RichardTaylor
commented
9 years ago Just linking this to the feature request at #1155 which would hopefully make things easier and remove the need for things like FTP file uploads; or logging into a server and copying a file across from elsewhere.
For WhatDoTheyKnow file uploads are a rare, and increasingly rare, requirement.
There are a couple of different things that happen:
- Sometimes a WhatDoTheyKnow administrator will get a CD (or even a batch of papers to scan) and the files will need uploading.
- Sometimes either an authority or a requestor has placed material released in response to a request online and we want to host a copy on WhatDoTheyKnow (sometimes file hosting services which require a password / user account creation are used by authorities - or we simply think WhatDoTheyKnow is going to be a more reliable repository.
Sometimes at WhatDoTheyKnow (due to not having a simple system) I at least avoid uploading a response received outside of the site and go for alternatives eg. it's just text it can be entered as an annotation. Sometimes we suggest users add the key element of a response as an annotation. Sometimes a user will upload a file on their own website or to a service such as Google Docs and link to it from an annotation.
A big strength of Alaveteli / WhatDoTheyKnow is it gives some assurance a response really does come from an authority. Anyone uploading responses received outside the site needs to be alert to the possibility one day someone might try and claim a document is a response when they've created it or edited it themselves. Typically an annotation on a request explains what's happened so a reader is made aware of how particular material got to the site and can use that make a judgement on how much to trust it.
utvk
garethrees
gbp
Dealing with uploading files: e.g., large responses that have come to users on a CD (on WhatDoTheyKnow we had a directory we uploaded things to directly outside of the application)
Broken out from #1075