Plings Blogs

New in the Stats Tool

Today we released the latest work we’ve been doing on the stats tool, that local authorities can use to inspect their Youth Offer.

What’s new?

• Instances – We’ve altered the headline stats (top right) to feature ‘instances’ more prominently, as after all, that’s what Plings is all about!
• Charts – we have 2 new charts, a pie chart of activities that have been classified against the DCSF 8 categories of positive activities, and  an Instances over time profile, that shows how activies peak and trough over a time period.
• Reports Tab – We’ve added a new ‘Reports’ section – for now this shows the weekly breakdown of figures into morning, afternoon, and evening sessions, as required once again by the DCSF, but rather than just focus on one reporting period, we show this over any time period you care to put in.
• Maps – If you take a look at the ‘places to go’ tab, you can now see venues on a Google Map, or in a list.
• Latest News – tucked in down out of the way is our ‘Latest News’ block, that links back to articles we post here on the blog, that have something to do with the tool. Seems like a good way of keeping in touch!

The chart could help spot trends

We’ll be publishing our ‘roadmap’ ( a grand term, for what we hope to do next!) soon, as we’ve already got a list of new features we’d like to see in there. If you have suggestions for things you’d like to see and/or any improvements you think we could make, then please let us know.

Plings.net going national

We’ve got a big vision for Plings. We want any young person in the country to be able to easily answer the questions: “What’s on for me? What activities can I get involved in and how?”. We also want to pose a question to activity providers: “How can you help develop the talent and potential of young people who show an interest in the activities you are organising”. We hope the new look and feel begin to convey this message.

With the launch of a new Plings.net website this week, we’re a step closer to that vision – though there is still a long way to go.

When we started building the Plings positive activity information platform over two years ago, there were many areas where the data and information on activities existed only in peoples heads or locked up in printed flyers, and at best, in spreadsheets on someones hard-disk. Now, for many of the 20 local authorities we’ve been working with as part of the DSCF funded Information & Signposting Project, much of the information on positive activities for those areas is available through our output API ready to be syndicated to local and national websites, and used in any number of widgets and tools. Whilst we’ve brought activity information together in one central place, Plings is very much about supporting local information providers to develop new ways of collecting, sharing and amplifying positive activity information – and we continue to encourage local websites to make use of the data feeds of positive activities we provide.

Our vision though, is bigger than providing information in just 20 local areas, and so the new Plings.net website provides a space for young people from any area of the country to take the first step on a journey to finding positive activities where they live. Right now, if we’ve not got information for a local area, we try to signpost young people to the local youth websites that we’ve found and categorised. We’re also working with 1Up Design to identify activity information that has been added to the national PKHD directory, and to use that to start gradually improving the coverage of Plings positive activity information across the whole of the country (more on that soon…).

As we continually improve both our list of local website links (all suggestions always welcome), and, more importantly, the data held on local activity provision, Plings.net becomes a key launchpad for any young person wanting to explore their interests, or get involved in something new. But Plings has never just been about a website – it also increases the availability of data in our Output API for anyone to use and innovate with – presenting ever-more-ingenious ways of encouraging young people to find and engage in positive activities.

So, as, over the coming months, we transition from Plings.net as a pilot in 20 local areas, to a Plings.net that can serve young people anywhere in the country, we hope you’ll continue to share your feedback and ideas with us – and to join us on the ongoing journey..

Putting the Pictures in Plings

A picture is worth a thousand words. Seeing is believing. Image matters.

For a while we’ve been wanting to find ways to add more visual appeal to individual Plings listings. We think that having a photo next to each activity listing could make a difference when it comes to young people discovering, becoming interested in, and hopefully getting involved in, new activities.

The main Plings website has had the option of attaching images to activities by way of a Flickr Machine Tag for a while now, but of course, images on an activity-by-activity basis are, at the moment, few and far between. So, for the launch of the new Plings.net, Ben Webb took up the challenge of creating a simple mechanism for attaching ‘generic’ images to activities based on their tags.

Challenge 1: Finding images to use

Gathering images of every possible activity in Plings is a big task. We needed a solution that allows us to incrementally build up a collection of images. And we need images that we have permission to use (no copyright restricted images!). Fortunately, many of the images on the photo sharing website Flickr have been uploaded under Creative Commons licenses that give permission for their re-use.

Challenge 2: Collecting the images

Once we found images on Flickr that could be used against types of activities (e.g. Football, Canoeing etc.) we needed a way to tag them as such. Flickr doesn’t offer an easy way to tag other people’s Creative Commons photos in the way we needed, so, we turned to trusty social bookmarking service Delicious.

