Admin Bud-E

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Project Management ​

Projects group users together with shared budgets, allowances, and policies. Think of projects as "departments," "classes," or "teams" within your organization.

What Projects Do ​

A project provides:

  1. Common Pool — Shared credit balance for all members
  2. Allowance — Periodic credits granted to each user (daily/weekly/monthly)
  3. Grouped Reporting — View usage for the entire project
  4. Administrative Organization — Separate teachers, students, departments, etc.

Creating Projects ​

  1. Navigate to Projects
  2. Click Create Project
  3. Fill in:
    • Name: Descriptive identifier (e.g., "Teachers", "Grade 5", "Math Department")
    • Budget: Total credit allocation for the project
    • Enable Common Pool: Check to activate shared credits
    • Allowance Amount: Credits per user per period (if using allowance)
    • Allowance Interval: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
  4. Click Save

Project Budget ​

The budget is the total credit allocation for the project. It can be split between:

  • Common Pool: Shared credits available to all members
  • Allowances: Individual periodic credits
  • Reserve: Unallocated credits for future use

Example Budget Allocation ​

Project: Teachers (20 members) Total Budget: 100,000 credits

Option 1: Common Pool Only

  • Common Pool: 100,000 credits
  • Allowance: Disabled
  • Members draw from common pool as needed

Option 2: Allowance Only

  • Common Pool: Disabled
  • Allowance: 250 credits/user/week
  • 20 users × 250 = 5,000 credits/week
  • ~20,000 credits/month

Option 3: Hybrid (Recommended)

  • Common Pool: 50,000 credits
  • Allowance: 200 credits/user/week
  • Balance between fairness (allowance) and flexibility (pool)

Common Pool ​

The common pool is a shared credit balance that all project members can use.

How It Works ​

  1. Project has common pool enabled with 10,000 credits
  2. User A makes a request that costs 100 credits
  3. User A's allowance is checked first
  4. If allowance is depleted, 100 credits are deducted from common pool
  5. Common pool now has 9,900 credits

When to Use Common Pool ​

Best for:

  • Small teams where trust is high
  • Flexible usage patterns
  • Research groups
  • Teacher/staff accounts

Not ideal for:

  • Large classes (risk of depletion by heavy users)
  • Strict per-user limits required
  • Unequal usage expected

Refilling Common Pool ​

To add credits to the common pool:

  1. Navigate to Projects
  2. Click Edit for the project
  3. Increase Common Pool Balance
  4. Click Save

TIP

Monitor common pool usage in Usage Reports to predict when refills are needed.

Allowance System ​

Allowance grants each user a fixed amount of credits on a regular schedule.

Allowance Intervals ​

Daily:

  • Credits refresh every day at midnight (server time)
  • Best for: Daily homework assignments, frequent usage

Weekly:

  • Credits refresh every Monday at midnight
  • Best for: Weekly lessons, balanced usage

Monthly:

  • Credits refresh on the 1st of each month
  • Best for: Long-term projects, research

How Allowance Works ​

Example: Project "Students" with 50 credits/user/day

  1. Day 1, 00:00: User receives 50 allowance credits
  2. Day 1, 10:00: User spends 30 credits → 20 remaining
  3. Day 1, 15:00: User spends 15 credits → 5 remaining
  4. Day 2, 00:00: Allowance resets to 50 credits (old 5 credits moved to common pool if enabled)
  5. User now has 50 fresh allowance credits

Unused Allowance ​

What happens to unused allowance credits?

If Common Pool is Enabled:

  • Unused allowance is "settled" back into the common pool
  • Happens automatically at the next refresh (or manually via "Settle Now")

If Common Pool is Disabled:

  • Unused allowance is forfeited
  • Does not carry over to next period

INFO

This prevents hoarding and encourages regular usage.

Settlement Process ​

Settlement is the process of collecting unused allowance and returning it to the common pool.

Automatic Settlement ​

Happens automatically when the allowance period refreshes:

  1. Calculate unused allowance for each user
  2. Move unused allowance to common pool
  3. Grant fresh allowance to all users

Manual Settlement ("Settle Now") ​

To force an immediate settlement:

  1. Navigate to Projects
  2. Click Settle Now for the project
  3. Confirm

Use cases:

  • End of month/term/semester
  • Before changing allowance settings
  • After adding/removing users
  • To free up unused credits immediately

WARNING

Settlement is permanent. Settled credits cannot be returned to individual users.

Project Wizard (Optional Feature) ​

Some Admin Bud-E versions include a Project Wizard to simplify setup.

