[okfn-labs] Google spreadsheet importer for PyBossa

[Gregor Aisch]

Am 31.08.2012 um 10:50 schrieb Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org>:

> On 29 August 2012 08:43, Gregor Aisch <gregor.aisch at okfn.org> wrote:
>> FYI:
>> 
>> I've put together a tiny app that lets you bulk import PyBossa tasks from a
>> Google spreadsheet. Each row is interpreted as task, the first row is
>> interpreted as header and will be used as keys.
>> 
>> http://pybossa-spreadsheet-importer.vis4.net/
>> 
>> https://github.com/gka/pybossa-spreadsheet-importer
>> 
>> I think this is the first of two steps that enables non-tech folks such as
>> journalists to create their own crowdsourcing app.
> 
> Agreed - this was a top priority and great to see it done. I'm
> wondering if we can merge this code (I think it is mainly HTML and JS)
> straight into PyBossa core -- putting it on e.g. the app admin page
> would be a natural location. What do you think?

Absolutely. I wish I'd have deeper insights on how to add features to PyBossa directly. I just wanted to have the importer working and hacked the whole thing together in about 4 hours.

Actually the core functionality (loading & parsing of the spreadsheet, firing API calls for each task) is written in Python. JS only pings the current status.

Of course it would make *a lot* sense to do the bulk import directly on the database instead of firing HTTP requests for every single task.

Looking forward to see this in PyBossa.. 


> 
>> The second step would be to allow people to create task presenters w/o
>> (JavaScript) coding. I think this could be done by combining a WYSIWYG html
>> editor with a clever JS library that replaces task template variables and
>> parses the html for form elements.
> 
> Agreed. I think the basic apps are quite simple. I also wonder whether
> its the kind of thing where we can generate a basic template for
> someone and they can then tweak (it's a way to get into programming -
> in the way that I've seen people start to learn PHP tweaking wordpress
> templates!)
> 
>> For instance if someone puts <img src="##ImageUrl##" /> into a task
>> presenter template (which would be possible from a WYSIWYG editor), the JS
>> which loads task and task presenter could replace ##ImageUrl## with the
>> value stored in task.info.ImageUrl.
>> 
>> After I'm done with both I'll try to write a short 5-minute-guide for
>> creating pybossa crowdsourcing apps, perhaps supported by a short
>> screencast.
> 
> That would be *amazing*.
> 
> Rufus