Quick guide

The essential steps for administering the RC42 website

Most routine updates for the ISA RC42 website happen in Google Sheets. You do not need to write code, edit website files, or understand web development to keep the site current. This page contains only the tasks most administrators actually need to perform.

Start here

Every routine update follows three simple steps:

1. Update the correct Google Sheet
        ↓
2. Wait for the automatic website update
        ↓
3. Check the public website

Only use GitHub Actions when you need a change online immediately or when you are checking why an update did not appear.

Which system do I use?

Use this lookup table to find where each task takes place:

I want to… Open
Review a submitted announcement ISA RC42 Community Submissions ↗
Update members Active Members RC42 Social Psychology ↗
Add a curated resource rc42_resources_workflow ↗
Check subscribers ISA RC42 Newsletter Database ↗
Publish something immediately GitHub Actions
Check the result isa-rc42.org

Two email accounts support the organization:

  • isa-rc42@isa-sociology.org is the official public contact address for the committee.
  • isarc42.community@gmail.com is the Google administration account used for Drive, spreadsheets, and Community Updates.

Common tasks

The four most frequent administrative tasks are outlined below.

Publish a community contribution

Open: ISA RC42 Community Submissions → Editorial Review

Do this:

  1. Read the submitted announcement.
  2. Make any editorial corrections in edited_title or edited_description if needed.
  3. Set review_status to approved.
  4. Set publish_on_site to yes.
  5. Set display_member_name_authorized to yes to display the contributor’s name, or no to publish anonymously.

Then: The contribution will be published automatically during the next website update.

Need it online now? See Publish immediately below.

More detail: Community contributions

Update members

Open: Active Members RC42 Social Psychology → Members List

Do this:

  1. Copy or update the membership information supplied by ISA below the existing header row.
  2. Keep the existing column headers intact.
  3. Check that RC Membership Start Date and RC Membership End Date use DD-MM-YYYY.

Then: The website automatically decides whether each person appears under Active Members or Past Members based on their expiration date.

Do not manually move expired members between lists or delete them from the spreadsheet.

Need it online now? See Publish immediately below.

More detail: Members

Add a resource

Open: rc42_resources_workflow → 1_sheet

Do this:

  1. Add or edit the resource row while keeping the existing column headers.
  2. Check that the URL works and starts with https://.
  3. Set an appropriate verified value in Verification status (such as Verified official source).

Then: The resource will appear on the Resources page after the next website update.

Resources submitted through Community Contributions are handled automatically and should not be entered here again.

Need it online now? See Publish immediately below.

More detail: Resources

Check subscribers

Open: ISA RC42 Newsletter Database → Subscribers

Subscriber records display three statuses:

  • pending — waiting for email confirmation;
  • active — confirmed subscriber receiving Community Updates;
  • unsubscribed — opted out from future messages.

To process a manual unsubscription request, change the status to unsubscribed. Do not delete the row.

Then: Community Updates notifications are sent automatically from isarc42.community@gmail.com whenever new contributions are published.

More detail: Email and Community Updates

What happens after I save?

You update Google Sheets
        ↓
the website checks the new information
        ↓
the website rebuilds automatically
        ↓
the change appears at isa-rc42.org

For normal updates, you can stop after editing the spreadsheet. No additional publishing step is required.

The website checks for changes and updates automatically every day at 12:00 UTC (08:00–09:00 in Santiago / New York, 14:00 in Central Europe).

Publish immediately

GitHub Actions is the control panel used to run the website update manually when you need a change to appear online right away.

  1. Open the RC42 GitHub repository at https://github.com/isa-rc42/ISA42.
  2. Select Actions in the top navigation bar.
  3. In the left sidebar, choose the update corresponding to what you changed:
You changed… Run
Community Contributions Community Submissions Sync
Members Update Members from Google Sheets
Resources Update Resources from Google Sheets
  1. Select Run workflow on the right (ensure Branch: main is selected) and click the green Run workflow button.
  2. Wait for the green check mark, then check the website.

More detail: Run and verify updates

How do I know it worked?

Check these three items:

  • The GitHub Action has a green check mark.
  • The change appears on isa-rc42.org.
  • The link, name, or text looks correct.

If you still see the old version, perform a hard refresh (Ctrl + F5 on Windows or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac) to clear your browser cache.

You do not need to do these manually

The website handles these routine operations automatically:

  • Rebuilding the website;
  • Moving members between Active and Past;
  • Publishing approved contributions individually;
  • Copying Community Resources into the curated resources sheet;
  • Sending Community Updates emails manually.

What should I not change?

WarningLeave these to technical administration

Do not change:

  • GitHub workflow files;
  • Python or Apps Script code;
  • GitHub Secrets;
  • Cloudflare or DNS settings;
  • generated data files;
  • the main Quarto configuration.

If one of these needs to change, contact the technical administrator.

If something does not appear

Check these in order:

  1. Did you edit the correct spreadsheet and tab?
  2. Are all required fields complete?
  3. Did the automatic update already run?
  4. If you ran it manually, does GitHub Actions show a green check mark?
  5. Did you refresh the public page?

Still not working? Open the Troubleshooting guide.

Where do I go for more help?

Task Full guide
Community Contributions Community contributions
Members Members
Resources Resources
Email and subscribers Email and Community Updates
Manual updates Run and verify updates
Problems Troubleshooting
Technical administration GitHub Actions and automation