Have a user-friendly project inventory

[jordangov]

Feature

Right now the only way to see projects on Code.mil is to look at the code.json file. I would like to have a user-friendly view of the projects in that inventory for anyone to peruse. The Code.gov team has something like this, but I'm not sure if it is reusable, and we don't necessarily need it to look like that.

[RicardoAReyes]

@jordangov One idea would be to repurpose the LLNL Software Catalog Portal, https://software.llnl.gov, it uses the GitHub.io software.

https://github.com/llnl/llnl.github.io

@IanLee1521 would like that as well.

People are looking at this feature request during the Operation Code - Holiday Civic Hackathon today.

[milovanderlinden]

I am looking at this issue. If the code.json file would be in the _data directory before the build; it could be added for isntance like

{%- for release in site.data.code.releases -%}
  <li>{{ release.name }}</li>
{%- endfor -%}

Which in this case would render a list of releases. I am prototyping it now. I changed the file code_gov_inventory_generator.rb to actually write a file in _data; but it runs in an infinite loop during jekyll serve, that is not something I want.

[DanielJDufour]

It was brought up as a question in the hackathon. Here's where to find the code.json for code.mil:
https://code.mil/code.json

[milovanderlinden]

The code.json is generated by the file in src/_plugins/code_gov_inventory_generator.rb but this is generated AFTER the pages are built. To have it available BEFORE the pages are built, another script is required that generates code.json in the src/_data/ directory. I have a working prototype for this.

[b-d055]

@jordangov is anyone working on this at the moment? I'd like to get involved by starting a simple implementation of this using React. The code.gov repo https://github.com/GSA/code-gov-front-end has react components already built that we can take advantage of.

As stated, this may make the build process more complicated, however, I think we could accomplish it relatively pain-free by using JS and Babel only and skipping the toolchain process .

[DanielJDufour]

Hi, @b-d055 . I used to work on the code.gov front-end and now contribute as a volunteer. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to email me at daniel.j.dufour@gmail.com. You can also reach the current code.gov team at code@gsa.gov (as well as Github)

[jordangov]

@b-d055 I do not know of anyone working on this actively. Go forth!

[b-d055]

Thanks @DanielJDufour!

@jordangov I have already forked and have am working on a basic, display-only version of the projects page.