Added plural to index

Added plural to index

<%= link_to @model.to_s.pluralize.capitalize, :model => params[:model], :action => "index" %>

<%= link_to image_tag('typus/arrow_right.gif'), { :page => @item_pages.current.previous, :filter_by => params[:filter_by], :filter_id => params[:filter_id], :model => params[:model], :status => params[:status], :search => params[:search], :order_by => params[:order_by], :sort_order => params[:sort_order] } if @item_pages.current.previous %> <%= link_to image_tag('typus/arrow_left.gif'), { :page => @item_pages.current.next, :filter_by => params[:filter_by], :filter_id => params[:filter_id], :model => params[:model], :status => params[:status], :search => params[:search], :order_by => params[:order_by], :sort_order => params[:sort_order] } if @item_pages.current.next %><%= " " if @item_pages.current.next %><%= link_to_function image_tag("typus/search_right.gif"), "['search'].each(Element.toggle);" %> <%= link_to image_tag("typus/add.gif", :title => "New #{@model}"), :action => "new" %>

<%= feedback %>

<div id="search" <%= "style=\"display: none;\"" if !params[:search] %> class="box">
	<% form_tag ({:action => 'index', :model => params[:model]}, :method => 'get') do %>

<%= text_field_tag :search, params[:search] %>  <%= submit_tag "Search", :name => nil %>

	<% end %>

<% if @model.count > 0 -%>

	<% if @items.size > 0 -%>

		<% @fields.each do |column| %>

		<a href="?order_by=<%= column %>&sort_order=<% if params[:order_by].include? column %><%= (@status = (params[:sort_order] == "asc") ? "desc" : "asc" ) %><% else %><%= "asc" %><% end %>"><div class="<% if params[:order_by].include? column %><%= (@status = (params[:sort_order] == "asc") ? "order_desc" : "order_asc" ) %><% else %><%= "order" %><% end %>"><%= column.humanize %>

		<% end %>

		<% @items.each do |item| %>
		  <tr class="<%= cycle('even', 'odd') %>" id="item_<%= item.id %>">
		  <% @fields.each do |column| %>
		    <% if %w(id title name full_name).include? column -%>
		    <%= link_to item.send(column), :action => 'edit', :id => item.id %>
		    <% elsif %w(email).include? column -%>
		    <%= mail_to item.send(column), item.send(column), :title => "" %>
		    <% elsif %w(status).include? column -%>
		      <%= status = item.send(column)? "Active" : "Inactive" %>
		    <% elsif %w(verified is_admin).include? column -%>
		      <%= status = item.send(column)? "Yes" : "No" %>
		    <% elsif %w(created_at updated_at).include? column -%>
		      <%= fmt_date(item.send(column)) %>
		    <% else -%>
		      <%=h item.send(column) %>
		    <% end -%>
		  <% end %>
		    <%= link_to image_tag("typus/trash.gif"), { :action => 'destroy', :id => item }, :confirm => "Remove this entry?" %>

		<% end %>

	<% else -%>

There are no <%= params[:model] %> under this filter.

	<% end -%>

<% else -%>

<%= link_to "Add the first #{params[:model].singularize}", :action => "new", :model => params[:model] %>

<% end -%>

<%= link_to @model.to_s.capitalize, :model => params[:model], :action => "index" %>

<%= link_to image_tag('typus/arrow_right.gif'), { :page => @item_pages.current.previous, :filter_by => params[:filter_by], :filter_id => params[:filter_id], :model => params[:model], :status => params[:status], :search => params[:search], :order_by => params[:order_by], :sort_order => params[:sort_order] } if @item_pages.current.previous %> <%= link_to image_tag('typus/arrow_left.gif'), { :page => @item_pages.current.next, :filter_by => params[:filter_by], :filter_id => params[:filter_id], :model => params[:model], :status => params[:status], :search => params[:search], :order_by => params[:order_by], :sort_order => params[:sort_order] } if @item_pages.current.next %><%= " " if @item_pages.current.next %><%= link_to_function image_tag("typus/search_right.gif"), "['search'].each(Element.toggle);" %> <%= link_to image_tag("typus/add.gif", :title => "New #{@model}"), :action => "new" %>

<%= feedback %>

<div id="search" <%= "style=\"display: none;\"" if !params[:search] %> class="box">
	<% form_tag ({:action => 'index', :model => params[:model]}, :method => 'get') do %>

<%= text_field_tag :search, params[:search] %>  <%= submit_tag "Search", :name => nil %>

	<% end %>

<% if @model.count > 0 -%>

	<% if @items.size > 0 -%>

		<% @fields.each do |column| %>

		<a href="?order_by=<%= column %>&sort_order=<% if params[:order_by].include? column %><%= (@status = (params[:sort_order] == "asc") ? "desc" : "asc" ) %><% else %><%= "asc" %><% end %>"><div class="<% if params[:order_by].include? column %><%= (@status = (params[:sort_order] == "asc") ? "order_desc" : "order_asc" ) %><% else %><%= "order" %><% end %>"><%= column.humanize %>

		<% end %>

		<% @items.each do |item| %>
		  <tr class="<%= cycle('even', 'odd') %>" id="item_<%= item.id %>">
		  <% @fields.each do |column| %>
		    <% if %w(id title name full_name).include? column -%>
		    <%= link_to item.send(column), :action => 'edit', :id => item.id %>
		    <% elsif %w(email).include? column -%>
		    <%= mail_to item.send(column), item.send(column), :title => "" %>
		    <% elsif %w(status).include? column -%>
		      <%= status = item.send(column)? "Active" : "Inactive" %>
		    <% elsif %w(verified is_admin).include? column -%>
		      <%= status = item.send(column)? "Yes" : "No" %>
		    <% elsif %w(created_at updated_at).include? column -%>
		      <%= fmt_date(item.send(column)) %>
		    <% else -%>
		      <%=h item.send(column) %>
		    <% end -%>
		  <% end %>
		    <%= link_to image_tag("typus/trash.gif"), { :action => 'destroy', :id => item }, :confirm => "Remove this entry?" %>

		<% end %>

	<% else -%>

There are no <%= params[:model] %> under this filter.

	<% end -%>

<% else -%>

<%= link_to "Add the first #{params[:model].singularize}", :action => "new", :model => params[:model] %>

<% end -%>


WDTK-209 On html view page replace with RTK branding

        <img src="/alavetelitheme/images/logo.png" alt="<%= site_name %>" width="150">

        <%=link_to _("Download original attachment"), @attachment_url %>

(<%=h @attachment.name_of_content_type %>)

    <%= _('This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request')%>
    '<%=link_to h(@info_request.title), incoming_message_url(@incoming_message)%>'.

        <img src="/images/navimg/logo-trans-small.png" alt="<%= site_name %>">

        <%=link_to _("Download original attachment"), @attachment_url %>

(<%=h @attachment.name_of_content_type %>)

    <%= _('This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request')%>
    '<%=link_to h(@info_request.title), incoming_message_url(@incoming_message)%>'.


changes made to display

changes made to display

git-svn-id: f67d969b640da65cb7bc1d229e09fd6d2db44ae1@250 392d7b7b-3f31-0410-9dc3-c95a9635ea79

Scores for <%= Assignment.find(@assignment_id).name %>

<% if flash[:notice] != nil and flash[:notice].strip != "" %>

	<%= flash[:notice] %>

<% end %>
<%
    review_no = 1
	grade = 0
    _time = Time.now.month.to_s + "/" + Time.now.day.to_s + "/" + Time.now.year.to_s
    for review_map in @review_mapping
        for review in review_map.reviews%>
			Review <%=review_no%> <a href="#1" onClick="toggleVis('<%=review_no %>');">
            	<span class="inline" id="<%=review_no %>_show">View
              	<span class="inline" id="<%=review_no %>_hide" style="display: none">Hide

			<div id="<%=review_no%>_myDiv" style="display:none">

                Question
                Score
				Comment

             <%
             total = 0
             for review_score in review.review_scores
                #if (!Question.find(review_score.question_id).true_false)
                    total += review_score.score
                #end%>

                    <%=Question.find(review_score.question_id).txt%>	<%=review_score.score%>  	<%=review_score.comments%>

            <%end
			  grade += total%>

Total	<%=total%>  	Score: <%=total*100/@sum_of_max%>%

           Additional comment : <%=review.additional_comment%>

           <% @mapping = ReviewMapping.find(review_map.id) %>
           <% @assgt_id = @mapping.assignment_id %>
           <% @author_id = @mapping.author_id %>

		     <%if(ReviewFeedback.find(:first,:conditions =>["review_id = ? and assignment_id = ?", review.id, @assignment_id]))%>

 View feedback : <%= link_to "View", {:controller =>'review_feedback', :action=>'view_feedback', :id1 =>@assgt_id, :id2 =>@author_id, :id3=>review.id} %>

 Edit feedback : <%= link_to "Edit", {:controller =>'review_feedback', :action =>'edit_feedback', :id1 =>@assgt_id, :id2 =>@author_id, :id3=>review.id} %>

		     <% else %>

Give feedback to reviewer:<%= link_to "Begin", {:controller => 'review_feedback', :action => 'new_feedback',:id1 =>@assgt_id, :id2 =>@author_id, :id3=>review.id} %>

				      <% end
					%>
		   <%review_no +=1
        end
	end%>
    <% if review_no-1 > 0 %>

Grade

		Average (of all reviews) = <%=grade/(review_no-1)%>
		<%if @final_penalty !=0%>

Penalty units= <%=@penalty_units%> Penalty per unit=<%=@late_policy.penalty_per_unit%> Maximum penalty=<%=@late_policy.max_penalty%>

