Before I outline the various forum/community software I’ve used and how each differs, I wanted to mention an old yet excellent book by Derek Powazek called Design for Community: The art of connecting real people in virtual places (WorldCat). I bought it almost nine years ago for $45 at the World’s Biggest Bookstore, and while all its examples are dated now, given Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or even CSS, web standards and blogs (I love the quaint use of “homepagers” rather than “bloggers” to describe people like Jeffrey Zeldman) it was solid gold then and still is now with great interviews and predictions.
In fact, a careful reading of just the Table of Contents can tell you a lot about community:
And the Preface is fun, honest introduction to community basics:
And now, on to some examples of community software:
PunBB
PunBB was founded by Rickard Andersson who conceived it for a personal project as an alternative to over-featured or too graphic discussion boards. Now available at punbb.informer.com under the GPL, it’s come a long way since I first used it in 2003 for a 500-member gaming community, though it’s still very simple: If it does what you want it to now or is close enough, then great! Its code is easily hackable and it has a plain CSS-based style best suited for a smaller, personal feel or when all you really need is a forum. Not recommended for much beyond a forum, however. Below is the new Copper theme displaying my profile:
Simple Machines Forum (SMF)
www.simplemachines.org – A full-featured yet open source competitor to more commercial offerings, SMF has had a bit of trouble (like PunBB) in evolving quickly, though there is still promise and what currently exists works well at what it does. SMF is quite stable, though some might call it bloated, and it has a metric ton of themes, mods and translations. I swapped to this from PunBB back in 2004, wrote a few mods and even made a theme for this that closely matched what PunBB used to look like, though by that point the community on the site wasn’t the same and by 2005 I’d stopped using SMF and that community website, entirely.
Please note these are just the forums I’ve actually used or modified in the past. And I’ve still more I can write about them or alternatives, so expect a Part II post soon.
Here in Toronto, we’ve only 1 transit agency, the YRT, sharing data, but sadly unlike Toronto, York Region has no plans (despite a data sharing symposium) to open its mapping data–crucial to build a home-grown competitor to Google Maps’ transit info, including offline map support on iPod Touch or iPad. And while the UK is a bit slow with its map data, at least it will ALSO open its postal code data on April 2010, unlike Canada Post, where postal codes were even removed from Toronto’s datasets. UK data is much more complete and comprehensive than even the US. To quote Tim Berners-Lee on the UK site’s launch: “Making public data available for re-use is about increasing accountability and transparency and letting people create new, innovative ways of using it.”
To that end, the UK is even thinking of buying or sponsoring projects made from its data– why can’t other organizations and governments adopt this kind of forward-looking way of thinking. I’m not suggesting that the government can’t make these connections itself–it should–but that rather it should allow for others to contribute also. Think of it as having volunteers working on something that you also pay select people to do, because volunteers still have to make a living. At the same time, you don’t want to lose people because you’re ignoring them, and opening the data is the easiest way to remain inclusive to all possibilities.
I was inspired to write this post as I read the following emails from Roger Slevin to the gtfs-changes group and felt I had to share this info here, to show how differently things can work elsewhere. (Emphasis mine)
Let me give you more context of the situation in Great Britain. There are three regional information systems currently contributing schedule data to Google Transit – and between us we cover about 500 different operators within the four data feeds that we supply each week – these comprise coordinated and de-duplicated sets of data. As already mentioned, Google also receives a weekly update of the details of every one of c350,000 public transport stops and stations across Britain – each with a unique reference.
GTFS is not used in the UK for anything other than supplying Google Transit because we have more robust and detailed protocols for transferring data between local information systems – so our concerns are about how the data, which meets the specifications of being coordinates, with unique references, etc across multiple agencies, still cannot be processed robustly into Google Transit … and, unless things have changed very recently, still show multiple stop icons at some locations for what is a single physical stop point.
While looking up info on alternatives to “Trapeze 6.0″, used on the TTC’s new trip planner, I discovered the following page. But first, the better way of displaying and organizing transit data is EFA by mdv — used to great effect in London, Germany, etc. I have to wonder why it wasn’t chosen by the TTC. They’ve a US distributor, mdv Transit & Traffic Solutions Inc., and if they get business elsewhere, they’ve been perfectly willing to open a branch office there (E.g. Australia, etc.). But now on to why you clicked — why hasn’t the TTC adopted myTTC.ca or other similar projects, like the following:
511 Transit is a Part of the Bay Area 511 Traveler Information (www.511.org)
MTC’s 511 Traveler Information suite of websites provides comprehensive information about how to get around in the San Francisco Bay Area. Whether you need transit, traffic, rideshare or bicycling information, you can find it in a single place, at this one-stop resource. For more information, visit the 511 home page at http://www.511.org.
