheduling

  • #1080 Scheduled expiry for job posts older than 90 days
    Implemented a background scheduler that automatically marks job listings as expired after 90 days.
    🔗 Visit: FOSS United Jobs

Roles & Permissions

  • #1087 Removed Lead role, consolidated under Core Team Member.
    Simplified the roles for Chapters and Events. Now, Core Team Member has full permissions to manage events and pages.

Event Management

  • #1088 Fixed routing to event schedule pages
    Resolved navigation issues schedule pages now route correctly from both the dashboard and event views.
  • #1102 Auto-close RSVP and CFP forms after event ends
    Extended the event scheduler to automatically close RSVP and Call-for-Proposal forms once the event has concluded.

Blog & RSS

  • #1091 RSS feed fixed and enhanced
    The blog's RSS feed is now valid and includes newsletters.
    Thanks to @captn3m0 for reporting the issue: #1001

Timeline Fixes

  • #1094 Prevented crash on events/timeline when dates are missing
    Fixed error where events without a start or end date would break the timeline view.
  • #1109 Made event schedule page layout more compact
    Cleaned up visual clutter on the schedule view for easier readability.

Team Page & Governance

Event Metadata Enhancements

  • #1100 Added City and State info for events
    Also reordered social media links to prioritize FOSS and decentralized platforms.
  • #1108 Added a scrollbar to long schedule sections
    Improves usability when navigating long lists of proposals.
  • #1101 Introduced "Invited Talk" as a session type
    Enables better support for data related to IndiaFOSS sessions.

New Contributor Spotlight

  • @HarshPatel5940 made their first contribution:
  • #1010: Dynamic user search in Chapter/Events member dashboard


July 2025

The FOSS United platform was mostly under maintenance mode during this period. This was mostly my scrutiny period with some given tasks for two weeks.

PR Highlights

Setup with NixOS

  • #1068 Doc and guide on setting up FossUnited platform with NixOS. I plan to extend this further more.

Job Management

  • #1077 Added date of posting for each job card and closing for expired ones