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https://github.com/okfn/timemapper

Create and share elegant timelines and timemaps fast
https://github.com/okfn/timemapper

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Create and share elegant timelines and timemaps fast

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README 

        
# TimeMapper



Create beautiful timelines and timemaps from Google Spreadsheets.



Built by members of [Open Knowledge Foundation Labs](http://okfnlabs.org/).



See it in action at 



# Install



## Local Install



This is a Node web-app built using express.



Install Node (>=0.8 suggested) and npm then checkout the code:



    git clone https://github.com/okfn/timemapper



Then install the dependencies:



    cd timemapper

    npm install .

    # for some vendor modules

    git submodule init && git submodule update



Finally, you may wish to set configuration options such as database name, port

to run on, etc. To do this:



    # copy the settings.json template to settings.json

    cp settings.json.tmpl settings.json

    # then edit as necessary



Now you can run the app:



    node run.js



To view the site, open localhost:3000 in a browser.



### Configuration



The default configuration can be found in  `lib/config.js`. You can override

this in a couple of ways:



1. Create a `settings.json` with specific values. `settings.json` has the same

   form as nconf.defaults object in in `lib/config.js`.



2. Set specific environment variables. The ones you can set are those used in

   `nconf.defaults`. This useful for deployment on Heroku where environment

   variables are default way to configure.



## Deploy (to Heroku)



Standard stuff:



    heroku create timemapper

    git push heroku



You'll also need to set config. Suggest creating a `.env` file:



    TWITTER_KEY=...

    ...



Then push it:



    heroku config:push



# Overview for Developers



* NodeJS app but very frontend JS oriented

* Most of "presentation" including visualizations are almost entirely in frontend javascript

* Backend storage of "metadata" is onto s3 or local filesystem with storage of

  actual data (data for timelines/timemaps etc) into google docs spreadsheets



## Backend Storage



Layout follows frontend urls:



    /{username}/data.json                     # user info

    /{username}/{dataview}/datapackage.json   # config for the dataview

    /{username}/{dataview}/... other files    # (none atm but possibly we store data locally in future)



## Data View info



Stored in datapackage.json following [Data Package spec][dp-spec]. Key points:



* name, title, licenses etc as per [Data Package][dp-spec]

* info on google doc data source stored in first resources item in format compatible with [Recline][]:



        resources: [{

          backend: 'gdocs',

          url: 'gdocs url ...'

        }]



* additional config specific to timemapper in item call tmconfig. We will

  be gradually adding values here but at the moment have:



        tmconfig: {

          dayfirst: false     # are dates dayfirst

          startfrom: start    # start | end | today

          layout: timemap     # timemap | map | timeline

          timelineJSOptions:  # options to pass to timelinejs

        }



[dp-spec]: http://data.okfn.org/standards/data-package

[Recline]: http://okfnlabs.org/recline/



## Translation info



TimeMappers uses `i18n-abide` with `gettext`. 



It currently supporte loclaes `en-US`, `zh-TW` locales.



To update po files after modify `views/*.html`



```

$ npm run update-po

```



To re-compile translation json files.



```

$ npm run gen-po-json

```



for more details, please read [Mozilla - Localization in Action][localization-in-action].



[localization-in-action]: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/04/localization-in-action-part-3-of-3-a-node-js-holiday-season-part-11/



# User Stories



Alice: user, who wants to create timelines, timemaps etc

Bob: visitor (and potential user)

Charlie: Admin of the website



## Register / Login



[ip] As Alice I want to signup (using Twitter?) so that I have an account and can login



As Alice I want to login (using Twitter?) so that I am identified to the system and the Vizs I create are owned by me



As Alice I want to see a terms of service when I signup so that I know what the licensing arrangements are for what I create and do



## Create and Edit Views



As Alice I want to create a timemap Viz quickly from a google spreadsheet ...

  - I want to set the title and "slug" for my timemap and have a nice url /alice/{name-of-viz}

  - I want to choose a license (or full copyright) - default license applied. Licenses will be open licenses or full copyright.

  - I want to create an animated timemap in which the time and map interact ...

  - I want to add a description (and attribution) to my Viz (perhaps now or later ...)



As Alice I want to edit my Viz later after I've created it (e.g. change the title) so that I can correct typos or update info to reflect changes



As Alice I want to create a timeline Viz quickly from my google spreadsheet so that I can share it with others



As Alice I want to create a timemap / timeline quickly from a gist so that I can share it with others

  - Structure of gist??



As Alice I want to create a map quickly from a google spreadsheet ...



As Alice or Bob I want to embed my Viz in a website elsewhere so that people can see it there



As Alice I want to watch a short (video) tutorial introducing me to how this works so that I have help getting started



As Alice or Bob I want to create a Viz without logging in so that I can try out the system without signing up

  - Is this necessary if sign up is really easy?



## Forking



I want to "fork" someone elses visualization so that I can modify and extend it



## Listing and Admin



[x] As Alice I want to list the "Vizs (viz?)" I've created



[ip] As Bob I want to know what I can do with this service before I sign up so that I know whether it is worth doing so

  - Some featured timemaps ...



[x] As Bob I want to see all the Vizs created by Alice so that I can see if there some I like



  - Most recent items ?



As Bob I want to see recent activity by Alice to get a sense of the cool stuff she has been doing so that I know to look at that stuff first



As Alice I want to delete a Viz so that it is not available anymore (because I don't want it visible)



As Alice I want to undo deletiion of a Viz that I accidentally deleted so that it is available again



As Alice I want to revert to previous versions of my Viz so that I can see what it was like before



As Alice I want to "hide" a Viz so that it is not visible to others (but is visible to me)

  - Is this hidden in the listing or more than that? What about people who already have the url



As Charlie I want to be able to delete someone's Viz (or account) so that it no longer is available (because they want it down or someone else does etc)



## Access Control



As Alice I want to allow a Viz built on a private spreadsheet in google docs so that I don't have to make that spreadsheet public to create a Viz of it



As Alice I want to restrict access to some of my Vizs so that only I can see them



As Alice I want to restrict access to some of my Vizs but allow specific other people to view it so that other people than me can see it



## Misc



As Bob I want to find out about the website and project so that I get a sense of who's behind it / whether its trustworthy / whether there is other cool stuff they do



As Alice I want to know how many people have viewed my Viz so that I know whether other people are interested



As Bob (? may need to be logged in) I want to "star" a Viz I come across so that I recognize its value and store it for finding later



## Asides



- config

  - layout of the map / timeline (stacked versus side by side)

  - date parsing

- 2 types of data source - gists as well as google docs

  - data package structure in gists!



# License, Contributors and History



This is an open-source project licensed under the MIT License - see `LICENSE` file for details.



Contributors include:



* Rufus Pollock  (Open Knowledge)

* Dan Wilson -  

* Chen Hsin-Yi - 



We also use a whole bunch of fantastic open-source libraries, including:



* TimelineJS

* ReclineJS

* Leaflet

* Backbone

* Bootstrap



First version was Microfacts / Weaving History 

which ran from 2007-2010.