But there’s more to 511. 511 is also a toll-free telephone information number. This easy to remember three-digit number provides up-to-the-minute information on traffic conditions and incidents, details on public transportation routes and fares, instant carpool and vanpool referrals, bicycling information and more. All available by dialing 511 from anywhere within the Bay Area.
Evolution of the Transit Website
The original transit website began in 1994, as a comprehensive Bay Area transit information resource started by two U.C. Berkeley students. In cooperation with individual transit agencies, that website provided customized methods and tools for posting and updating schedule, route, fare and map data on the internet.
In 1996, MTC worked with the original transit website developers to continue their efforts and begin expanding the information base to include all public transit services in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Since June 1998, the project has been funded by MTC. Read the rest of this entry »
Inspired by recent articles on the Toronto Ombudsman, I’m going to write a formal complaint and address it to Roman Muetz, the TTC’s Customer Information Director, if the Customer Service line can’t help me tomorrow. Alternatively, I’ll phone him at the number listed on the Ombudsman’s website and point him at my blog. If he can’t help encourage the TTC to release good, open datasets, or encourage community contributions like myttc.ca, then all I can think to do is mount a campaign for quality GTA data and support of us transit hackers, by harnessing both the 6,000 downloads of my TTC Mobile app (100/day) and anybody else I can snare though Facebook/Twitter/other app platforms.
It’s disgraceful that when a developer really wants to make a difference, for free, that there’s zero support from a public-supported entity. Do I need to request an RFP and $$$ from the TTC to build something for them? Really? And what’s with the zero-response customer service, where @bradTTC on Twitter tells me to phone, and phoning tells me to email, and email goes nowhere with not even an auto-reply? They make YRT look like a five-star hotel by comparison.
Something new will arrive north of Downsview Station this summer (according to an interview with the artists in Canadian Art). “Dodecadandy,” a November 2008 TTC report notes, “refers to corridors of transit, the outward push of the city and the routes that commuters and pedestrians follow.” Approved last February, the work has strangely received little attention so far, with only seven results on Google. More photos/quotes after the break.
So I’m trying to figure out how to structure the app to incorporate other regions, like YRT, without disrupting the smooth flow people are already used to. Right now my prototype is a tab bar at the bottom (as shown on the right, click for full view) with the following tabs:
Map, TTC, Subway, YRT, Updates
A perfect app would start in Map, always, and immediately show a GPS-enabled offline map zoomed in near where you are, showing a live view of where buses are.
Then if you click a stop and view its full schedule, the app swaps to TTC or YRT tabs, remembering that you viewed that stop (to save it as a favourite like it does now for routes) and shows you the stop info. Seeing a bus you want, you click it, and it loads that bus’ route, which you then see ends at a Subway stop.
You click the Subway stop and it switches to the Subway tab, showing that subway station, its buses, and perhaps a brief map of what the station looks like inside and out, including accessibility features, bus loading areas and nearby amenities.
Then an alert appears at the top of the screen, saying that the line the subway station serves is now running shuttle buses at this station, so you tap the button to follow this alert. After a minute of browsing what’s nearby, you decide to grab lunch at a place just outside one subway exit. Maybe the app could tell you who else is thinking the same thing, foursquare-enabled perhaps? Halfway through your meal, your iPhone buzzes with a ping from the app that the problem has cleared. So you take the rest to go, and head back on the subway. Read the rest of this entry »
Wow, the General Transit Feed Specification by Google is incredibly complete, with all kinds of options and edge cases that make both storing and using it fairly challenging. The two things left out in the diagram on the right are the relationships between Stops and FareRules (a stop has a zone_id assigned to it that maps to a fare’s destination_id, origin_id or contains_id) and those between Trip and Calendar or Calendar Dates (where the crucial link is service_id, but where CalendarDate can override Calendar linkings, if defined.)
