The WordHack at WordCamp UK in Manchester this year was really exciting. By 4.30 pm on day 2 the team had created a stunning WordPress site that:
- Reads and transforms XML data on DFID aid projects into a format ready for import into WordPress
- Imports the XML into a WordPress Custom Post Type for each DFID aid project, creating new post versions if the source data has changed
- Links comments to the post version, so that someone can view comments in the context of the data at the time
- Displays the data in a clean user interface, focussing on the conversation that people can have around aid projects
User Story
The concept (User Story) of the site is that people (either UK citizens or citizens of developing countries) can view summary details of DFID aid projects, and can start conversations around individual projects. Ultimately, this may be best used for sub-sets of the full 3000-odd projects based around communities of interest, for example by a community within a developing country.
Why WordPress?
The new Custom Post Types in WordPress provide the framework needed to handle more structured data around aid project information. Other core features are the commenting capability, use of categories and tags for classification, and the built-in post versioning system. These would require a significant effort to write from scratch.
Credit to the Team
I was really pleased with what the team achieved, and it builds on work done at the recent Aid Information Challenge. It clearly shows what can be done with government information when the data is provided in a reusable format.
The keys to the success were:
- Shaun Hare‘s organisation was critical. He set up the WordHack wiki page, canvassed for ideas early, and allowed for discussion within the group.
- Getting ideas early really helped, as people could develop the ideas over a couple of weeks, and come to WordHack with a better-formed solution in mind. It also helped to break up the problem into a number of logical components that enabled everyone to do something useful.
- The skill and dedication of the team was phenomenal. Each person chose a different component and delivered something useful, and Chris and Shaun tied it all together on Sunday afternoon.
More details
The technical details of the site are available on the OpenAid project page on the WordCampUK Wiki, and we hope to have a Google Code project set up soon.
Next steps
The next steps are likely to be:
- Add Ajaxy goodness to the front page to allow the most recent conversations to magically appear, Twitter style.
- Make the import plugin generic to allow any XML data to be transformed into the Custom Post Type – possibly by providing a URL for the XML and an XSL transform.
- Create a map based on country data to show where the conversation is happening.
- and many more…
If you are interested in continuing involvement then please follow @openaiduk on Twitter.