Using delicious we can bookmark the pages that contain photos on Flickr, and can add our own category tags to our bookmarks – choosing tags that match the tags which activities are given.

Challenge 3: Displaying the images

Fortunately both Flickr and Delicious have useful APIs that we can use to get information back from them. So, whenever an activity page on Plings.net is visited, Ben’s scripts looks at the categories assigned to the activity, and  checks to see if any photos have been tagged on the Plings delicious account with these activity categories/tags. If so, by looking at the URL of the tagged page, and extracting the Flickr Photo ID, the script can fetch information about the photos referenced, checking that they are licensed in ways that allow us to re-use them, and then displaying them on the activity page.

If there is suitable machine tagged photo on Flickr for this specific activity, then that takes precedence over the general images.

If no photos are found, then a collection of general placeholder images are used to make sure that pages don’t end up looking dull.

A distributed – re-usable system

Both the bookmarks, and photos are public online resources – and so this solution could be used by anyone else providing information on positive activities.

If you’re interested in the code we’ve used, just get in touch. We’ll also be thinking about how we might add images more directly to the Plings data feeds in future – and welcome and thoughts and reflections on that.

One-Click Statistics…?

The DCSF want to know how local authorities are doing when it comes to providing positive activities to young people. In November Antony Hughes wrote to all Local Authority Directors of Children’s Services to announce a data collection exercise designed to “capture summary information on the pattern of provision of the youth offer over the week, including number of sessions provided on Friday and Saturday nights [and] including a breakdown of youth offer by activity and provider type”.

Of course, this is exactly the sort of information that exists within the Plings Platform, so for the 22 authorities currently involved in the Plings pilot, where the data is up-to-date we’ll be able to present the information needed to complete the DCSF monitoring spreadsheet with the touch of a button. Well, almost…

The categories being used by DCSF to describe activity types do not match 100% with those in Plings, but using the Tag-It tool we’re able to offer a quick interface for authorities to recategorise any activities as required – and then from an updated version of the Stats tool soon to be available, we’ll be able to present the information needed by DCSF.

With continued work to integrate the Parent Know How Directory and Plings (PKHD includes data on activity provision, but not ‘instances’ of activities for all local authorities) we hope that in the future we may even be able to generate these summary statistics for anywhere in the country.

Scouting out local Plings online

Enable is a new Derbyshire-based Disability Direct project promoting independence and social inclusion for young disabled people aged 16-25.

Enable’s Young People’s Worker, Naomi Hope, talked to Plings about scouting-out accessible positive activities across Derbyshire, Strictly Come Dancing, and the challenges of out-of-date websites.

Naomi, tell us about what you do.

My role is to gather information about absolutely everything that is taking place in Derbyshire that young people may be interested in. Then when a service user comes to me and wants to know about what’s happening locally – where to see films, plays and concerts, sports events and groups, support services like counselling and health information, adult education courses and volunteer opportunities – I know what to tell them!

How do you go about finding websites listing positive activities in Derbyshire?

I start in the obvious places that give general information such as the City and County Council for their activities and links to other organisations. The Tourist Information sites have great information about local attractions and events.

If I’m looking for something creative then I go to the Arts Derbyshire website or if it’s sporty then the Leisure Centres and Derbyshire Sport. If I’m after something very specific then Google is usually the first place I check.

Which websites do you use on a regular basis to find information?

There are loads of websites on my favourites list, including:

Connexions helps young people with information about education, employment and training

Too Doo, a Derbyshire County Council website that lists activities for 11-19 year olds.

The Derbyshire Directory lists local groups and charities

Derbyshire and Derby City Councils have a great source of information about organisations and events. The City Council has a fantastic Learning Disability Resource Directory.

Tourist Information helps with local attractions and events

Volunteer opportunities are listed on do-it and vinspired.

I would love for websites like Plings and Disabled Go to have information about Derbyshire.

That’s a lot of websites to keep track of. How do you make sure the information you’re using from them is up to date?

Very often, courses and events are listed with dates that they are running. With other activities that are presumed ongoing, like youth clubs, I email or ring them to check that it is still active. Things change all the time – new projects begin, old ones end, current ones change the times or venues – it is very hard for everyone to keep their information up to date. I guess this is the problem with organisations registering their activities on lots of different websites – when things change it is a job remembering to update everyone else with the changes.

How do you decide whether particular positive activities are accessible to young people with disabilities?

There are some great websites like Derbyshire Sport, which has information about disability sports in the county. You can also find out which Leisure Centres are Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) accredited so you know that the facilities and equipment are accessible for disabled and non-disabled people.