		<%end%>
		  Final grade = <%=(grade/(review_no-1))*100/@sum_of_max-@final_penalty%>%

   	<%else%>
		<%if @assignment.wiki_type_id == 2 %>
			<%if @assignment.team_assignment %>
				There are no reviews of your work yet.
			<%else%>
				<%if review_mediawiki @assignment.directory_path, _time, @user_name == ''%>
					There are no reviews of your work because it seems that you have not submitted anything for this assignment.
				<%else%>
					There are no reviews of your work yet.
				<%end%>
			<%end%>
		<%else%>
			There are no reviews on your work yet.
		<%end%>
	<%end%>
<%if(@review_of_review_mappings.size > 0)%>

Reviews of reviews

  <%ror_no = 1%>
   <% for ror_map in @review_of_review_mappings %>
  <%
  @ror = ReviewOfReview.find_by_review_of_review_mapping_id(ror_map.id) %>
  <% if (@ror)%>

Review of Review <%=ror_no%>  <%= link_to "View",{:controller => 'review_of_review', :action => 'view_review_of_review', :id => @ror.id} %>
  <% end %>
  <%ror_no += 1
  	end
  end%>

Scores for <%= Assignment.find(@assignment_id).name %>

<% if flash[:notice] != nil and flash[:notice].strip != "" %>

	<%= flash[:notice] %>

<% end %>
<%
    review_no = 1
	grade = 0
    _time = Time.now.month.to_s + "/" + Time.now.day.to_s + "/" + Time.now.year.to_s
    for review_map in @review_mapping
        for review in review_map.reviews%>

            Review <%=review_no
                #review.id
                %>:

                Question
                Score
				Comment

             <%
             total = 0
             for review_score in review.review_scores
                #if (!Question.find(review_score.question_id).true_false)
                    total += review_score.score
                #end%>

                    <%=Question.find(review_score.question_id).txt%>	<%=review_score.score%>  	<%=review_score.comments%>

            <%end
			  grade += total%>

Total	<%=total%>  	Score: <%=total*100/@sum_of_max%>%

           Additional comment : <%=review.additional_comment%>

           <% @mapping = ReviewMapping.find(review_map.id) %>
           <% @assgt_id = @mapping.assignment_id %>
           <% @author_id = @mapping.author_id %>

		     <%if(ReviewFeedback.find(:first,:conditions =>["review_id = ? and assignment_id = ?", review.id, @assignment_id]))%>

 View feedback : <%= link_to "View", {:controller =>'review_feedback', :action=>'view_feedback', :id1 =>@assgt_id, :id2 =>@author_id, :id3=>review.id} %>

 Edit feedback : <%= link_to "Edit", {:controller =>'review_feedback', :action =>'edit_feedback', :id1 =>@assgt_id, :id2 =>@author_id, :id3=>review.id} %>

		     <% else %>

Give feedback to reviewer:<%= link_to "Begin", {:controller => 'review_feedback', :action => 'new_feedback',:id1 =>@assgt_id, :id2 =>@author_id, :id3=>review.id} %>

				      <% end
					%>
		   <%review_no +=1
        end
	end%>
    <% if review_no-1 > 0 %>

Grade

		Average (of all reviews) = <%=grade/(review_no-1)%>
		<%if @final_penalty !=0%>

Penalty units= <%=@penalty_units%> Penalty per unit=<%=@late_policy.penalty_per_unit%> Maximum penalty=<%=@late_policy.max_penalty%>

		<%end%>
		  Final grade = <%=(grade/(review_no-1))*100/@sum_of_max-@final_penalty%>%

   	<%else%>
		<%if @assignment.wiki_type_id == 2 %>
			<%if @assignment.team_assignment %>
				There are no reviews of your work yet.
			<%else%>
				<%if review_mediawiki @assignment.directory_path, _time, @user_name == ''%>
					There are no reviews of your work because it seems that you have not submitted anything for this assignment.
				<%else%>
					There are no reviews of your work yet.
				<%end%>
			<%end%>
		<%else%>
			There are no reviews on your work yet.
		<%end%>
	<%end%>
<%if(@review_of_review_mappings.size > 0)%>

Reviews of reviews

  <%ror_no = 1%>
   <% for ror_map in @review_of_review_mappings %>
  <%
  @ror = ReviewOfReview.find_by_review_of_review_mapping_id(ror_map.id) %>
  <% if (@ror)%>

Review of Review <%=ror_no%>  <%= link_to "View",{:controller => 'review_of_review', :action => 'view_review_of_review', :id => @ror.id} %>
  <% end %>
  <%ror_no += 1
  	end
  end%>


Update Ring Website

Update Ring Website

        <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#myNavbar">

      </button>

Home

Download

Why?

Documentation

Ring 1.2 Documentation

Ring 1.1 Documentation

Ring 1.0 Documentation

Community

Group

Resources

Team

		<form class="search" action="../doc/search.html" method="get" style="width:200px" >

				<input name="q" type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Search for...">

				<button class="btn btn-default" type="submit">Go!</button>

			<input name="check_keywords" value="yes" type="hidden">
			<input name="area" value="default" type="hidden">
		</form>

					Download Ring

					Try Ring Online (Interactive Ring)

Innovative and practical general-purpose multi-paradigm language

        <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#myNavbar">

      </button>

Home

Download

Why?

Documentation

Ring 1.1 Documentation

Ring 1.0 Documentation

Community

Group

Resources

Team

		<form class="search" action="../doc/search.html" method="get" style="width:200px" >

				<input name="q" type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Search for...">

				<button class="btn btn-default" type="submit">Go!</button>

			<input name="check_keywords" value="yes" type="hidden">
			<input name="area" value="default" type="hidden">
		</form>

					Download Ring

					Try Ring Online (Interactive Ring)

Innovative and practical general-purpose multi-paradigm language


Correction

Correction

  <% for info_request in info_requests %>

          <a href="#request_<%=info_request.id%>" data-toggle="collapse" data-parent="requests">
          <%= link_to(info_request.title, request_admin_url(info_request), :title => "view full details") %>

          <%= user_admin_link_for_request(info_request) %>  <%= link_to("#{info_request.public_body.name}", public_body_admin_url(info_request.public_body)) %>, <%= time_ago_in_words(info_request.updated_at) %> ago

      <div id="request_<%=info_request.id%>" class="item-detail accordion-body collapse row">
        <% info_request.for_admin_column do | name, value, type | %>

              <%= h name %>

              <% if type == 'datetime' %>
                <%= I18n.l(value, :format => "%e %B %Y %H:%M:%S") %>
                (<%= _('{{length_of_time}} ago', :length_of_time => time_ago_in_words(value)) %>)
              <% else %>
                <%=h value %>
              <% end %>

        <% end %>

  <% end %>

  <% for info_request in info_requests %>

          <a href="#request_<%=info_request.id%>" data-toggle="collapse" data-parent="requests">
          <%= link_to(info_request.title, request_admin_url(info_request), :title => "view full details") %>

          <% if info_request.user %>
          <%= user_admin_link_for_request(info_request) %>  <%= link_to("#{info_request.public_body.name}", public_body_admin_url(info_request.public_body)) %>, <%= time_ago_in_words(info_request.updated_at) %> ago

      <div id="request_<%=info_request.id%>" class="item-detail accordion-body collapse row">
        <% info_request.for_admin_column do | name, value, type | %>

              <%= h name %>

              <% if type == 'datetime' %>
                <%= I18n.l(value, :format => "%e %B %Y %H:%M:%S") %>
                (<%= _('{{length_of_time}} ago', :length_of_time => time_ago_in_words(value)) %>)
              <% else %>
                <%=h value %>
              <% end %>

        <% end %>

  <% end %>


creating keys in topnav

creating keys in topnav

<%
  active = first_context()
  selected = 'class="selected"'
-%>

  <% if logged_in? -%>

    <%= link_to_active 'Me'.t, '/me/dashboard', active == 'me' %>

<%= link_to 'inbox', '/me/inbox', :style => page_icon_style('inbox') %>

<%= link_to 'tasks', '/me/tasks/pending', :style => page_icon_style('task-list') %>

<%= link_to 'search', '/me/search', :style => page_icon_style('search') %>

<%= link_to 'requests', '/me/requests', :style => page_icon_style('request') %>

<%= link_to 'edit profile', '/me/edit', :style => page_icon_style('settings') %>

<%= link_to 'new page', '/pages/create', :style => page_icon_style('add') %>

  <% else -%>

      <%= link_to_active "Home".t, '/', params[:controller]=='account' %>

  <% end -%>

    <%= link_to_active "People".t, people_url, active == 'people' %>
    <% if logged_in? and current_user.contacts.any? -%>

      <% current_user.contacts.sort_by {|person| person.login}.each do |person| -%>

<%= link_to_user person, :avatar => 'xsmall', :one_link => true %>

      <% end -%>

    <% end -%>

    <%= link_to_active "Groups".t, groups_url, active == 'groups' %>
   <% if logged_in? and current_user.groups.any? -%>

      <% current_user.groups.sort_by {|group| group.name }.each do |group| -%>

<%= link_to_group group, :full_name => true, :avatar => 'xsmall', :one_link => true %>

      <% end -%>

    <% end -%>

  <% if logged_in? -%>

    <%= link_to_active "Chat".t, '/chat', active == 'chat' %>

  <% end -%>

  <% if logged_in? -%>

    <%= link_to_active "Logout".t + ' '  + current_user.display_name, :controller => '/account', :action => 'logout' %>

  <% else -%>

    <%= link_to "Login".t, { :controller => '/account', :action => 'login', :redirect => params[:redirect] || request.request_uri }, { :onclick => "$('top-login-form').toggle(); Field.focus('login'); return false;" } %>

