Lightweight "somebody-should" front end

[epsaul]

We've built a lightweight front-end interface for browsing open issues on this repo, designed to be more accessible for non-coders and community members.

🔗 Live preview: https://epsaul.github.io/DoES_Somebody_should_interface/

(Note, this link is NOT its final resting place - but we'll update here when we've found a place for it to live.)

It filters open issues and presents them in a clean, readable format. Feedback welcome—especially on usability, accessibility, and whether it helps newcomers engage with the space.

If you don't use GitHub (and therefore can't read this), you're probably not reading this. But if someone printed it out and handed it to you—hello, analogue rebel! The interface is live and waiting.

If it's of use, we'll add some buttons for adding a new issue and/or better search options.

[epsaul]

@JackiePease @johnmckerrell @amcewen Hi all,

I’ve been exploring ways to let people submit new issues directly from the interface. At the moment, GitHub requires authentication to create issues via its API, which means users need a GitHub account and a personal access token.

That’s fine for regular contributors, but it creates a barrier for newcomers, especially those unfamiliar with Git or GitHub. Ideally, we’d like to make it possible for anyone—whether they’re a visitor, workshop participant, or analogue rebel—to log an issue without needing to sign up or navigate GitHub’s interface.

Would the directors be open to discussing options for this? For example:

Should we redirect users to GitHub’s issue creation page and encourage sign-up?

Would we consider hosting a simple backend that could submit issues on behalf of users? - we’ll need safeguards—like rate limiting, CAPTCHA, or a moderation queue—to prevent spam and protect the GitHub token (?)

Is there appetite for a hybrid approach—e.g., a form that emails a steward or creates a draft issue for review?

Ed.

[amcewen]

I'll leave it to the less-github-familiar folk to provide feedback on the interface, but can help with setting it up on the DoES VPS when it needs a permanent home.

Not sure what the best approach for opening-issues-without-an-account is, but #639 suggests using https://gitreports.com/ for that. The "Log in" link on that doesn't seem to be working, so maybe it's a dead project, but we could try spinning it up or using it as a starting point for something

[epsaul]

Tested here using a local server. @amcewen Is this suitable to host on DoES VPS now?

[amcewen]

@epsaul and I chatted about this at last Maker Night, and he pointed out that hosting it physically in the space would mean it was only accessible from the DoES internal network; which seems a good way forward. (If we find people want to use it outside then we can move it then)

And having thought about the UI a bit more since then, I'm wondering if there could be a field for people to enter their name so we can follow up if we need any more details about the issue?