We’re excited to announce a new Richmond Sunlight feature: Photosynthesis, a personal bill-tracking system. Photosynthesis makes it a snap to track the bills that interest you, providing you with a custom RSS feed and a personal web page to see their progress. Your portfolio of bills is listed publicly (under your first name and last name initial and, if provided, your organization’s name) at a unique URL, making it a snap to spread the word about what’s important to you. (See my portfolio as an example.) Individuals might use this to inform friends, family, or even blog readers about legislation they should keep an eye on, while organizations could use it to give members an always-up-to-date web page listing legislation relevant to the group’s mission. A quick, free, painless registration with Richmond Sunlight is necessary to sign up — it only takes about thirty seconds.
This is just the first component of Photosynthesis. The next portion, which we’ll roll out shortly, is a professional version suitable for lobbyists, legislative aides and legislators.
December 31st, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Waldo – Thanks for this excellent enhancement. Couple probably obvious suggestions: 1) Might add a Photosynthesis link in the main Richmond Sunlight Toolbar; 2) Allow us to edit our profiles after we create them (generates Page Not Found error right now when I click on my first name+initial).
Additional suggestions: 1) Can we get an RSS feed for just the bills we are tracking in Photosynthesis instead of having to do it on individual bills; 2) Can we have a logout link to juggle multiple profiles (home/work)?
This is REALLY good work. Happy New Year! Brian
December 31st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
These all exist in beta, and I hope to have them out of beta and available publicly tomorrow. This was all supposed to be done today, but I started watching a movie and lost track of time. :)
However, one of these does exist — the RSS feed. Yours is here. For some reason, it’s only being advertised on the public portfolio listing, but not on individual’s Photosynthesis pages. There’s one more for the ol’ bug list… :)
January 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am
Thanks again Waldo. Looks like that RSS feed is working. Brian
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Waldo – I see I can edit my profile now, however the profile edit process does not recognize changes to Company name. I am using two profiles successfully now, however, I want to remove my company name from the original profile I created. When I open the profile page, the company is blank. If I change it, it does not stick. Thus ‘Charlottesville Tomorrow’ still appears on the bills I am tracking. Thanks! Brian
January 12th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
[...] to you, head on over to Richmond Sunlight and get one. For a little more detail on this, read this [...]