251 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
251 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# PointsBot
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## Table of Contents
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* [Description](#description)
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* [Installation](#installation)
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* [Configuration](#configuration)
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* [Usage](#usage)
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* [Ideas](#ideas)
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* [Questions](#questions)
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* [License](#license)
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## Description
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This is a bot for Reddit that monitors solutions to questions or problems in a
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subreddit and awards points to the user responsible for the solution.
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This bot is intended as a solution for
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[this request](https://www.reddit.com/r/RequestABot/comments/emdeim/expert_level_bot_coding/).
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The bot will award a point to a redditor when the OP of a submission includes
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"!Solved" or "!solved" somewhere in a reply to the redditor's comment on that
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submission. These points will allow the redditor to advance to different
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levels:
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* Helper (5 points)
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* Trusted Helper (15 points)
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* Super Helper (40 points)
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At each level, the redditor's flair for the subreddit will be updated to reflect
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their current level. However, the bot should not change a mod's flair.
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Each time a point is awarded, the bot will reply to the solution comment to
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notify the redditor of their total points, with a progress bar to show how many
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points they need to reach the next level and a reminder of the title of the next
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level.
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The first time a point is awarded, the bot's reply comment will also include a
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brief message detailing the points system.
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Only the submission OP's first "!Solved" comment should result in a point being
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awarded for each submission.
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## Installation
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Requirements:
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* [Python 3](https://www.python.org/downloads/) (specifically version 3.7 or greater)
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* pip (should be installed automatically with Python)
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* [pipenv](https://pipenv.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
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* After installying Python & pip, install by running `pip install pipenv`
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* For other installation options,
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[see here](https://pipenv.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/#installing-pipenv)
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First, download this project using `git` or by downloading a ZIP archive from
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the Github repository using the green `Clone or download` button. If ZIP, be
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sure to extract the files from the archive before moving on.
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To install the packages necessary for running the bot, navigate to the project
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root directory and run `pipenv install`.
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To uninstall (i.e. delete the project's virtual environment and the installed
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python packages), navigate to the project root directory and instead run
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`pipenv --rm`.
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## Configuration
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The bot can be configured by changing the values in the configuration files in
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the project root directory:
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* `praw.ini`
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- Contains the account information for the bot
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* `pointsbot.ini`
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- Contains settings for bot behavior
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You shouldn't have to worry about it, but if you need it, the syntax for the
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config files can be found on the
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[INI file format's Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INI_file).
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If this is your first time running the bot, you will need to copy
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`praw.sample.ini` to a new file called `praw.ini`, and likewise copy
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`pointsbot.sample.ini` to a new file called `pointsbot.ini`. Any instances of
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the word "REDACTED" should be replaced with the desired values; other values
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should work as-is, but can be changed as desired.
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The reason for this is that these config files (especially `praw.ini`) can
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contain sensitive information, and maintaining only sample versions of these
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files helps developers to avoid accidentally uploading that sensitive
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information to a public (or even private) code repository.
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### praw.ini
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In order to make a bot, you must first have a bot account. This could be a
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personal account, but it is wise to create a dedicate account for the bot,
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especially one with the word "bot" somewhere in the name.
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Once you have that, you can create a Reddit app for the bot. This is needed for
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authenticating with Reddit.
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1. First, go to your [app preferences](https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps).
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2. Select the "are you a developer? create an app..." button.
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3. Provide a name for the bot, which could probably be the same as the account's
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username.
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4. Select the "script" radio button.
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5. Provide a brief description.
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6. For the "about url", you can provide a link to this Github repository:
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https://github.com/cur33/PointsBot
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7. Since it is unused, the "redirect uri" can be set to something like:
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http://www.example.com/unused/redirect/uri
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8. Select "create app".
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Now you should be redirected to a page which contains the credentials you will
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need; under the name of the bot is the unlabeled `client_id`, and below that
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with the label "secret" is the `client_secret`.
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If you have already done this in the past, the `client_id` and `client_secret`
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can be found by navigating to your
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[app preferences](https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps) and selecting the "edit"
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button for the app under the "developed applications" section.
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Several credentials are needed for running your bot, each of which is listed in
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the `praw.ini` config file:
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* `client_id`: Copy from your app preferences, as specified in the previous
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steps.
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* `client_secret`: Copy from your app preferences, as specified in the previous
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steps.
