FTCWebsite/OBJECT_STORAGE_SETUP.md

🗄️ Object Storage Setup Guide

Problem: Images Disappearing After a Few Hours

Your website was saving uploaded images to the local filesystem (static/images/), which is ephemeral storage in Replit. This means files get automatically deleted after a few hours.

Solution: Replit Object Storage (Persistent Storage)

I've updated your website to use Replit Object Storage, which is built on Google Cloud Storage and provides permanent file storage.

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📋 Setup Instructions (Required)

Step 1: Create an Object Storage Bucket

1. Open the Tools panel in your Replit workspace (left sidebar)
2. Click on Object Storage
3. Click "Create a Bucket"
4. Give it a name (e.g., ftc-team-images)
5. Click Create

Step 2: Set Environment Variable

1. Go to the Secrets tab in your Replit workspace (lock icon in left sidebar)
2. Add a new secret:
   • Key: OBJECT_STORAGE_BUCKET
   • Value: Your bucket name (e.g., ftc-team-images)
3. Click Add Secret

Step 3: Restart the Server

1. Stop the Flask server if it's running
2. Start it again (or let it auto-restart)

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✅ How It Works Now

Automatic Upload to Persistent Storage

All file uploads now go to Object Storage instead of local storage:

• Member/Mentor Photos → members/ folder in your bucket
• Competition Images → competitions/ folder
• Sponsor Logos → sponsors/ folder

Full Image URLs

Images are now stored as full Google Cloud Storage URLs like:

https://storage.googleapis.com/ftc-team-images/members/abc123.jpg

These URLs are:

• ✅ Permanent - Never get deleted
• ✅ Fast - Served directly from Google's CDN
• ✅ Public - Accessible from anywhere on the web
• ✅ Reliable - Backed by Google Cloud infrastructure

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🔧 Code Changes Made

New Files:

• object_storage.py - Object storage service module
• OBJECT_STORAGE_SETUP.md - This guide

Updated Files:

• app.py - All upload routes now use object storage
  • add_member() - Member/mentor images
  • update_member() - Member/mentor updates
  • add_competition() - Competition images
  • edit_competition() - Competition image updates
  • add_sponsor() - Sponsor logos

Updated Dependencies:

• Added google-cloud-storage package

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🚀 Testing

After setup, test by:

1. Go to /admin/login (password: techturb123)
2. Upload a new member photo or competition image
3. Check that the image displays correctly
4. Wait a few hours - the image should still be there!

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🔒 Security Notes

• Object storage is authenticated automatically via Replit's infrastructure
• All uploaded files are made publicly accessible (required for website images)
• Files are organized into folders for easy management
• Each file gets a unique UUID to prevent naming conflicts

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⚠️ Important: Fallback Mode

If you haven't set up object storage yet, the website will still work using local storage (ephemeral):

• You'll see a warning in the console: "Warning: Object Storage not configured"
• Files will still be saved but will disappear after a few hours
• Set up object storage ASAP to make uploads permanent!

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📚 Additional Resources

• Replit Object Storage Docs
• Google Cloud Storage

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Need Help? If you have any issues with setup, check the console logs for error messages.