docs: document DEVPLACE_DISABLE_SERVICES env var, news router, modal class toggle, and news service behavior

locustfile.py

@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ POST_UIDS = []
 POST_SLUGS = []
 PROJECT_UIDS = []
 COMMENT_UIDS = []
+NEWS_UIDS = []
+NEWS_SLUGS = []
 TOPICS = ["devlog", "showcase", "question", "rant", "fun", "random"]
 PROJECT_TYPES = ["game", "game_asset", "software", "mobile_app", "website"]
 AVATAR_STYLES = [
@@ -148,6 +150,28 @@ def seed_data(environment, **kwargs):
         except Exception as e:
             logger.warning(f"Create seed project failed: {e}")
 
+    # ── Seed news articles (direct DB insert) ───────────────────
+    try:
+        from devplacepy.database import get_table, init_db
+        from devplacepy.utils import make_combined_slug
+        init_db()
+        news_table = get_table("news")
+        for i in range(3):
+            title = f"Locust news article {i} {uuid.uuid4().hex[:4]}"
+            article_uid = str(uuid.uuid4())
+            slug = make_combined_slug(title, article_uid)
+            news_table.insert({
+                "uid": article_uid, "slug": slug, "title": title,
+                "external_id": f"locust_seed_{i}", "grade": 8,
+                "status": "published", "show_on_landing": 1,
+                "source_name": "Locust", "synced_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00",
+                "description": "Locust seed article for load testing.",
+            })
+            NEWS_UIDS.append(article_uid)
+            NEWS_SLUGS.append(slug)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warning(f"Seed news articles failed: {e}")
+
     # ── Harvest UIDs from HTML responses ──────────────────────
     #   projects sidebar:  /projects?user_uid={uuid}
     #   project cards:     /votes/project/{uuid}
@@ -251,6 +275,23 @@ class DevPlaceUser(HttpUser):
             random.choice(["/auth/signup", "/auth/login"]), name="auth/form"
         )
 
+    @task(3)
+    def view_news(self):
+        self.client.get("/news", name="news")
+
+    @task(2)
+    def view_news_detail(self):
+        slugs = NEWS_SLUGS if NEWS_SLUGS else NEWS_UIDS
+        if not slugs:
+            return
+        self.client.get(
+            f"/news/{random.choice(slugs)}", name="news/[slug]"
+        )
+
+    @task(1)
+    def view_bugs(self):
+        self.client.get("/bugs", name="bugs")
+
     # ── auth flows ──────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     @task(1)
@@ -389,7 +430,18 @@ class DevPlaceUser(HttpUser):
     # ── static / media ──────────────────────────────────────────
 
     @task(2)
-    def view_avatar(self):
-        style = random.choice(AVATAR_STYLES)
+    def view_multiavatar(self):
         seed = random.choice(ALL_USERNAMES) if ALL_USERNAMES else "anon"
-        self.client.get(f"/avatar/{style}/{seed}", name="avatar/[style]/[seed]")
+        self.client.get(
+            f"/avatar/multiavatar/{seed}?size=32", name="avatar/multiavatar"
+        )
+
+    @task(1)
+    def comment_on_news(self):
+        if not NEWS_UIDS:
+            return
+        self.client.post("/comments/create", data={
+            "content": f"News comment {uuid.uuid4().hex[:6]} " * 2,
+            "target_uid": random.choice(NEWS_UIDS),
+            "target_type": "news",
+        }, name="comments/news")