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Here's a question to get you started:

What platforms for displaying and manipulating data are most likely to be relevant to a large audience of average citizens?

Discussion topics

collaboration data analysis and visualization data collection data warehousing gis information semantics information syntax information technology management controls management life cycle national terminology off target semantics-then-syntax-then-technology strategic management life cycle terminology transparency and accountability vendor waste fraud and abuse detection web 2.0 website design View all discussion topics »

How to use this site

The National Dialogue discussion website has these features:

• Submit an idea
• Comment on an idea
• Format your idea or comment
• Rate an idea
• Search for content
• Member profiles
• Watch ideas and members
• Add topics

Getting started

If you are new to this site, the first step is to register.

Once registered, you will need to log in to participate and contribute to The National Dialogue website; if you are not, you will prompted to log in.

This site uses JavaScript and CSS. Please ensure you have these enabled in your browser.

Moderation policy

All content on this discussion website is subject to the moderation policy. If you find anything in the site offensive or inappropriate, please let us know (please also include the URL of the content to be removed).

Submit an idea

To add an idea:

1. Click Submit An Idea at the top of the page
   
2. Subject — enter the subject or summary of your idea; this is a required field with a limit of 75 characters
3. What is the idea? — expand on your idea or provide background information (also a required step)
4. Why is the idea important? — this is optional
5. You can format the text or insert video, images or files — see below for details
6. If you like, add discussion topics relevant to your idea
7. A word of warning: once submitted, your idea will be published on the site immediately, and cannot be edited, only retracted by a moderator
8. With that in mind, please double check you are happy with your idea, then click Add idea to publish it

Comment on an idea

First, you must be logged in to contribute to The National Dialogue website; if you are not, you will prompted to log in. To share your thoughts on an idea:

1. Click Be the first to comment on this idea or Comment on this idea
2. You can format the text or insert video, images or files — see below for details
3. A word of warning: once submitted, your comment will be published on the site immediately, and cannot be edited, only retracted by a moderator
4. With that in mind, click Submit your comment to publish it

Format your idea or comment

Not content with plain text? You can add bold, italics, bullets and numbering to your idea using the formatting buttons above the idea and comment input fields.

If you're savvy with html, click the HTML button to enter or edit html tags:

Other neat options:

Link to another website

1. Highlight the text that will form the link (it's better if it's descriptive, rather than 'click here')
2. Click the globe icon which opens the External link box
   
3. Paste in the URL, then click OK
4. Alternatively, click the HTML button and create the link in html

Display a YouTube video

1. Go to YouTube and find the video you wish to display
2. Locate the embed code. It's usually found on the right side of the page under the submitter's details
3. In your idea/comment, type a short description of the video or some introduction of some sort
4. Click the HTML button on your idea or comment input
   
5. Copy and paste the entire embed code under your introduction, below the other html code
6. All done? Click Add idea and the video will appear on screen for everyone to see

Upload an image

Want to display an image in your idea or comment?

1. Click the tree icon which opens Upload image box
   
2. Click upload an image
3. Choose an image from your local or network drive
4. Type in a title (ignore the description)
5. Click OK
6. Alternatively, click the HTML button and create the link in HTML

Rate an idea

Any registered user can rate another person's idea from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). The idea's current rating is displayed at all times and you can add your own rating when you view an idea. To rate, click on a star. Your vote is added immediately.

You can change your rating, but your vote only increases the total number of ratings by one, no matter how often you change your rating. Sadly, you cannot rate your own ideas.

Search for content

Ideas and comments can be found by keyword search or browsing.

Search

1. Type a word into the search box in the top right hand corner of the page
2. Click Search
3. Any ideas that contains your keyword (either in the idea, comments or topics) will be displayed
4. Results are sortable by highest rated, latest (most recent), and most comments

Browse by discussion topic

1. Click a topic in the 'Discussion topics' area on the right hand side of the page
2. A list of ideas relevant to that topic will be displayed
3. Results are sortable by highest rated, latest (most recent), and most comments

If you can't find what you're looking for, you could always submit an idea of your own!

Member profiles

Every registered user has a profile page. You can view other member profiles by clicking their username where it appears next to ideas and comments.

Edit your own profile by clicking on your username where it says 'Logged in as...' at the top of the page. If you wish, you can fill in your profile and upload a photo of yourself. Pictures should be approximately 100 pixels by 100 pixels. You can change your profile details and photo any time you are logged in.

Below your profile details will be lists detailing your involvement with the site. Up to three ideas will display within each section, but if there are more, click the 'more' link.

• Ideas I'm watching: any idea you've added to your watch list
• Ideas I've submitted: any idea you've submitted will appear here, however it will disappear from the list if moderated
• Ideas I've commented on: all ideas you've commented on
• Members I'm watching: members you've added to your watch list (click their username to view their profile)

Watch ideas and members

If you want to keep an eye on a particular idea, we have several options for you. Each will appear in your profile. The title/username links to the idea/member.

Watch list

• On the idea, click the More options tab
• Click Add idea to watch list
• The idea's title will appear in this section on your profile
• You can stop watching the idea by clicking the Remove idea from watch list button

Updates on comments by email

• On the idea, click the More options tab
• Click Subscribe to email notifications
• You will now receive an email whenever someone comments on this idea
• You can stop receiving email updates by clicking the Unsubscribe from email notifications

RSS feed on comments

• On the idea, click the More options tab
• Click or right-click (depending on your computer) on Subscribe to the idea's RSS feed
• Paste the link into your RSS reader
• You will now receive an update whenever someone comments on this idea
• To stop receiving RSS updates, remove it from your feed reader

Watching members

If you want to watch other users' activity (perhaps they offer intelligent responses?), click Watch this member on their profile page. Their name will appear on your profile page under the 'Members I'm watching' section. You can stop watching a user anytime by clicking Stop watching this user on their profile page.

Add topics

Any registered user can tag ideas with relevant discussion topics. Here's how:

1. On the idea, click the More options tab
2. Start typing in a relevant topic keyword
3. Any topic matches will automatically appear in a list beneath the input — if you do have a match, click on it and it will be added to the topic input.
4. You can add more than one — just separate each topic with a comma
5. Click Add topic to save them

You can also add topics when you are submitting an idea.