This evening we added a new feature to Photosynthesis, the free, custom bill tracking software on Richmond Sunlight. When you make a note about a specific bill (click on the little “e” — for edit — icon on the right side of your bill listing), now that note will appear blended in with the comments on that bill’s page. (For example, you can see one of Virginia Interfaith Center’s own bill notes here.) No longer are your bill notes limited to appearing on your own portfolio page.

Individuals, organizations, businesses and even legislators can take advantage of this by having a single place to put position papers, video, audio, and links to additional resources that provide evidence in support of or against a bill.

You don’t just have to list bills in your Photosynthesis portfolio — you can advocate for or against them, too, so that anybody viewing your public portfolio can see your arguments. While viewing your portfolio, look over on the far right side of any table row listing a bill. You’ll see two letters — “x” and “e.” These little links mean “delete” and “edit,” respectively. (We’ll have something less cryptic soon — we promise.)

Click on the “e” next to the bill that you want to write up your position on, and you’ll be presented with a text box where you can write whatever you like. Basic HTML is permitted, and you can write as much as you want. Whether you want to provide a few words or an entire position paper, just text or embed YouTube video, that’s your space to try to persuade others to see things from your perspective.

Right now your notes appear only in your portfolio, but soon enough they’ll be integrated with the comments within bill pages, which will put your $0.02 in front of hundreds or thousands of readers.