The requirements for this project reflected three basic needs within the organisation:
- A platform for local and national groups to collaborate.
- A way for activists & local chapters to publish content.
- A tool to engage and mobilise supporters online.
The community we've developed is based on Drupal and meets all these needs at the same time. The features include a microblog, user profiles, user relationships, a wiki, groups, blogs and an image gallery. To bring these together we've implemented a stream that shows all user activity on the site.
While some areas are restricted to be used by Attac board members only most of the content is openly available, much like twitter. The platform allows activists from all over the world to publish blogposts, images and report live using the microblog. This way local attac chapters can use their "chapter pages" as content publishing site that can easily be used and edited by all their members. Chapters can also use the site to mobilise for local events, publish content live from these events or upload images of their events afterwards.
Another aspect of this online community reflects attac's culture to discuss specific issues and collaborate on publications. For this purpose interested community members can set up groups for issues they want to discuss and have their own wiki pages, a discussion board and an activity stream within the group.
The interface is designed to be easy to navigate and supports users as they try to accomplish their tasks within the community. Automated email notifications, commenting funcitonality and the possiblity to "follow" other users further improves the experience.
Feel free to give it a test-spin over at http://community.attac.org
We've chosen more onion because their engagement comes from their hearts and concerning web-design, online-applications and e-campaigning they are on the forefront of the scene. Their work on the international attac community was brilliantly professional and reliable!
Willi Zwirner,
CEO of Attac Austria