Contribute to Development

We encourage interested people to additional submit ideas, questions, and comments to the developer mailing list. 

And you may want to examine the projects two major software products: DistrictBuilder and BARD, and look at the user-submitted "wishlist" on github.

• Enhance Support for Machine-Actionable Open Data (DistrictBuilder)

  • DistrictBuilder enables any user to download a published map in an open format through a GUI. This is a good start, but there are many ways we could extend the system to support increased transparency and the potential for integration with other systems and data mashups. Some potential extensions include:

  • automatic export of all published user maps, and administrative loaded data through a RESTful interface

  • support for WFS/WMS access to all geographic data loaded into the system

  •  linked-open-data interfaces 

           Prerequisites: basic experience with database queries; basic python

• Make Mapping More "Social" (DistrictBuilder)

  • DistrictBuilder enable anyone to create a map, to share it through a URL, and to participate in competitions with others. We have received numerous requests to make it more social and collaborative. Possible extensions include:

  • RSS / GEORSS feeds for newly published/updated maps

  • support embedding user created maps in web pages, google maps blogs, tweets, facebook, etc.

        Prerequisites: basic database experience, basic python

• Make Mapping Collaborative (DistrictBuilder)

  • DistrictBuilder enable anyone to create a map, to share it through a URL, and to participate in competitions with others. We have received numerous requests to make it more social and collaborative. Possible extensions include:

  • extensions to the DistrictBuilder permissions model and workflow to support for group editing

  • Support for tagging and commenting on maps

  • Supporting "spatial" annotation (e.g. comments on points, polygons and areas)

  • Enable uploading of additional data (columns) by non-administrative  users ("MyData")

  • Support for logins using OpenID and Oauth

        Prerequisites: basic database experience, basic python

• Geographic Information Visualization and Analysis (DistrictBuilder/BARD)

  • DistrictBuilder enable anyone to view and evaluate individual maps. However the ability to compare multiple maps is limited to detecting "split communities". Extending the ability to compare maps and analyze trends over time would be a boon to community members and journalists: Possible extensions include:

  • Dynamic side-by-side visualization of  competing maps

  • Creative algorithms and visualization techniques for detecting and visualizing "diffs" between two proposed maps

  • Criteria (score-based) comparison and reporting of multiple sets of maps

  • Historical comparisons -- comparing a sequence of changes over time, highlighting changing demographics

        Prerequisites: basic database experience, basic python

• Make Mapping Easier (DistrictBuilder/BARD)

  • DistrictBuilder makes creating political boundaries as easy as humanly possible -- but its still hard to draw maps that meet exacting legal constraints. BARD helps "automatically" refine maps using multi-criteria optimization algorithms, but its for experts only, and its slow. Combine the automated refinement of BARD with the ease of use of DistrictBuilder, optimize the snot out of it, and slap a big "DO WHAT I MEAN" button on it, and you may just take collaborative mapping to the next level. 

        Prerequisites: basic database experience, basic python, optimization, R