      <% form_tag :controller => 'account', :action => 'login' do -%>
        <%=_("Username")%>
        <%= text_field_tag 'login' %>
        <%=_("Password")%>
        <%= password_field_tag 'password' %>
        <%= submit_tag _('Log in') %>
        <%= hidden_field_tag 'redirect', params[:redirect] || request.request_uri %>
      <% end -%>

  <% end -%>

<%
  active = first_context()
  selected = 'class="selected"'
-%>

  <% if logged_in? -%>

    <%= link_to_active 'Me', '/me/dashboard', active == 'me' %>

<%= link_to 'inbox', '/me/inbox', :style => page_icon_style('inbox') %>

<%= link_to 'tasks', '/me/tasks/pending', :style => page_icon_style('task-list') %>

<%= link_to 'search', '/me/search', :style => page_icon_style('search') %>

<%= link_to 'requests', '/me/requests', :style => page_icon_style('request') %>

<%= link_to 'edit profile', '/me/edit', :style => page_icon_style('settings') %>

<%= link_to 'new page', '/pages/create', :style => page_icon_style('add') %>

  <% else -%>

      <%= link_to_active "Home", '/', params[:controller]=='account' %>

  <% end -%>

    <%= link_to_active "People", people_url, active == 'people' %>
    <% if logged_in? and current_user.contacts.any? -%>

      <% current_user.contacts.sort_by {|person| person.login}.each do |person| -%>

<%= link_to_user person, :avatar => 'xsmall', :one_link => true %>

      <% end -%>

    <% end -%>

    <%= link_to_active "Groups", groups_url, active == 'groups' %>
   <% if logged_in? and current_user.groups.any? -%>

      <% current_user.groups.sort_by {|group| group.name }.each do |group| -%>

<%= link_to_group group, :full_name => true, :avatar => 'xsmall', :one_link => true %>

      <% end -%>

    <% end -%>

  <% if logged_in? -%>

    <%= link_to_active "Chat", '/chat', active == 'chat' %>

  <% end -%>

  <% if logged_in? -%>

    <%= link_to_active "Logout".t + ' '  + current_user.display_name, :controller => '/account', :action => 'logout' %>

  <% else -%>

    <%= link_to "Login".t, { :controller => '/account', :action => 'login', :redirect => params[:redirect] || request.request_uri }, { :onclick => "$('top-login-form').toggle(); Field.focus('login'); return false;" } %>

      <% form_tag :controller => 'account', :action => 'login' do -%>
        <%=_("Username")%>
        <%= text_field_tag 'login' %>
        <%=_("Password")%>
        <%= password_field_tag 'password' %>
        <%= submit_tag _('Log in') %>
        <%= hidden_field_tag 'redirect', params[:redirect] || request.request_uri %>
      <% end -%>

  <% end -%>


Added July 1 update notes.

Added July 1 update notes.

<% @title = 'News' %>

<%= @title %>

This page lists the latest changes to and news about the Mushroom Observer website.

Friday July 6, 2007

Reorganized the links on the observation, image and name pages to hopefully be more intuitive.

Limited the ability to change the name and author of name to avoid changes to other people's observations without
	        their approval.

Fixed a few minor bugs.

Sunday July 1, 2007

Updated the checklist code to give long lists after a visit to either the Observation Index or Name Index pages.

Cleaned up the naming of Observation Index and Name Index.  All Names is still maintained, but is now the same as the Name Index.

Saturday June 30, 2007

Valid names are now in bold.  Deprecated names are not.

Thursday June 28, 2007

Moved to new hosting service.

Sunday June 24, 2007

If there are two names that have exactly the same name and author and at least one of them has no notes, then they will get automatically merged if one of them is edited.

Added a facility for testing the performance of image uploading.

Fixed an omission in the error reporting code that caused alert emails to not get sent.

Monday June 18, 2007

Names can now be marked as deprecated.  The setting can be changed using the Edit Name page.

Synonyms support added.  Synonyms are used to verify names of observations and in species lists.

Synonyms can be changed for one name by selecting 'Change Synonyms' from any Show Name page.

Larger sets of names and synonyms can be added from the Bulk Name Edit page available from any Show
	        Name page, the Name Index page or the All Names page.

The Name Index page only lists names that have observations.

The All Names page lists all names in the database and can be accessed from the Name Index page.

Fixed bug with Creating Observations immediately after creating a new account.

Monday May 21, 2007

One year anniversary!

Added Site Stats, Contributors, Show User, User Observations and Comments for User pages.

Sunday May 13, 2007

Fixed a variety of minor issues.

Added 'sanitize' calls to avoid cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.

Thursday May 10, 2007

Fixed bug in creating new names when creating a species list.

Sunday April 29, 2007

Substantially improved error handling.

Fixed problem with Google Web Accelerator.

Sunday April 22, 2007

Reorganized and simplified observation editing and creation.

Completed unit testing for existing pages.

Friday February 23, 2007

Adjusted the size of some of the notes widgets to fill more of the screen.

Monday February 19, 2007

Added note snippet and comment count to Show Image page for easier review.

Adjusted options available for the number of rows in list displays.

Fixed database migration scripts.

Internal data simplification (removed observations.what field).

Tuesday February 13, 2007

Added multiple upload option for Add Images.

Changed some of the links in the left hand panel based on user feedback.

Saturday February 10, 2007

Added image and location search within the site.

Thursday February 8, 2007

Added Google image search links to Observation and Name pages.

Wednesday February 7, 2007

Added checklists.  Items in the checklist are the results of the
                latest search or viewed species list.  Viewing large lists like
                'Latest Changes' or 'Name Index' will reset the checklist to all
                names.

Moved loading species lists from files to a separate page off of
                Edit Species List to avoid an interaction between the checklist
                and file loading.

Saturday January 27, 2007

Name edits now appear in the RSS feed.

Sunday January 21, 2007

Added How To Use page.

Changed 'New' links to 'Create'.

Fixed a bug with the search box.

Fixed a couple of bugs with the next/prev links.

Thursday January 11, 2007

Fixed a bug with creating new species.

Fixed many bugs with page titles, some of which were preventing pages from loading.

Tuesday January 9, 2007

Names are now database objects rather than just strings.  They have a
                rank, a text name an author and notes.

A show_name page shows this information as well as a list of all
        observations that use that Name.  The show_pages can be accessed from
        each show_observation page as well as the name_index page that is
        available in the left-side panel.

Names can be edited on the edit_name pages that are accessible from
        the show_name pages.  Anyone is allowed to edit any name, but
        following the Wikipedia model,
        a record is kept of every version.  The previous versions are stored as
        'past names'.  A show_past_name page shows the name information for a
        previous version of a name and is accessible from each show_name page.

Names are associated with observations through the 'what' field of the
        observation.  When the 'what' field is changed, the names are searched
        for a match.  The 'what' field can either be the text_name or the
        text_name and the author for a name.  No match is found for a 'what'
        value, then the user is given the option to create the new name.  If a
        'what' value matches more than one name (due to different authors
        publishing the same name), then the user is given a choice between the
        options.  The options list how many observations use each version of
        the name.  If you add an author to a 'what' field for a name that does
        not have an author already, it will ask you if you want to create the
        new name, but it will actually update the existing name.

Names given in species lists are treated in the exact same manner,
        except that all the new names and all of the multiple matches are
        dealt with on the same page.  There is also an option on the
        new_species_list and edit_species_list pages to 'Just Create New
        Names'.  This adds the names without updating the species list or
        creating the corresponding observations.

The search box is now available on every page.

Removed the Observation Index in favor of the Name Index.

Fixed some of the list ordering to make it more intuitive.

A filter was added to the account creation process that should reduce the
        number of bot created users.

Fixed a bug with bouncing between observations and images and using the
        next/prev links.

Monday December 18, 2006

Added prev/next links that follow the RSS feed.

Improved prev/next functionality throughout the site.

RSS feed descriptions now have appropriate line breaks.

Monday December 4, 2006

Species lists can now be uploaded from files.

Separated note for species list from note that applies to member observations.

Fixed use of multiple tabs by switching from session data to hidden fields.

mushroomobserver.org/# == mushroomobserver.org/observer/show_observation/#

Monday October 26, 2006

Switched Observations->By Name to include thumbnails and follow layout.

Maintained old By Name behavior as Observations->Index.

Added simple search box to Activity Log (Latest Changes) and Observation list pages.

Monday October 23, 2006

Changed default page to the RSS feed.

Changed page layout for observation and image list pages.

Added layout controls to user preferences.  Set to 10 rows x 1 column
			and turn off 'Put text below images' to get old layout.

Changed thumbnail image size from 100px to 160px with lower quality (jpeg 50 vs. 75).

Provided Prev/Next buttons for images.

Added link to ask the webmaster a question about the site.

Split up 'Manage Images' into 'Add Image', 'Reuse Image' and 'Remove Images' and made
			them more visible.

'Reuse Image' allows you to look at the images.

Added links for viewing the log for observations and species lists.

Made database lookup for all observations much more efficient.

Rearranged left-hand panel.

Images no longer have titles.  They are derived from the observation(s) they are
			connected to.

Removed Edit and Destroy links from view pages.

Add mini-icon for webpages.

Sunday September 9, 2006

Links to email the creator of observations or images with questions or commerical inquiries.  The creator receives an email with the address of the user who wants to contact them.  It is up to the creator whether they want to respond.

User preferences added to disable the above email feature and to stop receiving emails like this letting you know about new features.

RSS feed has been overhauled to reduce the number of entries and make them more relevant.

Copyright holder now has an option to be something other than a registered user.  The user who uploads the image is the default, but it can now be changed on a per image basis.