Using the Wizard ​

  1. Navigate to Projects
  2. Click Create with Wizard
  3. Answer questions:
    • How many users?
    • Expected usage per user?
    • Refresh frequency?
    • Budget limits?
  4. Wizard calculates recommended settings
  5. Review and adjust
  6. Click Create

Example Configurations ​

Example 1: Small School (Teachers) ​

Project: Teachers Members: 15 teachers Goal: Flexible usage, trust-based

Settings:

  • Budget: 50,000 credits
  • Common Pool: 40,000 credits (enabled)
  • Allowance: 500 credits/week
  • Interval: Weekly

Rationale:

  • Allowance covers typical weekly usage
  • Common pool available for heavy users (grading week, parent meetings)
  • Fair but flexible

Example 2: Large School (Students) ​

Project: Grade 8 Students Members: 120 students Goal: Strict per-student limits

Settings:

  • Budget: 24,000 credits
  • Common Pool: Disabled
  • Allowance: 50 credits/day
  • Interval: Daily

Rationale:

  • Each student gets exactly 50 credits/day
  • No common pool prevents "tragedy of the commons"
  • Daily refresh encourages regular homework use

Example 3: Research Group ​

Project: AI Research Lab Members: 5 researchers Goal: High usage, minimal restrictions

Settings:

  • Budget: 500,000 credits
  • Common Pool: 500,000 credits (enabled)
  • Allowance: Disabled

Rationale:

  • Pure common pool for maximum flexibility
  • Trust-based (small group)
  • High budget for intensive work

Example 4: Hybrid Model ​

Project: Mixed Teaching Staff Members: 30 teachers + admins Goal: Fair baseline, flexibility for heavy users

Settings:

  • Budget: 100,000 credits
  • Common Pool: 40,000 credits (enabled)
  • Allowance: 300 credits/week
  • Interval: Weekly

Rationale:

  • 300/week covers normal usage
  • Common pool available when allowance runs out
  • Balances fairness and flexibility

Editing Projects ​

To modify an existing project:

  1. Navigate to Projects
  2. Click Edit for the project
  3. Update settings:
    • Name
    • Budget allocation
    • Common pool amount
    • Allowance settings
  4. Click Save

WARNING

Changes to allowance settings take effect at the next refresh period. Existing allowances are not recalculated immediately.

Deleting Projects ​

To remove a project:

  1. First: Reassign all users to another project or to "Unassigned"
  2. Navigate to Projects
  3. Click Delete for the project
  4. Confirm deletion

DANGER

You cannot delete a project with active members. Reassign users first.

Monitoring Project Usage ​

Project-Level Reports ​

To see usage for an entire project:

  1. Navigate to Usage
  2. Filter by Project → select project name
  3. Set date range
  4. Click Preview or Export

Metrics to Track ​

Budget utilization:

Used / Total Budget × 100 = Utilization %

Average per user:

Total Project Usage / Number of Users = Avg per User

Allowance effectiveness:

Allowance Used / Allowance Granted × 100 = Utilization %

Common pool burn rate:

(Starting Pool - Current Pool) / Days Elapsed = Daily Burn

Use these to:

  • Predict when budgets need refilling
  • Identify underutilized allowances
  • Detect unusual usage patterns

Best Practices ​

1. Start Conservative ​

Begin with smaller budgets and allowances. It's easier to increase than to reduce.

Example:

  • Week 1-2: 50 credits/day allowance (testing)
  • Week 3+: Adjust based on actual usage

2. Monitor Closely Initially ​

For the first month:

  • Check usage reports weekly
  • Adjust allowances based on patterns
  • Refill common pool as needed

3. Use Hybrid Models ​

Combine allowance + common pool for most use cases:

  • Allowance ensures fairness
  • Common pool provides flexibility
  • Balances individual and group needs

4. Communicate Policies ​

Clearly explain to users:

  • How much allowance they get
  • When it refreshes
  • What happens to unused credits
  • How to check their balance

5. Plan for Peaks ​

Budget for higher usage during:

  • Exam periods (teachers grading)
  • Project deadlines (students researching)
  • Start of term (onboarding, testing)

Add 20-30% buffer to your budget calculations.

Troubleshooting ​

Common Pool Depletes Too Fast ​

Problem: Common pool runs out within days.

Solutions:

  1. Increase allowance to reduce pool dependency
  2. Add more credits to common pool
  3. Identify and limit heavy users
  4. Review pricing (may be too high)

Allowance Goes Unused ​

Problem: Most users don't consume their full allowance.

Solutions:

  1. Reduce allowance amount
  2. Change interval (monthly → weekly)
  3. Communicate benefits to users
  4. Check if pricing is too high

Users Hitting Limits ​

Problem: Many users report running out of credits.

Solutions:

  1. Increase allowance
  2. Enable common pool
  3. Add personal credits for heavy users
  4. Review usage patterns for efficiency

Next Steps ​

Admin Bud-E / Bud-E / School Bud-E are developed by LAION e. V. (non-profit). Useful links: Hosted frontend · Middleware repo · Frontend repo · LAION blog