I work with young people with a range of disabilities, which can be physical disabilities, learning difficulties, sensory impairments or mental ill health. An activity described as suitable for people with disabilities may be suitable for one person but not another. Also, some people want to do activities with other disabled people while other want to access mainstream activities.

The best thing to do is to treat each case individually. I find that rather than make assumptions that something will be suitable and enjoyable, I do some research and contact the organiser to find out more information. I like to visit as many of the activities as possible to get first hand experience of what takes place. It then puts me in a better position for telling other people what to expect, as often trying something new can be daunting.

The good news is that I am finding out that there are a huge number of things to do in Derbyshire.

Which positive activity in Derbyshire would you most like to take part in?

Well I’m a huge Strictly fan and would love to learn how to dance, despite my lack of rhythm and two left feet! Derby has a fantastic dance centre called Déda, which has performances and classes to suit all dance lovers. My favourite dance to watch is the Argentine Tango, which they teach at Déda, so I really should go and sign up…

Anything else you’d like to say?

Disability Direct is currently in the process of creating our own directory of local facilities accessible to older and disabled people called ‘Do What You Want’.

We contacted hundreds of local organisations, clubs and venues to find out about what they do and their accessibility for disabled people. The information compiled from the answers given is being entered onto an online database so that anyone searching for clubs, groups, societies, self help, peer support, sports etc, etc will be able to find out exactly what is going on in their area and whether the location is suitable for their needs.

#uksnow – is the youth club open?

As the snow hit last Tuesday I spent quite a while – as I’m sure many other people did – trying to find out if our school would be open or closed. The school landline was engaged, the city council website wasn’t updated and so it was left to huddle round the radio, tuning into the growing list of school closures that were being read out. Both BBC Radio Manchester and Key 103 did a fine job in keeping this service going, quickly publishing the names of schools on their websites.

With the heavy snowfall it was probably obvious that any out-of-school activities and venues would be closed, but how would we know? Probably more tricky would be the status of these activities as the snow starts to shift and melt. Whilst the airwaves are open for alerting people about important closure to schools or postponements of football matches (which I had a ticket for!), it is the community-based events that Plings collects that become the focus.

Obviously heavy snow, burst pipes and icy roads are not a new phenomenon, and so I’m sure word-of-mouth and common sense would have prevailed in many cases – just as it would have done in the pre-internet age. The slight issue we have now, however, is that in the commitment to publish information, we are also leaving it there for people to find. At face value, the youth club may still be open. When you have online information, it’s important to make it updated and current online information.

A couple of examples have helped:

- Our friends at Primary Technology utilised Voice-over-IP technology (VoIP), whereby schools could request a phone call, to then inform a database that the school was closed. This happens very quickly and easily and as the call is from system to the phone number on file, it is verified but also requires less human intervention. VoIP could be a cheap and scalable technology through which to do this.

- Oxfordshire youth service informed me that young people were using Facebook to track, monitor and share the status of the youth club openings. This doesn’t necessarily come with the verification of the previous example, but does illustrate that the word-of-mouth method is also shifting to other spaces

As we move to publish more and more data, this aspect of editing and updating particular instances will become more interesting and of need. Whilst the snow is an obvious example, there will be many other examples. We will continue this theme through the blog over coming months…

Finally – any ideas on how snowman building can be a positive activity? I spotted this one whilst out and about – there are some fine snow sculpting skills out there!

Getting better data with Tag-It

The Tag-It Tool Version 1

What do you do when you have information about 100s of activities, and you need to categorise them all, but your current database won’t let you add new fields and information? Even if your database will let you add new categories to your data, going in and editing every single record can be a time consuming job.

That’s why we’ve recently re-purposed a tool we built as a pilot for the 2morro festival in the Summer to provide an easy way for users of Plings to add tags and categories to all their data.

Tag-It works by picking out unique activities, and providing users with a simple interface for adding keyword tags, and selecting from pre-defined categories that activities should fall into.

If tag-it detects that an activity is repeated, then instead of having to tag each instance of the activity, Tag-It applies the new categories to every activity in the series, and all the updated tags and categories are soon available through the Plings Output API

We’ll be rolling out the Tag It tool to partners in the Plings pilot soon – and making good use of it when it comes to categorising data ready for returns to the DCSF…(more on that soon…). Get in touch with the team to find out more about how you can make use of Tag-It locally.

OPEN: Designed by Young People. For Young People.

The OPEN centre is a brand new world class youth venue in Norwich city centre.  It is the first of many flagship venues funded by the government’s myplace programme, which is being delivered by the Big Lottery Fund.