Monday August 21, 2006

	Added RSS feed for all interesting events that happen on the site.

	Added 'Create Account' link on login page to make it more obvious.

	Tweaked page titles to make the site easier to index.

Sunday August 13, 2006

	Added this news page.

	List pages now have a better interface for paging than just next/previous,
	and its at the top and bottom of each page.

Saturday August 12, 2006

	Added email verification system to user signup.

<% @title = 'News' %>

<%= @title %>

This page lists the latest changes to and news about the Mushroom Observer website.

Friday July 6, 2007

Reorganized the links on the observation, image and name pages to hopefully be more intuitive.

Limited the ability to change the name and author of name to avoid changes to other people's observations without
	        their approval.

Fixed a few minor bugs.

Saturday June 30, 2007

Valid names are now in bold.  Deprecated names are not.

Thursday June 28, 2007

Moved to new hosting service.

Sunday June 24, 2007

If there are two names that have exactly the same name and author and at least one of them has no notes, then they will get automatically merged if one of them is edited.

Added a facility for testing the performance of image uploading.

Fixed an omission in the error reporting code that caused alert emails to not get sent.

Monday June 18, 2007

Names can now be marked as deprecated.  The setting can be changed using the Edit Name page.

Synonyms support added.  Synonyms are used to verify names of observations and in species lists.

Synonyms can be changed for one name by selecting 'Change Synonyms' from any Show Name page.

Larger sets of names and synonyms can be added from the Bulk Name Edit page available from any Show
	        Name page, the Name Index page or the All Names page.

The Name Index page only lists names that have observations.

The All Names page lists all names in the database and can be accessed from the Name Index page.

Fixed bug with Creating Observations immediately after creating a new account.

Monday May 21, 2007

One year anniversary!

Added Site Stats, Contributors, Show User, User Observations and Comments for User pages.

Sunday May 13, 2007

Fixed a variety of minor issues.

Added 'sanitize' calls to avoid cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.

Thursday May 10, 2007

Fixed bug in creating new names when creating a species list.

Sunday April 29, 2007

Substantially improved error handling.

Fixed problem with Google Web Accelerator.

Sunday April 22, 2007

Reorganized and simplified observation editing and creation.

Completed unit testing for existing pages.

Friday February 23, 2007

Adjusted the size of some of the notes widgets to fill more of the screen.

Monday February 19, 2007

Added note snippet and comment count to Show Image page for easier review.

Adjusted options available for the number of rows in list displays.

Fixed database migration scripts.

Internal data simplification (removed observations.what field).

Tuesday February 13, 2007

Added multiple upload option for Add Images.

Changed some of the links in the left hand panel based on user feedback.

Saturday February 10, 2007

Added image and location search within the site.

Thursday February 8, 2007

Added Google image search links to Observation and Name pages.

Wednesday February 7, 2007

Added checklists.  Items in the checklist are the results of the
                latest search or viewed species list.  Viewing large lists like
                'Latest Changes' or 'Name Index' will reset the checklist to all
                names.

Moved loading species lists from files to a separate page off of
                Edit Species List to avoid an interaction between the checklist
                and file loading.

Saturday January 27, 2007

Name edits now appear in the RSS feed.

Sunday January 21, 2007

Added How To Use page.

Changed 'New' links to 'Create'.

Fixed a bug with the search box.

Fixed a couple of bugs with the next/prev links.

Thursday January 11, 2007

Fixed a bug with creating new species.

Fixed many bugs with page titles, some of which were preventing pages from loading.

Tuesday January 9, 2007

Names are now database objects rather than just strings.  They have a
                rank, a text name an author and notes.

A show_name page shows this information as well as a list of all
        observations that use that Name.  The show_pages can be accessed from
        each show_observation page as well as the name_index page that is
        available in the left-side panel.

Names can be edited on the edit_name pages that are accessible from
        the show_name pages.  Anyone is allowed to edit any name, but
        following the Wikipedia model,
        a record is kept of every version.  The previous versions are stored as
        'past names'.  A show_past_name page shows the name information for a
        previous version of a name and is accessible from each show_name page.

Names are associated with observations through the 'what' field of the
        observation.  When the 'what' field is changed, the names are searched
        for a match.  The 'what' field can either be the text_name or the
        text_name and the author for a name.  No match is found for a 'what'
        value, then the user is given the option to create the new name.  If a
        'what' value matches more than one name (due to different authors
        publishing the same name), then the user is given a choice between the
        options.  The options list how many observations use each version of
        the name.  If you add an author to a 'what' field for a name that does
        not have an author already, it will ask you if you want to create the
        new name, but it will actually update the existing name.

Names given in species lists are treated in the exact same manner,
        except that all the new names and all of the multiple matches are
        dealt with on the same page.  There is also an option on the
        new_species_list and edit_species_list pages to 'Just Create New
        Names'.  This adds the names without updating the species list or
        creating the corresponding observations.

The search box is now available on every page.

Removed the Observation Index in favor of the Name Index.

Fixed some of the list ordering to make it more intuitive.

A filter was added to the account creation process that should reduce the
        number of bot created users.

Fixed a bug with bouncing between observations and images and using the
        next/prev links.

Monday December 18, 2006

Added prev/next links that follow the RSS feed.

Improved prev/next functionality throughout the site.

RSS feed descriptions now have appropriate line breaks.

Monday December 4, 2006

Species lists can now be uploaded from files.

Separated note for species list from note that applies to member observations.

Fixed use of multiple tabs by switching from session data to hidden fields.

mushroomobserver.org/# == mushroomobserver.org/observer/show_observation/#

Monday October 26, 2006

Switched Observations->By Name to include thumbnails and follow layout.

Maintained old By Name behavior as Observations->Index.

Added simple search box to Activity Log (Latest Changes) and Observation list pages.

Monday October 23, 2006

Changed default page to the RSS feed.

Changed page layout for observation and image list pages.

Added layout controls to user preferences.  Set to 10 rows x 1 column
			and turn off 'Put text below images' to get old layout.

Changed thumbnail image size from 100px to 160px with lower quality (jpeg 50 vs. 75).

Provided Prev/Next buttons for images.

Added link to ask the webmaster a question about the site.

Split up 'Manage Images' into 'Add Image', 'Reuse Image' and 'Remove Images' and made
			them more visible.

'Reuse Image' allows you to look at the images.

Added links for viewing the log for observations and species lists.

Made database lookup for all observations much more efficient.

Rearranged left-hand panel.

Images no longer have titles.  They are derived from the observation(s) they are
			connected to.

Removed Edit and Destroy links from view pages.

Add mini-icon for webpages.

Sunday September 9, 2006

Links to email the creator of observations or images with questions or commerical inquiries.  The creator receives an email with the address of the user who wants to contact them.  It is up to the creator whether they want to respond.

User preferences added to disable the above email feature and to stop receiving emails like this letting you know about new features.

RSS feed has been overhauled to reduce the number of entries and make them more relevant.

Copyright holder now has an option to be something other than a registered user.  The user who uploads the image is the default, but it can now be changed on a per image basis.

Monday August 21, 2006

	Added RSS feed for all interesting events that happen on the site.

	Added 'Create Account' link on login page to make it more obvious.

	Tweaked page titles to make the site easier to index.

Sunday August 13, 2006

	Added this news page.

	List pages now have a better interface for paging than just next/previous,
	and its at the top and bottom of each page.

Saturday August 12, 2006

	Added email verification system to user signup.


Add a tiny bit of styling to the messaging search results

      <%=_ 'Search Results' %>

  <form action="<%=request.url%>" method="post">
    <input type="checkbox" name="completed_projects" value="1" <%= "checked=\"checked\"" if session[:completed_projects].to_i == 1%> onclick="javascript:document.forms[1].submit();"/><%= _'Include completed projects' %>
  </form>

<% if @tasks.size > 0 %>

      <%=_ 'Tasks' %>

<% for task in @tasks %>
<%= render :partial => 'tasks/task_row', :locals => {:task => task } %>
<% end %>

<% end %>

<% if @logs.size > 0 %>

      <%=_ 'Activities' %>

<% for log in @logs %>
<%= render :partial => 'search_log', :locals => {:log => log } %>
<% end %>

<% end %>

<% if @posts.size > 0 %>

    <%=_ 'Forum Posts' %>

<% for @post in @posts %>
<%= render :partial => 'search_post' %>
<% end %>

<% end %>

<% if @wiki_pages.size > 0 %>

    <%=_ 'Wiki' %>

<% for @page in @wiki_pages %>
<%= render :partial => 'search_wiki' %>
<% end %>

<% end %>

<% if @shouts.size > 0 %>

    <%=_ 'Chat' %>

<% for @shout in @shouts %>
<%= render :partial => 'search_shout', :locals => {:last => nil } %>
<% end %>

<% end %>

<% if @chat_messages.size > 0 %>

    <%=_ 'Instant Messages' %>

<% for @message in @chat_messages %>

<a href="/shout/chat_browse/<%= @message.chat.target_id %>"><%= render :partial => 'shout/chat_info', :locals => {:user => current_user}  %>	<%= render :partial => 'search_chat' %>

<% end %>

<% end %>


mention in the description that this project is open source

Welcome to CiteParse!

CiteParse is an open-source application that classifies document citations into fielded data. You can use
    it as a web application
    or a <%= link_to "service", :contoller => "welcome", :action => "api_instructions" %>. You can also
    download the source and run CiteParse on your
    own server.

CiteParse was inspired by
    ParsCit.
    Much thanks to ParsCit's maintainer, Isaac Councill.

CiteParse was developed through a partnership between the
    Brown
    University Library and Providence-based start-up
    Public Display,
    with funding from the Mellon Foundation.

