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start [2021/03/19 17:47] – Filling out mostly Technology section ntnsndrstart [2024/12/19 17:54] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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-{{:logo.png?nolink&400}}+====== MEDLab Handbook ======
  
-**[[https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/|Media Enterprise Design Lab]]**\\+ 
 +**[[https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/|Media Economies Design Lab]]**\\
 University of Colorado Boulder University of Colorado Boulder
  
 ---- ----
 +
 +**MEDLab experiments with democratic ownership and governance in the online economy.** See more information on programs and personnel on the website's [[https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/about|About page]].
  
 In this handbook, we document our own processes, to support our own work and for transparency with our stakeholders. In this handbook, we document our own processes, to support our own work and for transparency with our stakeholders.
  
-===== Purpose =====+  * [[History]] 
 +  * [[Governance]] 
 +  * [[Process]] 
 +  * [[Getting paid]] 
 +  * [[Technology]] 
 +  * [[Accounting]] 
 +  * [[On-boarding]] 
 +  * [[Radio]] 
 +  * [[Background reading]]
  
-**MEDLab is a think tank for community ownership and governance in media organizations.** See more information on programs and personnel on the website's [[https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/aboutm|About page]].+This handbook is a living document, and all MEDLab team members are invited to edit and improve it.
  
-===== Governance ===== +----
- +
-  * CommunityRule link: merge Circles and BD +
-    * Values: Transparency, do-ocracy, coordination +
-  * Code of Conduct: Contributor Covenant? +
-  * Tips for getting involved +
- +
-===== Process ===== +
- +
-  * Chat +
-  * Weekly standups +
-  * Occasional circle and all-hands meetings +
- +
-===== Technology ===== +
- +
-MEDLab hosts its own software in order to participate in the free/open-source software (FLOSS) commons, and in order to protect our practices from surveillance-based business models. +
- +
-==== Cloudron [my.medlab.host] ==== +
- +
-**What it is**: [[https://cloudron.io/|Cloudron]] is a tool created by a small business that makes it easier to deploy and manage multiple open FLOSS tools on a server. We have a relationship with the company and they provide excellent support. It sits in the background and isn't really user-facing. +
- +
-**How it works**: Cloudron automatically updates our apps and backs up their data. We don't need to worry about it too much. It is through Cloudron that we create accounts that can be used on the other apps we use, as it manages accounts centrally. Our Cloudron system is hosted on a DigitalOcean droplet. +
- +
-==== Gitlab [gitlab.com/medlabboulder] ==== +
- +
- +
-==== Newsletter ==== +
- +
- +
-==== NextCloud [cloud.medlab.host] ==== +
- +
-**What it is**: [[https://nextcloud.com|NextCloud]] is a FLOSS platform for file-hosting and collaboration that is heavily extensible through plugins. We host it on Cloudron and use it to manage all our internal files and documents. It is also integrated with Collabora, a collaborative document editor. +
- +
-**How it works**: Any MEDLab research fellows should be able to access our filesystem with their accounts. It works much like Google Docs. You can edit Mircosoft and OpenDocument office file formats (.docx, .odt, .pptx, .xlsx, etc.) online using the Collabora editor, but this is a bit clunky and slow. It might be easier to download such files to your computer, edit locally, and then re-upload. A faster and simpler collaborative editing tool, though less powerful, is NextCloud's built-in Markdown editor. To use it, create a "New text document" using the "+" button at the top, and create a file that ends with .md (as is the default). This is a good way to keep notes in simple rich text, though it is not a fully featured word processor. +
- +
-Please use discretion in sharing access to files and folders. All files are available to MEDLab team members, but it may not be appropriate to share them externally. Please ask Nathan if you are uncertain about what would be appropriate. +
- +
-NextCloud plugins give us a variety of tools, which you can access through the menu bar at the top of the Web interface. These include: +
- +
-  * Deck - A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban|kanban]]-style tool for managing workflows. We use this mainly to manage logistics around grant reporting, but you can create your own deck for a project you're working on if it would help you with task management. +
-  * Polls - Enables multiple choice polls, including Doodle-style time polls for meetings. The interface takes some getting used to. +
-  * Forms - Enables the creation of forms akin to Google Forms. It's a bit buggy, and the data export format doesn't make it easy to extract data usefully. Hopefully this will improve with time. For forms that will acquire large amounts of input, it's better to use the form tool on our colorado.edu website. +
-  * Element - This is our chat. See information on Matrix below. +
- +
-You can access NextCloud through the Web interface or through mobile apps. Note that the NextCloud mobile app really only includes the Files tool, while the Web interface includes access to all the tools. +
- +
-==== Matrix [cloud.medlab.host/riotchat] ==== +
- +
-**What it is**: [[https://matrix.org|Matrix]] is a FLOSS communications protocol intended to be a highly secure backend for chat, email, social media, and other applications. It is still early-stage, but it a very promising project, and it has already been adopted by several European governments seeking to reduce their dependence on US-based software companies. Rather than relying on centralized companies, it enables both federated and peer-to-peer connections. Our own instance is currently not federated with the wider Matrix network, as we only use it internally, but we could add this functionality if we see fit. We use Element, which is the flagship Matrix client; Element used to be called "Riot," which is why that's in the URL on NextCloud. +
- +
-**How it works**: Access it through the Element client from within NextCloud, or using a Matrix-compatible mobile app (such as the one also called Element). The server is hosted on Cloudron at matrix.medlab.host (which you only need to know if you're logging in through a mobile client; the Web client already knows this). When first logging in, it will ask you to create a security key, which is a long series of characters. Keep that someplace safe. Hopefully you won't need to use it very often. Log in with the same credentials you use for NextCloud. +
- +
-==== Twitter ==== +
- +
- +
-==== Website [colorado.edu/lab/medlab/] ==== +
- +
-For the [https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/|MEDLab website] we use the [https://drupal.org|Drupal]-based system maintained by the university. We use this for: +
- +
-  * Basic information about MEDLab projects and personnel +
-  * Event pages and registration forms +
-  * Blog posts on our work +
- +
-Currently, only Nathan has admin access to the website. +
- +
-===== Economics ===== +
- +
-Processes for managing budgeting, etc. +
- +
-===== On-boarding ===== +
- +
-TKTK the steps for creating accounts +
- +
-Setting up profile on website+
  
-How to set up payment, submit invoices, etc.