Help:Grantpedia
From Grantpedia
Welcome to Grantpedia!
Contents |
What is it?
Grantpedia - The Community Cooperative Collaboration Database is an initiative of the West Coast Non-Profit Services Society.
Our goal is to provide a free and unique information and collaboration tool to nonprofit organizations and concerned activists and individuals around the world.
Built on top of the same technology that powers Wikipedia, Grantpedia combines elements of
- a community powered database of funding sources, organizations, issues, ideas, and much more;
- rich and dynamic web content;
- unfettered public editing and input;
- discussion pages
Grantpedia is a new kind of resource to the non profit community -- You contribute to it, and You benefit from it.
Why did you do that?
We found many online nonprofit databases and information resources to be expensive private offerings. This tends to make such information beyond the reach of many grassroots organizations and individuals -- and much of this information is for public-funded grants and organizations! Why should the public have to pay so much to access public information for public funds?
Further, these expensive databases encourage isolated action rather than collaboration and cross communication. The information is private and because it was so dear to those who paid for it, they are discouraged from sharing it with others in order to make their investment worthwhile.
Grantpedia invites, indeed requires, broad and public participation - the more the better. The cumulative effect of individual efforts and bits of time they so generously give forms a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Collaboration is encouraged rather than discouraged -- and the benefits of collaboration benefit all.
How does it do that?
Grantpedia is a wiki, and as such is designed to allow for broad and easy collaboration. It's easy to add and edit information. It's easy to take existing information and extend it and modify it. It's easy to link it together with other information in Grantpedia and in fact anywhere on the Internet.
Grantpedia is also a relational database. The tricky stuff of the database is handled by software, so you get the relational and communication tools of a wiki and a database in an easy to use tool -- as easy as Wikipedia but more powerful in its abilities to connect information together.
Can you give me an example?
Entries placed in Grantpedia may be linked together: for example you may enter a new grant and link it to the organization that is responsible for them.
You do this simply by typing in the name of the organization into the form while you are entering your grant.
Even though you have not touched the actual organization page, that page will nevertheless automatically be updated to include information on your new grant. That's the relational database part of Grantpedia coming into play.
You can add your own relational queries to your own pages too if you want to (called inline queries.)
Or, you might also have an idea to reduce your personal carbon footprint. Maybe someone else might try it to! So, you add your idea, and link it to the issue of Global Warming.
The organization you need isn't there already? There is no Global Warming issue? No problem.
You can
- Add them yourself
- just leave it and someone else might add it later.
The link you made will work automatically as soon as the organization or issue is added!
This applies to all links between content.
How does it work?
Rather like Wikipedia -- in fact this technology is built with the same base ("MediaWiki") as Wikipedia itself. Our technology extends the base MediaWiki to allow for more structure and relationships between pages.
Standard forms in your browser are used to add and edit information. This makes entering information and categorizing it more convenient.
At the same time, you have the full powers of a wiki at your disposal. Your entries may contain images, links to other pages, tables, and other formatting.
Can ANYONE access the information?
- Anyone on the Internet may access Grantpedia and freely post and retrieve information.
- It's desirable to have a useraccount but not required.
- Sign up takes a few seconds and does not require any email verification or personal information.
Why should I sign up?
Just so a username will be attached to any entries you might make. Your email is not needed to sign up. It's optional and can be useful -- to get a new password emailed to you for example.
Sounds great how do I get started?
The Getting Started page is probably the best place for new members to get started at.