CiteParse is implemented in Ruby on Rails and
    uses the CRF++ library
    implementation of conditional random fields. Our model is trained on the
    CORA dataset.

If you're interested in a tool like CiteParse, you should check out these other
    citation tools:

ParaCite

ParsCit

    <%= link_to "Let us know", :action => "feedback" %> of any other tools you'd like to see listed here.

<%= link_to "Please get in touch with us", :action => "feedback" %> if you have any feedback to share.

    <%= render :partial => "citations/parse_string" %>

<%= link_to "Learn about our API", :controller => "welcome", :action => "api_instructions" %>

Welcome to CiteParse!

CiteParse classifies document citations into fielded data. You can use
    it as a web application
    or a <%= link_to "service", :contoller => "welcome", :action => "api_instructions" %>. You can also
    download the source and run CiteParse on your
    own server.

CiteParse was inspired by
    ParsCit.
    Much thanks to ParsCit's maintainer, Isaac Councill.

CiteParse was developed through a partnership between the
    Brown
    University Library and Providence-based start-up
    Public Display,
    with funding from the Mellon Foundation.

CiteParse is implemented in Ruby on Rails and
    uses the CRF++ library
    implementation of conditional random fields. Our model is trained on the
    CORA dataset.

If you're interested in a tool like CiteParse, you should check out these other
    citation tools:

ParaCite

ParsCit

    <%= link_to "Let us know", :action => "feedback" %> of any other tools you'd like to see listed here.

<%= link_to "Please get in touch with us", :action => "feedback" %> if you have any feedback to share.

    <%= render :partial => "citations/parse_string" %>

<%= link_to "Learn about our API", :controller => "welcome", :action => "api_instructions" %>


modified app/views/welcome/index

modified app/views/welcome/index

  <% if @projects.any? %>

<a href="<%= projects_path %>"><%= l(:label_project_plural) %>

<%=l(:label_featured_projects)%>

      <% for project in @projects %>
        <% @project = project %>

        <%= link_to_project project %> (<%= format_time(project.created_on) %>)
        <%= textilizable project.short_description, :project => project %>

      <% end %>
      <% @project = nil %>

  <% end %>
  <%= call_hook(:view_welcome_index_left, :projects => @projects) %>

<%= textilizable Setting.welcome_text %>

  <% if @news.any? %>

<%=l(:label_news_latest)%>

    <%= render :partial => 'news/news', :collection => @news %>
    <%= link_to l(:label_news_view_all), :controller => 'news' %>

  <% end %>
  <%= call_hook(:view_welcome_index_right, :projects => @projects) %>

<% content_for :header_tags do %>
<%= auto_discovery_link_tag(:atom, {:controller => 'news', :action => 'index', :key => User.current.rss_key, :format => 'atom'},
                                   :title => "#{Setting.app_title}: #{l(:label_news_latest)}") %>
<%= auto_discovery_link_tag(:atom, {:controller => 'activities', :action => 'index', :key => User.current.rss_key, :format => 'atom'},
                                   :title => "#{Setting.app_title}: #{l(:label_activity)}") %>
<% end %>


fixed typos

fixed typos

<% inheriting_view 'items/show' do %>
  <% content_for :additional_fields do %>

      author:
      <%= h @item.author_first %> <%= h @item.author_last %>

  <% end %>

  <% content_for :additional_description do %>
    <% if(@item.isbn != nil and File.exists?(@item.cover_filename)) %>
      <img align="right" alt="Cover Photo" src="/images/items/books/<%= h @item.isbn %>.jpg" />
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
<% end %>

<% inheriting_view 'items/show' do %>
  <% content_for :additional_fields do %>

      author:
      <%= h @item.author_first %> <%= h @item.author_last %>

  <% end %>

  <% content_for :additional_description do %>
    <% if(@item.isbn != nil and File.exists?(@item.cover_filename) %>
      <img align="right" alt="Cover Photo" src="/images/items/books/<%= h @item.isbn + '.jpg')) %>
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
<% end %>


Need a better policy on us blocking vexatious users, but remove this for now.

<% @title = "About" %>

Contents

Introduction

Making requests

Privacy policy

FOI officers

Credits

Contact us

If your question isn't answered here, or you just wanted to let us know
    something about the site, contact us.

Introduction to WhatDoTheyKnow #

What is WhatDoTheyKnow for? #

To help you find out inside information about what the UK government
is doing.

How does the site work? #

You choose the public authority that you would like information from, then
write a brief note describing what you want to know. We then send your request
to the public authority. Any response they make is automatically published on the
website for you and anyone else to find and read.

Why would I bother to do this? #

You pay taxes, and then government does things with the money. All sorts of
things that affect your life, from healthcare through to national defence. Some
it does badly, some it does well. The more we find out about how government
works, the better able we are to make suggestions to improve the things that
are done badly, and to celebrate the things that are done well.

Why would the public authority bother to reply? #

Under Freedom of Information (FOI) law, they have to respond. The response
will either contain the information you want, or give a valid legal reason why
it must be kept confidential.

Who makes it? #

WhatDoTheyKnow is created and run by mySociety,
and was initially funded by the JRSST Charitable Trust. mySociety is a project of the
registered charity UK Citizens Online Democracy.
If you like what we're doing, then you can
make a donation.

Making requests #

You're missing the public authority that I want to request from! #

Please contact us with the name of the public authority and,
if you can find it, their contact email address for Freedom of Information requests.

If you'd like to help add a whole category of public authority to the site, we'd love
to hear from you too.

How quickly will I get a response? #

By law public authorities must respond "promptly", and in most cases not
later than 20 working days after receiving your request. The date of that hard
limit is shown on the page for your request.

You will be emailed if this date goes by without a response, so you can send
the public authority another note to remind them that they are breaking the
law.

Note: If you had to
clarify your request, the clock starts from that date, instead of the date they
received your initial request.

See 'You've calculated our deadline wrongly!' for
more details.

What if I never get a response?#

There are several things you can do if you never get a response.

Sometimes there has been a genuine problem and the authority never
    received the request. It is worth telephoning the authority and politely
    checking that they received the request. It was sent to them by email.

If they have not received it, the problem is most likely due to
    "spam filters". Refer the authority to the measures in the answer
    'I can see a request on WhatDoTheyKnow, but we never got it by email!'
    below.

If you're still having no luck, then you can ask for an internal review,
    and then complain to the Information Commissioner about the authority.
    Read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'.

What if I'm not satisfied with the response? #

If you didn't get the information you asked for, or you didn't get it in time,
then read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'.

Can you tell me more of the nitty gritty about the process of making requests? #

Have a look at the
access to official information
pages on the Information Commissioner's website.

If you're requesting information from a Scottish public authority,
the process is very similar. There are differences around time
limits for compliance.
See the Scottish
Information Commissioner's guidance for details.

Can I request information about myself? #

No. Requests made using WhatDoTheyKnow are public, made under the Freedom of
Information Act, and cannot help you find information about a private
individual.

If you would like to know what information a public
authority holds about yourself, you should make a "Subject Access Request" in
private using Data Protection law.  The leaflet "How to access your information" (on the Information Commissioner's
website) explains how to do this.

If you see that somebody has included personal information, perhaps
unwittingly, in a request, please contact us
immediately so we can remove it.

Why must I keep my request focused?#

Please put in your request only what is needed so that someone can
easily identify what information you are asking for. Please do
not include any of the following:

arguments about your cause

statements that could defame or insult others

If you do, we may have to remove your request to avoid problems with
libel law, which is a pain for both you and us. Short, succinct messages
make it easier for authorities to be clear what information you are
requesting, which means you will get a reply more quickly.

If you want information to support an argument or campaign, Freedom of
Information is a powerful tool. Although you may not use this site to
run your campaign, we encourage you to use it to get the information you
need. We also encourage to run your campaign elsewhere - one effective
and very easy way is to <%= link_to 'start your own blog',
"http://wordpress.com/"%>. You are welcome to link to your campaign
from this site in an annotation to your request (you can make
annotations after submitting the request).

Finally, be aware that answering Freedom of Information requests costs
time and money. An authority can refuse to answer a request if it would
cost them too much, which may happen if you have asked for lots of
information. If your request is complicated, you can often simplify it
by limiting the time period you are asking about. For example it would
be much easier for an authority to tell you the amount spent on
marshmallows in the past year than in the past ten years.

I'd like to keep my request secret! (At least until I publish my story) #

WhatDoTheyKnow is currently only designed for public requests. All
responses that we receive are automatically published on the website for anyone
to read.  You should contact the public authority directly if you would like to
make a request in private.  If you're interested in buying a system which helps
you manage FOI requests in secret, then contact us.

Why can I only request information about the environment from some authorities? #

Some public authorities, such as South East Water,
don't come under the Freedom of Information Act, but do come under another law called
the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). It's a very similar law, so you make a request
to them using WhatDoTheyKnow in just the same way as an FOI request. The only difference
is that on the page where you write you request, it reminds you that you can only
request "environmental information" and tells you what that means. It is quite broad.

So can I request information using EIR from other authorities? #

Yes, just make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request as normal. The
authority has a duty to work out if the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) is the more appropriate legislation to reply under.

Can I make the same to request to lots of authorities, e.g. all councils? #

We ask you to first send a test version of your request to a few
authorities. Their responses will help you improve the wording of your request,
so that you get the best information when you send the request to all of
the authorities. There is currently no automated system for sending the request
to the other authorities, you must copy and paste it by hand.

Privacy policy #

Who gets to see my email address? #

We will not disclose your email address to anyone unless we are obliged to by law,
or you ask us to. This includes the public authority that you are sending a
request to.  They only get to see an email address
@whatdotheyknow.com which is specific to that request.

