[HacktionLab] ideas for basic system for movement support gathering

[penguin]

Hi

I think most of this could be done through Drupal. Not saying that's
the best solution, just one that I know. Have put in more details
under each feature.

On 19/09/12 18:06, Tom Lord wrote:
> Hello again...
> 
> So, as promised:
> 
> I'm thinking that the initial Thing that might be useful at the
> MSG would have the following functionality. I'll add this up on 
> http://lopad.org/msgtech (like a pirate pad, that we run) in case
> email is a messy way to keep track of thinking.
> 
> In some kind of priority order:
> 
> - DIRECTORY - record some info about the groups involved, like
> name, location, website, public contact details. Probably under
> some taxonomy of groups, like "kitchens" "legal" etc.  This could
> be as simple as a wiki for now, and left to my own devices that's
> what I might come up with (or a spreadsheet first, as Mike
> suggests). However, if we want to do other stuff, it probably can't
> stay like that!
> 
> - MAP - let's see where groups are based physically, innit. Find
> your nearest facilitation training group. Join your local medics.
> Realise we have no widget-makers in Scotland and should start a
> group there, or whatever. So I'm thinking would be handy to have
> structured data entered in the directory, that could then be used
> to populate a map. Google maps is probably cheapest, obvious
> concerns about corporate provider. Although this is meant to be
> public-only information.
Open Layers module - https://drupal.org/project/openlayers - which can
use Open Street Map if you didn't wanna use Google

> 
> - ACCESS LEVELS - it would be nice if people other than sysadmin
> types could edit at least their own stuff. Linked heavily to...
This is inbuilt in core - either setting up roles and assigning users
to roles and/or allowing users to edit own content.

> 
> - BASIC WEB SPACE FOR EACH KIND OF GROUP - e.g. "here's the
> Activist Medics network intro page". Part of the MSG is going to be
> encouraging groups to think about pooling their knowledge /
> resources. So, I think it might be useful for each group to have
> some simple web space to cobble together any info and links to
> documents for each other. Or to link to their own sites where
> they're already doing this. Think would first need different access
> levels, to let people edit their own stuff.
You could do this in a simple (but perhaps limited) way using the same
content type as the directory (so a field within the directory would
in effect be a mini web page), and add an uploads fields.

A more complex version would be to use Organic Groups -
https://drupal.org/project/og

Before setting up a mini-webspace for each group, I'd advise checking
that people will use it and keep it up to date - for quite a lot of
groups just keeping on top of their own site can be demanding enough.

> 
> - UPLOAD DOCUMENTS - following on from previous point, if groups
> can also store docs on the system, makes it easier to pool
> resources in a central place if people want to.
See previous

> 
> - CONTACT DETAIL OBFUSCATION - would be nice to have a form for 
> contacting groups by email (mebbe with a captcha or something)
> rather than groups having to be happy to make contact details
> public, if they don't want.
This can be done either by enabling user contact forms, or with
webform - https://drupal.org/project/webform
However, if a group didn't want their contact details made public, why
would they be in a directory?

> 
> - SECURITY? - I'm thinking of it as publicly available info which
> any sensible secret service types will already have mapped out
> anyway, so apart from harvesting login details (which might not
> have to be personal email addresses), I'm not sure if there's a
> strong security risk. I welcome input on this optimistic statement
> :-)
I think the security aspect would be to maintain the privacy /
anonymity of users (uploaders / editors and site visitors)

> 
> - MODERATION? - I'm thinking that because we're talking about
> groups, and not individuals, there will be more accountability, and
> less moderation will be required than in a system that deals with 
> individuals. We're less likely to have GBC London putting up stuff
> about how the moon landings were faked etc.
I'm more cynical. Who decides what groups can be part of the
directory? Who polices this to stop the wingnuts or fakers? Who are
all these people accountable to?

> 
> 
> 
> And maybe out into the future, if this takes off and people think
> it might be useful...
> 
> 
> - SHARED CALENDARS - I was thinking it'd be nice to be able to see
> "all legal training in March in the UK" or "show me all events
> happening within 40 miles of Cambridge today", in a format that
> means I only need to type this stuff in once somewhere and can then
> reflect it on my group's own website, or vice-versa. Maybe this is
> a bit pipe dream at the moment.
> 
> - RESOURCES REQUESTED / OFFERED - I know there are systems that do
> this kind of thing already for individuals, and obviously there are
> more security risks with this. Might be nice to tie something that
> satisfies public requests into one place to look at though, with
> single sign-in.
> 
> 
> 
> In terms of initial ideas for what to use, I've come up with:
> 
> - A wiki
> 
> - Google maps
> 
> - A Django-based intranet that my work have built and I need to
> take a look at! It does structured data, handles documents, and
> group-based admin rights. It would need some re-skinning from the
> project it's currently being used on, doesn't have maps yet,
> although I've seen the Leaflet library used to create nice dynamic
> maps with Open Streetmap, on this local food site:
> www.sustainablesouk.com
> 
> - Had a couple of mentions of CiviCRM.
> 
> - Someone suggested Wordpress Membership plugin would be a way to
> create structured data forms + display the results on a site,
> possibly with levels of admin control, and obviously different
> pages available for different groups to upload stuff. Looking at
> the membership plugin, I'm not sure about that - it looks like it's
> intended for something else, and the admin levels look like they
> might be a single hierarchy rather than individual groups having
> access to individual pages.
> 
> I think I want something basic at first; something with minimal
> barrier to entry, no clutter that people don't want, no forcing
> them into using it in a way that doesn't suit them or their
> politics. I'm thinking that if people find an initial directory
> useful, they may be willing to engage with a process of working out
> what else would be useful, and engaging with a more feature-rich
> and potentially bit more complicated system.
> 
> 
> cheers! Tom.
> 
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-- 
penguin

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