I was reminded of this project while talking about JSON-LD with someone, and after digging this up I saw the form and spreadsheet did not work. I went ahead and fixed what was wrong with Tabletop.js, but the beautify still isn't working on the form.
I will be pushing this approach forward by also saving data from the spreadsheet as YAML in the local project. All my tools are available at API Evangelist tools.
After allowing anyone to generate government services in JSON-LD using a Google Spreadsheet, I wanted to make a simple, web-based form that those without access to Google Apps could use.
Using Bootstrap, JQuery and some other JavaScript goodies, I built a form that when complete will generate a JSON-LD representation. The form possesses all the required fields and has the ability to add multiple audience types and service locations.
I tried to keep the form as simple as possible, assisting users in understanding the various fields, while abstracting away the complexity of the JSON file. When users are done they can select to generate the JSON, copy and paste, then publish anywhere.
If there are any addition fields you need in the form, let me know. If you have any questions you can ping me @kinlane.
I wanted to enable people who work in government to generate JSON-LD representations of their services in the easiest way possible. What is the number one way for people in government to manage data? Spreadsheets.
I decided to start with Google Docs, and generate a simple JavaScript tool to take a Google Spreadsheet template that was setup with the required fields for a government services schema.
Next I wrote an import script using Tabletop.js that would grab the contents of the Google Spreadsheet template and using JavaScript to generate the JSON-LD.
You can find this Google Spreadsheet to Government Services JSON-LD tool as a dedicated section on this project site. Everything is written in javaScript and runs here on Github, so you can fork and employ as your own repository, or you can just generate here and copy, paste and publish where you need.
This fall while working in Washington D.C. I was introduced to the concept ofrepresenting government services with JSON-LD. Using the civic services schema.org proposal you can represent common government services that target indvidiuals and businesses, providing a standard that developers can use when presenting government services in websites and mobile applications.
Google the phrase "food bank portland or" and you will see a "card" on the right hand side of the Google search engine results that shows details about the Oregon Food Bank in Portland, OR. This represents trusted, known information about the public service and renders in a prominent fashion, preventing you from having to look through organic search results to find what you are looking for.
This research project is about exploring what is possible when representing government services using JSON-LD and building tooling that helps average organizations easily generate and publish JSON-LD to represent their own services.
More to come...