If you send a message to another user on the site, then it will reveal your
email address to them. You will be told that this is going to happen.

Will you send nasty, brutish spam to my email address? #

Nope. After you sign up to WhatDoTheyKnow we will only send you emails
relating to a request you made, an email alert that you have signed up for,
or for other reasons that you specifically authorise. We will never give or
sell your email addresses to anyone else, unless we are obliged to by law, or
you ask us to.

Why will my name and my request appear publicly on the site? #

We publish your request on the Internet so that anybody can read it and
make use of the information that you have found.

Your name is tangled up with your request, so has to be published as well.
It is only fair, as we're going to publish the name of the civil servant who
writes the response to your request.  Using your real name also helps people
get in touch with you to assist you with your research or to campaign with you.

By law, you must use your real name for the request to be a valid Freedom of
Information request. See the next question for alternatives if you do not want
to publish your full name.

Can I make an FOI request using a pseudonym? #

Technically, you must use your real name for your request to be a valid Freedom of Information request in law. See this
guidance from the Information Commissioner (January 2009).

However, the same guidance also says it is good practice for the public
authority to still consider a request made using an obvious pseudonym.
You should refer to this if a public authority refuses a request because you
used a pseudonym.

Be careful though, even if the authority follows this good practice, the
pseudonym will probably make it impossible for you to complain to the
Information Commissioner later about the handling of your request.

There are several good alternatives to using a pseudonym.

Use a different form of your name. The guidance says
that "Mr Arthur Thomas Roberts" can make a valid request as "Arthur Roberts",
"A. T. Roberts", or "Mr Roberts", but not as "Arthur" or "A.T.R.".

Women may use their maiden name.

In most cases, you may use any name by which you are "widely known and/or
is regularly used".

Use the name of a company, the trading name of a company,
or the trading name of a sole trader.

Ask someone else to make the request on your behalf.

You may, if you are really stuck, ask us to make the request on
your behalf. Please contact us with
a good reason why you cannot make the request yourself and cannot
ask a friend to. We don't have the resources to do this for everyone.

Please do not try to impersonate someone else.

They've asked for my postal address! #

If a public authority asks you for your full, physical address, reply to them saying
that section 8.1.b of the FOI Act asks for an "address for correspondence",
and that the email address you are using is sufficient.

The Ministry of Justice has guidance
on this –
"As well as hard copy written correspondence, requests that are
transmitted electronically (for example, in emails) are acceptable
... If a request is received by email and no postal address is given, the email
address should be treated as the return address."

As if that isn't enough, the Information Commissioner's
Hints for Practitioners say
"Any correspondence could include a request for information. If it is written (this includes e-mail), legible, gives the name of the applicant, an address for reply (which could be electronic), and includes a description of the information required, then it will fall within the scope of the legislation."

No no, they need a postal address to send a paper response! #

If an authority only has a paper copy of the information that you want,
they may ask you for a postal address. To start with, try persuading them
to scan in the documents for you. You can even offer to gift them a scanner, which in that particular case
embarrassed the authority into finding one they had already.

If that doesn't work, and you want to provide your postal address privately
in order to receive the documents, mark your request as "They are going to reply by post", and it will
give you an email address to use for that purpose.

How do you moderate request annotations? #

Annotations on WhatDoTheyKnow are to help
people get the information they want, or to give them pointers to places they
can go to help them act on it. We reserve the right to remove anything else.

Endless, political discussions are not allowed.
Post a link to a suitable forum or campaign site elsewhere.

FOI officer questions #

I just got here from bottom of an FOI request, what is going on? #

WhatDoTheyKnow is a service run by a charity. It helps ordinary members
of the public make FOI requests, and easily track and share the responses.

The FOI request you received was made by someone using WhatDoTheyKnow. You can
simply reply to the request as you would any other request from an individual.
The only difference is that your response will be automatically published on
the Internet.

If you have privacy or other concerns, please read the answers below.
You might also like to read this page from the top to find out more about what
the site does from the point of view of a user. You can also search the
site to find the authority that you work for, and view the status of
any requests made using the site.

Finally, we welcome comments and
thoughts from FOI officers, please get in touch.

Why are you publishing responses to FOI requests? #

We think there are lots of benefits. Most importantly it will encourage the
public to be more interested and involved in the work of government. We
also hope that it will reduce the number of duplicate requests on any
subject that a public body will receive. Given that Freedom of Information
responses contain public information, which anybody could easily request
again from the public authority, we think there should be no reason not to
publish it widely.

Are the people making requests real people? #

Yes. For the purposes of keeping track of responses we use
computer-generated email addresses for each request. However, before
they can send a request, each user must register on the site with a
unique email address that we then verify. You can search this site and
find a page listing all requests that each person has made.

An email isn't a sufficient address for an FOI request! #

Yes it is. This
letter from the ICO to Rother District Council gives guidance on the matter, specifically
in the context of requests made via WhatDoTheyKnow.

Aren't you making lots of vexatious requests? #

WhatDoTheyKnow is not making any requests. We are sending requests on
behalf of our users, who are real people making the requests.

Look at it like this - if lots of different people made requests from
different Hotmail email addresses, then you would not think that Microsoft were
making vexatious requests. It is exactly the same if lots of requests are made
via WhatDoTheyKnow. Moreover, since all requests are public it is much easier
for you to see if one of our users is making vexatious requests.

If that isn't enough for you, the
letter from the ICO to Rother District Council gives some guidance on the matter.

I can see a request on WhatDoTheyKnow, but we never got it by email!#

If a request appears on the site, then we have attempted to send it to
the authority by email. Any delivery failure messages will automatically
appear on the site. You can check the address we're using with the "View FOI
email address" link which appears on the page for the authority. Contact us if there is a better address we can
use.

Requests are sometimes not delivered because they are quietly removed by
"spam filters" in the IT department of the authority. Authorities can make
sure this doesn't happen by asking their IT departments to "whitelist"
any email from @whatdotheyknow.com.
If you ask us we will resend any request,
and/or give technical details of delivery so an IT department can chase
up what happened to the message.

Finally, you can respond to any request from your web browser, without
needing any email, using the "respond to request" link at the bottom of
each request page.

You've calculated our deadline wrongly!#

The Freedom of Information Act says:

A public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and
in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of
receipt.

The nerdy detail of exactly how weekends are counted, and what happens if
the request arrives out of office hours, is just that - detail. What matters
here is that the law says authorities must respond promptly.

If you've got a good reason why the request is going to take a while to
process, requesters find it really helpful if you can send a quick email with a
sentence or two saying what is happening. FOI officers often have to do a lot
of hard work to answer requests, and this is hidden from the public. We think
it would help everyone to have more of that complexity visible.

All that said, WhatDoTheyKnow does attempt to show the maximum legal
deadline. Here is the complex detail of how we calculate it, and some things we
currently get wrong.

If the day we deliver the request by email is a working day, we count that
as "day zero", even if it was delivered late in the evening. Days end at midnight.
We then count the next working day as "day one", and so on up to 20 days.

If the day the request email was sent was a non-working day, we count the
next working day as "day zero". This isn't required by law, but it is an extra
extension that we kindly offer.

We don't currently count extensions for Public Interest tests. Sorry
about that, we're working on how best to present it on the site.

Since June 2009, schools now have "20 working days disregarding any working
day which is not a school day, or 60 working days, whichever is first". We
don't currently allow for that, but intend to in some way, especially if we add
more schools.

Requesters are encouraged to mark when they have clarified their request so
the clock resets, but sometimes they get this wrong. If you see a problem with
a particular request, let us know and we'll fix it.

How can I send a large file, which won't go by email?#

Instead of email, you can respond to a request directly from your web
browser, including uploading a file. To do this, choose "respond to request" at
the bottom of the request's page. Contact us if it
is too big for even that (more than, say, 50Mb).

Why do you publish the names of civil servants and the text of emails? #

We consider what officers or servants do in the course of their employment
to be public information.

Can you take down personal information about me? #

If you see any personal information about you on the site which you'd like
us to remove or hide, then please let us know,
specifying exactly what information you believe to be problematic and why, and
where it appears on the site.

If it is sensitive personal information that has been accidentally
posted, then we will usually remove it. Normally we will only consider
requests to remove personal information which come from the individual
concerned, but for sensitive information we would appreciate anyone
pointing out anything they see.

We consider for various reasons that there is a strong public interest in
retaining the names of officers or servants of public authorities. We will only
remove such names in exceptional circumstances, such as where the disclosure of
a name and position of employment would substantially risk an individual's
safety. If you are such an official and you wish to have your name removed for
such an urgent reason, you must supply us with a request to do so from your
line manager. This request must demonstrate that a risk has been perceived
which outweighs the public interest, and must demonstrate that efforts have
been made to conceal the name on the organisation's own website.

For all other requests we apply a public interest test to decide
whether information should be removed.
 Section 32
of the Data Protection Act 1998 permits us to do this, as the material we
publish is journalistic. We cannot easily edit many types of attachments (such
as PDFs, or Microsoft Word or Excel files), so we will usually ask
that authorities resend these with the personal information removed.

Do you publish email addresses or mobile phone numbers? #

We automatically remove some emails and mobile numbers from responses to requests.
Please contact us if we've missed one.
For technical reasons we don't remove them all from attachments, such as PDFs.

What is your policy on copyright of documents?#

Our Freedom of Information law is "applicant blind", so anyone in the
world can request the same document and get a copy of it.

If you think our making a document available on the internet infringes your
copyright, you may contact us and ask us
to take it down.  However, to save tax payers' money by preventing duplicate
requests, and for good public relations, we'd advise you not to do that.

Credit where credit is due #

Which people made WhatDoTheyKnow? #

Oh, nearly everyone (and maybe you too)!