Of course, I’ll evolve the structure as I go along. It’s obviously designed primarily for routing applications like Google Maps, with such fields as color or text_color. So I’ll have to add my own fields too. You can see, for instance, the count and accessible fields in Route from the existing TTC Mobile app. (I’m surprised that there’s no machine-readable way to add such feature codes to GTFS, actually, e.g. Washrooms. You could put a human-readable version in Route’s desc or Stop’s desc, however.)
Also, right now there’s duplication in the dataset such that there’s both a trip_id and a trip relationship — this is primarily for debugging purposes and will eventually be eliminated.
So I still have a bit more modelling to go, and then I have to write some loading code, but within the next month, lets say, I might have a working version of TTC Mobile with GTFS data from YRT. For TTC data, I’ll additionally need to scrape together my own GTFS file, or use myttc.ca’s (clearly marked as such and/or unofficial).
Edit: Still working on this, just noticed a bug in the image I posted, Trip should have many Frequiences, and not the other way around. (The arrows are incorrect)
I do think I’ve sent an email to the TTC before about this — I know I’ve twittered the bigwigs — but just in case, I’m writing this post as a note to myself that if like the last time I sent a note, the TTC doesn’t reply in 7 days, I should email followup at ttc dot ca. (A part of me wonders if that’s what people do anyway.)
Why the TTC doesn’t just email me a confirmation number and get back to me in two weeks without a further followup email, I’ve no idea. Their phone line, 416-393-3030 just disconnects when I try to call it, it’s so busy.
And rather than come up with your own format, why not adopt the General Transit Feed Specification standard at http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.html that YRT, Hamilton, and many, many other transit systems use? It’s 100% Google Maps compatible, and even NextBus uses it (in a non-standard way) to publish GPS information.
PLEASE contact me, I’ve written the free TTC Mobile iPhone app launched last Dec and was at the Open Data Lab where TTC employees shared the data, and I’ve been upset that no one has since listened to developers. My app is the only one on the app store with up-to-date info because it doesn’t TRY to get the right data, it just reformats the ttc.ca website — which has an incredible database behind the scenes. I’d be happy with a database dump of THAT if it were possible.
Thanks,
Louis St-Amour
Here’s hoping I get a reply, like the (so far fantastic) YRT has. And why isn’t Metrolinx returning my emails, I wonder? Maybe I’ve been trying to contact the wrong people. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know! Good transit data nirvana is near, folks — lets stay positive!
I’m very happy to say that TTC Mobile has so far been downloaded at least 100-150 times each day by Canadians (and many others). I’ve received 140 or so feedback emails, of which 40 actually said something more than “Sent from my iPhone” (oh well!).
I’ve met quite a few new people on Twitter, talked via email to transit geeks and transit employees, and compulsively looked for reviews and feedback on the iTunes Store listing. I’m disappointed at all the 1-star ratings, but I figure that happens to any free app — and the 9 largely positive App Store reviews outweigh the negative.
Here’s a breakdown of the download stats:
I do intend to make an offline version — I want it now myself, because I’ve grown impatient with that silly loading screen, “faster” though it may be. I’ve decided to allow for imperfect data, and I’ll be sure to say that — e.g. “* this data is cached from yesterday”.
I’m talking now with YRT, and I’d love to get GO/Metrolynx on board with any kind of data sharing. I’ve kind of given up on the TTC, but maybe if I contact Customer Service, I’ll get passed along to someone who can help me get the correct data. At this point I suspect a web browser is the only way to get decent data out of any transit service, and I’ve felt quite frustrated these past few weeks.
Still, the positive feedback helps keep my spirits up. Keep it coming, and suggestions for improvements. If anyone has a new app icon or loading screen to offer, feel free! Any ideas on how I can add social features? Dream big
Now, the obvious objection to this piece is art for its own sake, and that’s a valid point. But if the goal is to both look pretty AND communicate something new, more care should be taken.
The PDF looks at Ben Fry’s fun “visualization” of US health care costs (mentioned on page 2). If you get bored, scroll to pages 8-10 to see Few’s ultimate result after such experimentation in Tableau (great, but pricey, software, even for students–and Windows only). Note that Mr. Few isn’t a designer, so the Tableau output reminds me of what Google might make rather than Apple, say.
Halfway through your meal, your iPhone buzzes with a ping from the app that the problem has cleared. So you take the rest to go, and head back on the subway. 