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* `user-agent`: This field can be left as-is, thought if you'd like, you can
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change it by following [these guidelines]().
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* `username`: The username for the bot account.
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* `password`: The password for the bot account.
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### pointsbot.ini
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For now, these settings are pretty straightforward.
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The `Core` section:
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* `subreddit_name`: The name of the subreddit to monitor
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* `praw_site_name`: This should probably be left alone; it tells the bot which
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credentials to use when authenticating with Reddit. It's useful for
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development and easy testing with different accounts without having to
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modify values in the code.
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* `database_name`: This is the filepath to the SQLite database file, which ends
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with the `.db` file extension.
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The `Levels` section is used to determine the available user levels and
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corresponding flair texts.
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* The key on the left-hand side specifies the title and flair text for the
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level; the case is ignored, and the text is converted to title case (first
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letter of each word capitalized, and the rest lowercase).
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* The value on the right-hand side of each line is the total number of points
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required to reach that level.
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The order of these lines doesn't matter; the bot will sort them in order of
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point totals.
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## Usage
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The simplest way to run the bot is to navigate to the project root directory and
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run:
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```bash
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pipenv run python -m pointsbot
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```
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## Ideas
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### Config
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* Store all config and data in a hidden `.pointsbot` directory or similar in the
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user's home or data directory (OS-dependent).
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* Could do something similar to packages like PRAW:
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1. Look in current working directory first.
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2. Look in OS-dependent location next.
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3. (Maybe) Finally, could look in the directory containing the source files
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(using `__file__`).
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* Could also allow use of environment variables, but this seems unnecessary and
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could be a little too technical (though any more technically-minded users
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might appreciate the option).
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* Consolidate `pointsbot.ini` and `praw.ini` into a single config file.
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* Write a CLI script or GUI to handle this so the config values don't have to be
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changed manually.
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### Database
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* Should it keep track of the solved posts for future reference and calculate
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points on the fly, rather than just keeping track of points? If so, should
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have a column denoting whether the post has been deleted, if that
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information is decided to be useful when determining a user's points.
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### Determining when to award points
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To ensure that points are only awarded for the first comment marked as a
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solution:
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* Alter the database to allow for tracking of each submission and the first
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comment marked as the solution. Then, everytime a new solution comment is
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detected, simply check the database to see if the submission is already
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counted. This will avoid unnecessary calls to Reddit, which would include
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scanning all the submission comments each time.
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* This approach could also make it simpler to check whether a solution comment
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has been edited. Instead of having to do a daily search for edits, it could
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just check the original solution comment to ensure that it still contains
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the "!solved" string. If not, it can remove points from that author and
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award points to the new author.
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To ensure that a point is awarded to the correct user:
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* We could expand the "!solved" bot summons to include an optional username
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argument. Without the argument, the bot will award the point to either the
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top-level comment or the parent comment of the "!solved" comment, whichever
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is decided upon. However, if the username argument is provided, the bot
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could simple check that one of the comments in the comment tree belongs to
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that user, and then award them the point.
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- Honestly, this is probably overcomplicated and unnecessary, though.
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## Questions
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* Should it really display a progress bar without a bounds, since the user could
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get a large amount of points? Or should it end at 40 or whatever the max
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level is?
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* Should the bot reply directly to the solution comment, or the OP's "!Solved"
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comment and just tag the point earner?
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* Should the bot check whether comments containing "!solved" have been edited to
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remove it?
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- If so, it could do that daily or something.
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- This will be especially important if a "recovery mode" is implemented that
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crawls through the whole subreddit to rebuild the database, since the
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bot would only be able to see comments that haven't been removed, or
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the newest version of edited comments.
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* When a "!solved" comment is found, should the bot award the point to the
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author of the parent comment or the root comment? In other words, should
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only top-level comments be considered for points?
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* Should the bot assume that the parent comment belongs to the user who solved
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the issue, or should it find the first ancestor comment not made by the OP
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(in case the OP responds "!solved" to one of their own comments on the
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solution comment)?
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* Should the bot still keep track of points for mods, even though it doesn't
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update their flair?
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* Should the reply comment always tag them, even if it's not their first point?
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* When a user levels up, should the reply comment also mention that they have
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been awarded a new flair?
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* Should the comment contain a notice that the post was made by a bot, similar
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to the notice on posts by automod?
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## License
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Copyright ©2020 Collin U. Rapp. This repository is released under the MIT
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license.
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