    Heather Brooke
    (vampy!) has
    been pushing the idea of a UK FOI archive for years now.

    Both Phil Rodgers and Francis Irving
    entered it in a mySociety competition for ideas for public interest websites to build.

    It won,
    and then Chris Lightfoot (RIP :()
    thought up the wheeze of intercepting email responses to requests and
    automatically publishing them.

    Tom Steinberg got the cash to pay for the site from
    a dead chocolate mogul (thank you!) ...

    ... so that Francis Irving, Angie Ahl, Tommy Martin, Louise Crow, Matthew Somerville
    and Tom Steinberg could do the complex mixture of design and coding to build
    what you see today.

    Thanks particularly to Julian Todd (great blog!),
    Francis Davey, and Etienne Pollard for using the site early on and giving
    feedback (and/or legal advice!), and also to all our other users and
    testers.

    The amazing team of volunteers who run the site, answer your support
    emails, maintain the database of public authorities and so much more.
    Thanks to Tony Bowden, John Cross, Adam McGreggor, Alex Skene, Richard Taylor.

    Everyone who has helped look up FOI email addresses.

    We couldn't do any of this without those
    crazy people who volunteer,
    amongst many other things, to do the accounts and fill in our VAT return.

    Finally, all the officers and servants who have answered the many requests
    made through the site. Their diligence, patience and professionalism is
    what has actually made the information that you see here. Thank them for
    helping make Government more transparent.

You're all stars.

Can I help out? #

Yes please! We're built out of our supporters and volunteers.

You can make a donation. We're a registered charity.

Help people find successful requests, and monitor performance of authorities, by
    playing the categorisation game.

Find out FOI email addresses of authorities that we're missing.

Write a blog post about either WhatDoTheyKnow or an interesting request that you've
    found. Post about it on a forum that you frequent. Tell friends about it.

If you're
    a programmer, get the
    source code
    and send us patches. It's made in Ruby on Rails.

Read more about volunteering with mySociety.

<% @title = "About" %>

Contents

Introduction

Making requests

Privacy policy

FOI officers

Credits

Contact us

If your question isn't answered here, or you just wanted to let us know
    something about the site, contact us.

Introduction to WhatDoTheyKnow #

What is WhatDoTheyKnow for? #

To help you find out inside information about what the UK government
is doing.

How does the site work? #

You choose the public authority that you would like information from, then
write a brief note describing what you want to know. We then send your request
to the public authority. Any response they make is automatically published on the
website for you and anyone else to find and read.

Why would I bother to do this? #

You pay taxes, and then government does things with the money. All sorts of
things that affect your life, from healthcare through to national defence. Some
it does badly, some it does well. The more we find out about how government
works, the better able we are to make suggestions to improve the things that
are done badly, and to celebrate the things that are done well.

Why would the public authority bother to reply? #

Under Freedom of Information (FOI) law, they have to respond. The response
will either contain the information you want, or give a valid legal reason why
it must be kept confidential.

Who makes it? #

WhatDoTheyKnow is created and run by mySociety,
and was initially funded by the JRSST Charitable Trust. mySociety is a project of the
registered charity UK Citizens Online Democracy.
If you like what we're doing, then you can
make a donation.

Making requests #

You're missing the public authority that I want to request from! #

Please contact us with the name of the public authority and,
if you can find it, their contact email address for Freedom of Information requests.

If you'd like to help add a whole category of public authority to the site, we'd love
to hear from you too.

How quickly will I get a response? #

By law public authorities must respond "promptly", and in most cases not
later than 20 working days after receiving your request. The date of that hard
limit is shown on the page for your request.

You will be emailed if this date goes by without a response, so you can send
the public authority another note to remind them that they are breaking the
law.

Note: If you had to
clarify your request, the clock starts from that date, instead of the date they
received your initial request.

See 'You've calculated our deadline wrongly!' for
more details.

What if I never get a response?#

There are several things you can do if you never get a response.

Sometimes there has been a genuine problem and the authority never
    received the request. It is worth telephoning the authority and politely
    checking that they received the request. It was sent to them by email.

If they have not received it, the problem is most likely due to
    "spam filters". Refer the authority to the measures in the answer
    'I can see a request on WhatDoTheyKnow, but we never got it by email!'
    below.

If you're still having no luck, then you can ask for an internal review,
    and then complain to the Information Commissioner about the authority.
    Read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'.

What if I'm not satisfied with the response? #

If you didn't get the information you asked for, or you didn't get it in time,
then read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'.

Can you tell me more of the nitty gritty about the process of making requests? #

Have a look at the
access to official information
pages on the Information Commissioner's website.

If you're requesting information from a Scottish public authority,
the process is very similar. There are differences around time
limits for compliance.
See the Scottish
Information Commissioner's guidance for details.

Can I request information about myself? #

No. Requests made using WhatDoTheyKnow are public, made under the Freedom of
Information Act, and cannot help you find information about a private
individual.

If you would like to know what information a public
authority holds about yourself, you should make a "Subject Access Request" in
private using Data Protection law.  The leaflet "How to access your information" (on the Information Commissioner's
website) explains how to do this.

If you see that somebody has included personal information, perhaps
unwittingly, in a request, please contact us
immediately so we can remove it.

Why must I keep my request focused?#

Please put in your request only what is needed so that someone can
easily identify what information you are asking for. Please do
not include any of the following:

arguments about your cause

statements that could defame or insult others

If you do, we may have to remove your request to avoid problems with
libel law, which is a pain for both you and us. Short, succinct messages
make it easier for authorities to be clear what information you are
requesting, which means you will get a reply more quickly.

If you want information to support an argument or campaign, Freedom of
Information is a powerful tool. Although you may not use this site to
run your campaign, we encourage you to use it to get the information you
need. We also encourage to run your campaign elsewhere - one effective
and very easy way is to <%= link_to 'start your own blog',
"http://wordpress.com/"%>. You are welcome to link to your campaign
from this site in an annotation to your request (you can make
annotations after submitting the request).

Finally, be aware that answering Freedom of Information requests costs
time and money. An authority can refuse to answer a request if it would
cost them too much, which may happen if you have asked for lots of
information. If your request is complicated, you can often simplify it
by limiting the time period you are asking about. For example it would
be much easier for an authority to tell you the amount spent on
marshmallows in the past year than in the past ten years.

I'd like to keep my request secret! (At least until I publish my story) #

WhatDoTheyKnow is currently only designed for public requests. All
responses that we receive are automatically published on the website for anyone
to read.  You should contact the public authority directly if you would like to
make a request in private.  If you're interested in buying a system which helps
you manage FOI requests in secret, then contact us.

Why can I only request information about the environment from some authorities? #

Some public authorities, such as South East Water,
don't come under the Freedom of Information Act, but do come under another law called
the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). It's a very similar law, so you make a request
to them using WhatDoTheyKnow in just the same way as an FOI request. The only difference
is that on the page where you write you request, it reminds you that you can only
request "environmental information" and tells you what that means. It is quite broad.

So can I request information using EIR from other authorities? #

Yes, just make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request as normal. The
authority has a duty to work out if the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) is the more appropriate legislation to reply under.

Can I make the same to request to lots of authorities, e.g. all councils? #

We ask you to first send a test version of your request to a few
authorities. Their responses will help you improve the wording of your request,
so that you get the best information when you send the request to all of
the authorities. There is currently no automated system for sending the request
to the other authorities, you must copy and paste it by hand.

Privacy policy #

Who gets to see my email address? #

We will not disclose your email address to anyone unless we are obliged to by law,
or you ask us to. This includes the public authority that you are sending a
request to.  They only get to see an email address
@whatdotheyknow.com which is specific to that request.

If you send a message to another user on the site, then it will reveal your
email address to them. You will be told that this is going to happen.

Will you send nasty, brutish spam to my email address? #

Nope. After you sign up to WhatDoTheyKnow we will only send you emails
relating to a request you made, an email alert that you have signed up for,
or for other reasons that you specifically authorise. We will never give or
sell your email addresses to anyone else, unless we are obliged to by law, or
you ask us to.

Why will my name and my request appear publicly on the site? #

We publish your request on the Internet so that anybody can read it and
make use of the information that you have found.

Your name is tangled up with your request, so has to be published as well.
It is only fair, as we're going to publish the name of the civil servant who
writes the response to your request.  Using your real name also helps people
get in touch with you to assist you with your research or to campaign with you.

By law, you must use your real name for the request to be a valid Freedom of
Information request. See the next question for alternatives if you do not want
to publish your full name.

Can I make an FOI request using a pseudonym? #

Technically, you must use your real name for your request to be a valid Freedom of Information request in law. See this
guidance from the Information Commissioner (January 2009).

However, the same guidance also says it is good practice for the public
authority to still consider a request made using an obvious pseudonym.
You should refer to this if a public authority refuses a request because you
used a pseudonym.

Be careful though, even if the authority follows this good practice, the
pseudonym will probably make it impossible for you to complain to the
Information Commissioner later about the handling of your request.

There are several good alternatives to using a pseudonym.

Use a different form of your name. The guidance says
that "Mr Arthur Thomas Roberts" can make a valid request as "Arthur Roberts",
"A. T. Roberts", or "Mr Roberts", but not as "Arthur" or "A.T.R.".

Women may use their maiden name.

In most cases, you may use any name by which you are "widely known and/or
is regularly used".

Use the name of a company, the trading name of a company,
or the trading name of a sole trader.

Ask someone else to make the request on your behalf.

You may, if you are really stuck, ask us to make the request on
your behalf. Please contact us with
a good reason why you cannot make the request yourself and cannot
ask a friend to. We don't have the resources to do this for everyone.

