People Import and Queersync

FROM: OSDI Department of Outreach
TO: Progressive Interoperability Special Agents
RE: RFI on People Import Helper and Spoke Implementation

A proposal is on the table for People Import Helper, which is an evolution of the Person Signup Helper that can submit a batch of multiple people at one time rather than one at a time.

The scenario that prompted this is to support batch import in Spoke, the open source texting tool. https://github.com/MoveOnOrg/Spoke.

The OSDI specification GitHub pull request is here: https://github.com/opensupporter/osdi-docs/pull/335

It will stay open until July 10th, unless more time is requested, and then be approved, integrated and published as part of the OSDI Specification. This, along with OSDI Questions, Answers and experimental messages, assignments have been implemented in a pull request https://github.com/MoveOnOrg/Spoke/pull/1156

This allows people who take scripting classes to write simple integrations, and here’s a ready made example because it’s Independence from Monotonous Tasks Day.

Queersync will download the latest question_responses as OSDI answers and import them into VAN as survey questions. You can clone the GitHub repo, define your configuration and stick it in a cron job on your Spoke server.

From a specification point of view, while our definition of Questions and Answers is already published, we don’t yet have an agreed upon spec for the text messages. If you have a system would expose similar functionality, and would like to give input on or participate in the design discussions, contact me.

If you are interested in providing technical feedback and wish to do so privately, in the closet, you can contact me at the OSDI Closet Hotline (516) 701 1900. You feedback will be related anonymously and your identity will only be known by me.

Josh Cohen
OSDI Secretary