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Settings

The Settings page provides centralized configuration for Tinko and all plugins.

Accessing Settings

Click the Settings link in the top navigation bar, or navigate to:

http://your-pi-ip-address:8000/settings/

Settings Structure

Settings are organized into tabs:

  1. Global Settings - System-wide configuration
  2. Plugin Settings - Individual plugin configurations

Global Settings

Personalize Tinko for your school:

School Name

Enter your school's name. This appears:

  • In the browser tab title
  • On the dashboard header
  • In emails (if email is configured)

Upload your school logo:

  • Supported formats: PNG, JPG, JPEG
  • Recommended size: 400x400 pixels or less
  • Auto-resized to max 400x400px with 200x200px thumbnail
  • Transparent backgrounds supported (PNG)

To upload:

  1. Click Choose File
  2. Select your logo image
  3. Click Save

The logo will appear on the dashboard and in the header.

Robot Name

Customize what students call the system:

  • Default: "Tinko"
  • Examples: "Robo-Teacher", "Classroom Bot", "Sparky"

This name appears in: - Status messages - Plugin interfaces - Voice announcements (if TTS is enabled)

Plugin Settings

Each plugin can have its own configuration section.

Accessing Plugin Settings

  1. Click the Settings tab for the plugin you want to configure
  2. Modify the settings
  3. Click Save

Common Setting Types

Setting Type Description Example
Text Single-line text input School name
Number Numeric value with min/max LED brightness (10-100)
Select Dropdown menu TTS engine selection
Boolean Checkbox (on/off) Enable/disable feature
File File upload Audio file, logo image

Setting Namespaces

Settings use dot notation for organization:

  • Global: tinko.global.school_name
  • Plugin: edupi.activity_timer.default_duration

Plugin-Specific Settings

Activity Timer Settings

  • Default Duration: Default timer length in minutes (1-120)
  • LED Brightness: LED intensity percentage (10-100)
  • Warning Threshold: When LED changes color (5-50% remaining)

Noise Monitor Settings

  • Instant Window: Seconds for instant average calculation (5-60)
  • Session Window: Minutes for session average calculation (1-30)
  • LED Brightness: LED intensity percentage (10-100)
  • Enable Monitoring: Turn monitoring on/off

Routines Settings

  • Default TTS Engine: pyttsx3, edge-tts, or gTTS
  • Default TTS Speed: Speech rate (0.5x - 2.0x)
  • Presenter Mappings: Configure USB presenter buttons

Touch Piano Settings

  • Volume: Audio output level (0-100%)
  • Audio Device: ALSA device selection
  • Sensitivity: Touch detection sensitivity (1-10)

Settings Hierarchy

Settings are stored with priorities:

  1. User Settings (if implemented)
  2. Plugin Settings (plugin-specific)
  3. Global Settings (system-wide defaults)

When a setting is not defined at a higher level, it falls back to the next level.

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

  • Use clear, descriptive names
  • Avoid special characters
  • Keep school names under 50 characters

Image Uploads

  • Use high-quality logos (at least 200x200px)
  • Optimize file size (< 500KB)
  • Use PNG for transparency support

Configuration Backup

Settings are stored in the database. Back up regularly:

# Backup SQLite database
cp db.sqlite3 db.sqlite3.backup

# Or use Django's dumpdata
uv run python manage.py dumpdata core.plugin_system > settings_backup.json

Troubleshooting

Settings Not Saving

  1. Check database migrations: 
    uv run python manage.py migrate
  2. Verify file permissions on the database
  3. Check disk space

Logo Not Displaying

  1. Ensure migrations are complete
  2. Check that MEDIA_ROOT is configured
  3. Verify the image format (PNG/JPG only)

Settings Changes Not Applied

Some settings require a restart:

sudo systemctl restart tinko

Image Upload Fails

  • Check file size (max usually 5-10MB)
  • Verify image dimensions
  • Ensure write permissions on media directory

Advanced Configuration

Environment Variables

Some settings can be overridden via environment variables:

DEBUG=False
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key
TIME_ZONE=Europe/Bucharest

See Configuration Reference for details.

Database Settings

Settings are stored in:

  • SQLite (default): db.sqlite3 file
  • PostgreSQL (production): Requires configuration in config/settings.py

Next Steps