Evolving existing reporting capabilities

Proposed how…
New features/dev tasks

  • Define and create a “Report Builder”, an interface for creating a custom form with available fields (just like building an application) that when completed and submitted becomes a “Report”
  • Define and create the ability to add deadlines for a Report, allowing for a single partner to have multiple reporting expectations, each with different deadlines (ie a monthly report due on the 15h of each month and an annual report due on the 5th of Jan).
  • Define and create “Update Bots”, mechanisms for Hypha to collect information automatically about a partners activity or to wait for incoming information from the partner. Examples include: signal bot to receive short quick updates with links and media, email bot to do the same, Twitter/TikTok/mastodon/FB/etc bot to collect posts from specified accounts, RSS bot to collect specific new posts on a website, GitHub/GitLab bot to collect recent releases and activity for a software project,
  • Define and create partners “Reporting Page”, a tab to view reports/updates and to edit and define reporting settings/parameters
  • Define and create a Hypha wide “Reporting Page”, a page to see reports/updates from all active partners, with the ability to sort by report/update type and time
  • Define and create the ability for managers and partners to receive notifications from Hypha as deadlines approach, when new reports are submitted, or new updates are received

Possible workflow…

  1. In discussion with a Partner (someone with an approved submission/grant/contract), the manager learns how and when reporting would work best for the partner
  2. Based on those discussions, within the partners reporting page:
    • The manager creates one form for a monthly report and one form for an annual report
    • Manager enables the ability for the partner to send updates via email and/or signal, sharing the email and signal addresses for updates to be sent
    • Manager enables the ability for Hypha to collect updates automatically by adding the partner’s GitHub repository, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and an RSS feed from the partner’s website
  3. The manager shares the draft forms for partner feedback and changes
  4. The manager and partner agree on reporting schedule deadlines, on the 5th of each month for the monthly report on the 15th of January for the annual report. The manager sets these deadlines in the partners reporting page for each report type.
  5. The manager enables reminder notifications to go out in advance of scheduled report deadlines
  6. The manager enables a weekly and monthly digest of all updates and reports that goes to them and the partner
  7. The partner submits a monthly report, shares multiple brief updates via email and signal with links for further information, posts some new Tweets, and releases a new version of their software.
  8. Anyone following the project (manager, partner, etc) begin receiving email digests, summarizing activities, outputs, progress, and impact
  9. On the partners reporting page, the manager can see:
    • A list of all submitted reports and updates, with the ability to sort and filter them by time and type
    • A “link roll”, a list of links pulled out of all reports and updates by
    • A “file roll”, a list of files pulled out of all reports and updates
  10. The manager can go to their Partners/Project dashboard and see updates for all their active and past Partners together, with the ability to sort and filter them by time and type
  11. The manager can choose to see updates for all others as well, not just their own
  12. The manager sets the project as closed when support ends which stops all future collection of updates, notifications, and digests.

What are the big changes?
This is a lot more than the current functionality, which is an upload box for a pdf.

What should stay the same?

  • This should all continue to happen on/around the Project/Partners area
  • Ability to upload a file for report should stay an option (but as a defined field within report form)

Why?
We need a flexible and robust way to capture the diverse ways partners “report”

How might I use this?
Reset would use this right away for both open call applicants that have been awarded as well as the partners we’ve supported through other ways.

Related issues
There aren’t any open issues related to this that I know of.

cc @katie, @bernard, @dluong, and @frjo

Thanks @blah, just wanted to add that DFF would also find this really useful! Happy to provide input to help get this happening.

1 Like

@bernard and @katie, could you add @vinkthom on to your list of folks to do discovery with?

:+1: yup

@vinkthom Would you be available next week? I’d like to talk to you about:

  • the types of reporting you need to do
  • the information you need to communicate/provide to people reading the reports
  • how you currently do it (and how well it works for you)
  • how you’d like to do it in the future

Hi @bernard, sure. Next week Tuesday morning or Thursday afternoon for me are pretty open at the moment.