Please do not try to impersonate someone else.

They've asked for my postal address! #

If a public authority asks you for your full, physical address, reply to them saying
that section 8.1.b of the FOI Act asks for an "address for correspondence",
and that the email address you are using is sufficient.

The Ministry of Justice has guidance
on this –
"As well as hard copy written correspondence, requests that are
transmitted electronically (for example, in emails) are acceptable
... If a request is received by email and no postal address is given, the email
address should be treated as the return address."

As if that isn't enough, the Information Commissioner's
Hints for Practitioners say
"Any correspondence could include a request for information. If it is written (this includes e-mail), legible, gives the name of the applicant, an address for reply (which could be electronic), and includes a description of the information required, then it will fall within the scope of the legislation."

No no, they need a postal address to send a paper response! #

If an authority only has a paper copy of the information that you want,
they may ask you for a postal address. To start with, try persuading them
to scan in the documents for you. You can even offer to gift them a scanner, which in that particular case
embarrassed the authority into finding one they had already.

If that doesn't work, and you want to provide your postal address privately
in order to receive the documents, mark your request as "They are going to reply by post", and it will
give you an email address to use for that purpose.

How do you moderate request annotations? #

Annotations on WhatDoTheyKnow are to help
people get the information they want, or to give them pointers to places they
can go to help them act on it. We reserve the right to remove anything else.

Endless, political discussions are not allowed.
Post a link to a suitable forum or campaign site elsewhere.

FOI officer questions #

I just got here from bottom of an FOI request, what is going on? #

WhatDoTheyKnow is a service run by a charity. It helps ordinary members
of the public make FOI requests, and easily track and share the responses.

The FOI request you received was made by someone using WhatDoTheyKnow. You can
simply reply to the request as you would any other request from an individual.
The only difference is that your response will be automatically published on
the Internet.

If you have privacy or other concerns, please read the answers below.
You might also like to read this page from the top to find out more about what
the site does from the point of view of a user. You can also search the
site to find the authority that you work for, and view the status of
any requests made using the site.

Finally, we welcome comments and
thoughts from FOI officers, please get in touch.

Why are you publishing responses to FOI requests? #

We think there are lots of benefits. Most importantly it will encourage the
public to be more interested and involved in the work of government. We
also hope that it will reduce the number of duplicate requests on any
subject that a public body will receive. Given that Freedom of Information
responses contain public information, which anybody could easily request
again from the public authority, we think there should be no reason not to
publish it widely.

Are the people making requests real people? #

Yes. For the purposes of keeping track of responses we use
computer-generated email addresses for each request. However, before
they can send a request, each user must register on the site with a
unique email address that we then verify. You can search this site and
find a page listing all requests that each person has made.

An email isn't a sufficient address for an FOI request! #

Yes it is. This
letter from the ICO to Rother District Council gives guidance on the matter, specifically
in the context of requests made via WhatDoTheyKnow.

Aren't you making lots of vexatious requests? #

WhatDoTheyKnow is not making any requests. We are sending requests on
behalf of our users, who are real people making the requests.

Look at it like this - if lots of different people made requests from
different Hotmail email addresses, then you would not think that Microsoft were
making vexatious requests. It is exactly the same if lots of requests are made
via WhatDoTheyKnow. Moreover, since all requests are public it is much easier
for you to see if one of our users is making vexatious requests, and for us to
block them when that happens.

If that isn't enough for you, the
letter from the ICO to Rother District Council gives some guidance on the matter.

I can see a request on WhatDoTheyKnow, but we never got it by email!#

If a request appears on the site, then we have attempted to send it to
the authority by email. Any delivery failure messages will automatically
appear on the site. You can check the address we're using with the "View FOI
email address" link which appears on the page for the authority. Contact us if there is a better address we can
use.

Requests are sometimes not delivered because they are quietly removed by
"spam filters" in the IT department of the authority. Authorities can make
sure this doesn't happen by asking their IT departments to "whitelist"
any email from @whatdotheyknow.com.
If you ask us we will resend any request,
and/or give technical details of delivery so an IT department can chase
up what happened to the message.

Finally, you can respond to any request from your web browser, without
needing any email, using the "respond to request" link at the bottom of
each request page.

You've calculated our deadline wrongly!#

The Freedom of Information Act says:

A public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and
in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of
receipt.

The nerdy detail of exactly how weekends are counted, and what happens if
the request arrives out of office hours, is just that - detail. What matters
here is that the law says authorities must respond promptly.

If you've got a good reason why the request is going to take a while to
process, requesters find it really helpful if you can send a quick email with a
sentence or two saying what is happening. FOI officers often have to do a lot
of hard work to answer requests, and this is hidden from the public. We think
it would help everyone to have more of that complexity visible.

All that said, WhatDoTheyKnow does attempt to show the maximum legal
deadline. Here is the complex detail of how we calculate it, and some things we
currently get wrong.

If the day we deliver the request by email is a working day, we count that
as "day zero", even if it was delivered late in the evening. Days end at midnight.
We then count the next working day as "day one", and so on up to 20 days.

If the day the request email was sent was a non-working day, we count the
next working day as "day zero". This isn't required by law, but it is an extra
extension that we kindly offer.

We don't currently count extensions for Public Interest tests. Sorry
about that, we're working on how best to present it on the site.

Since June 2009, schools now have "20 working days disregarding any working
day which is not a school day, or 60 working days, whichever is first". We
don't currently allow for that, but intend to in some way, especially if we add
more schools.

Requesters are encouraged to mark when they have clarified their request so
the clock resets, but sometimes they get this wrong. If you see a problem with
a particular request, let us know and we'll fix it.

How can I send a large file, which won't go by email?#

Instead of email, you can respond to a request directly from your web
browser, including uploading a file. To do this, choose "respond to request" at
the bottom of the request's page. Contact us if it
is too big for even that (more than, say, 50Mb).

Why do you publish the names of civil servants and the text of emails? #

We consider what officers or servants do in the course of their employment
to be public information.

Can you take down personal information about me? #

If you see any personal information about you on the site which you'd like
us to remove or hide, then please let us know,
specifying exactly what information you believe to be problematic and why, and
where it appears on the site.

If it is sensitive personal information that has been accidentally
posted, then we will usually remove it. Normally we will only consider
requests to remove personal information which come from the individual
concerned, but for sensitive information we would appreciate anyone
pointing out anything they see.

We consider for various reasons that there is a strong public interest in
retaining the names of officers or servants of public authorities. We will only
remove such names in exceptional circumstances, such as where the disclosure of
a name and position of employment would substantially risk an individual's
safety. If you are such an official and you wish to have your name removed for
such an urgent reason, you must supply us with a request to do so from your
line manager. This request must demonstrate that a risk has been perceived
which outweighs the public interest, and must demonstrate that efforts have
been made to conceal the name on the organisation's own website.

For all other requests we apply a public interest test to decide
whether information should be removed.
 Section 32
of the Data Protection Act 1998 permits us to do this, as the material we
publish is journalistic. We cannot easily edit many types of attachments (such
as PDFs, or Microsoft Word or Excel files), so we will usually ask
that authorities resend these with the personal information removed.

Do you publish email addresses or mobile phone numbers? #

We automatically remove some emails and mobile numbers from responses to requests.
Please contact us if we've missed one.
For technical reasons we don't remove them all from attachments, such as PDFs.

What is your policy on copyright of documents?#

Our Freedom of Information law is "applicant blind", so anyone in the
world can request the same document and get a copy of it.

If you think our making a document available on the internet infringes your
copyright, you may contact us and ask us
to take it down.  However, to save tax payers' money by preventing duplicate
requests, and for good public relations, we'd advise you not to do that.

Credit where credit is due #

Which people made WhatDoTheyKnow? #

Oh, nearly everyone (and maybe you too)!

    Heather Brooke
    (vampy!) has
    been pushing the idea of a UK FOI archive for years now.

    Both Phil Rodgers and Francis Irving
    entered it in a mySociety competition for ideas for public interest websites to build.

    It won,
    and then Chris Lightfoot (RIP :()
    thought up the wheeze of intercepting email responses to requests and
    automatically publishing them.

    Tom Steinberg got the cash to pay for the site from
    a dead chocolate mogul (thank you!) ...

    ... so that Francis Irving, Angie Ahl, Tommy Martin, Louise Crow, Matthew Somerville
    and Tom Steinberg could do the complex mixture of design and coding to build
    what you see today.

    Thanks particularly to Julian Todd (great blog!),
    Francis Davey, and Etienne Pollard for using the site early on and giving
    feedback (and/or legal advice!), and also to all our other users and
    testers.

    The amazing team of volunteers who run the site, answer your support
    emails, maintain the database of public authorities and so much more.
    Thanks to Tony Bowden, John Cross, Adam McGreggor, Alex Skene, Richard Taylor.

    Everyone who has helped look up FOI email addresses.

    We couldn't do any of this without those
    crazy people who volunteer,
    amongst many other things, to do the accounts and fill in our VAT return.

    Finally, all the officers and servants who have answered the many requests
    made through the site. Their diligence, patience and professionalism is
    what has actually made the information that you see here. Thank them for
    helping make Government more transparent.

You're all stars.

Can I help out? #

Yes please! We're built out of our supporters and volunteers.

You can make a donation. We're a registered charity.

Help people find successful requests, and monitor performance of authorities, by
    playing the categorisation game.

Find out FOI email addresses of authorities that we're missing.

Write a blog post about either WhatDoTheyKnow or an interesting request that you've
    found. Post about it on a forum that you frequent. Tell friends about it.

If you're
    a programmer, get the
    source code
    and send us patches. It's made in Ruby on Rails.

Read more about volunteering with mySociety.