Plings got in touch with OPEN project assistant David Mill to find out what’s on offer at the centre, how young people are involved in running and promoting the venue, and its plans for the New Year.

Tell us about OPEN.

OPEN is a brand new, state-of-the-art youth venue for young people aged 12 – 25  The venue is drug, alcohol and tobacco free.

There are loads of different facilities at OPEN including a Live Venue, Café, Gaming Area, Climbing Wall, Media Lab, Dance Studio, Recording Studio and a Nightclub. In the Live Venue we have local bands who get a chance to showcase their music and big-name artists…in 2009 we had Kano, Example, Miss Bratz, Basshunter and Booty Luv all performing live at OPEN!

OPEN is owned and run by The OPEN Youth Trust, a registered charity which aims to improve the lives of young people in Norfolk.

Describe OPEN in three words.

Vibrant, Exciting, Unique

How did you involve young people in setting up the OPEN centre?

The project was launched in 2003 at which time a team of 40 young people formed the OPEN Youth Forum. OPEN’s ethos’s has always been to work with young people at every stage of the project. After all, how can you create something for young people, without asking them first? This diverse Youth Forum was made up of a whole range of people from different backgrounds and experiences.

In 2007, we decided that the Youth Forum needed to change because young people were moving to university, getting jobs and generally growing up. So a new team was made up of both old Youth Forum members and new ones. The Youth Forum has made many decisions to shape OPEN today. From selecting who was going to design the venue, to choosing different colour schemes around the building, and many other decisions. They also went to different events like the Norfolk Show to help promote OPEN, and planned different events including the Extreme Conference and a number of fashion shows.

And how are young people involved in the day-to-day running of OPEN

Several of the young people that were involved in the Youth Forum now work for the venue in various capacities.

We also get young people’s feedback from comments on Facebook, by meeting them within the venue, feedback forms and by email. We have been able to action their ideas about new events, deciding who should perform at OPEN and planning what activities and workshops to hold.

How do you promote OPEN?

We use lots of different mediums to let people know about the project. For instance, we regularly go in to different schools around Norwich and Norfolk, into their assemblies. We promote what the venue is, the different activities and new events coming up. We use is the internet widely. Facebook has big attraction to young people, also Bebo, Myspace, Twitter and Youtube.

Young people promote OPEN by running their own workshops and events, DJ Oblivion has set up his own Drum & Bass and Dubstep night and ran several DJ workshops during our launch week.

Another young person who has his own art and clothing label called Shhhh!, also works with us by creating new artwork for the venue and taking photos at events.

How do you make sure as many young people as possible from all kinds of social backgrounds can come along to OPEN?

We try to vary our events and workshops to attract different sorts of people. Also many of the facilities at OPEN are free to use such as the Cafe, Gaming Area, Media Lab and soon the Health Centre.

The whole building can also be accessed by people who have different disabilities.

What’s your favourite thing about OPEN?

My favourite part of OPEN is the Nightclub. We hold lots of fun events in there for under 18’s, covering a wide range of music styles and tastes. SNAP plays more commercial and chart based genre, whilst Bassment is our new Drum & Bass and Dubstep night. One of our young people who works with us closely, runs this night which is really exciting. Many more nights are being planned at the moment, including AJ’s which is going to be exclusively for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities. From UV Neon Night, to our popular Popcorn Party and we have also had a Foam Party which has been our biggest crowd to date! Other nights in 2010 include Heroes and Villains and a Pirate Party!

For more information about OPEN, visit the OPEN website.  You can also become a fan on Facebook by searching ‘OPEN Youth Venue’.

The Plings Stats tool

The main contact for Plings in each Local Authority taking part in the pilot will shortly be receiving a log-in to the Plings Stats tool.

The statistics tool is our way of helping Local Authorities to review what their local offer really looks like – by navigating the activity offer contained within the Plings database.

As you can see from the screen-shot below, the tool will allow authorities to pick any date-range and explore what activities were on offer then, of what sort, and by run by which providers.

The Plings Statistics Tool

Knowing more about the activities currently on offer can help local authorities to identify gaps in provision.

This is the first public release of the statistics tool, but we will continue to develop it over the coming year – exploring ways that the statistical information on what is on when, can be complemented with feedback and comments from young people about local activity provision.

If you’ve got ideas for developing the stats tool, then of course, do let us know.

Boredometer now on Facebook

The Plings social network site application, Boredometer is now available for local authorities to offer to young people in Facebook, after a successful beta test on Bebo.

Boredometer on Facebook comes also with the Bordeometer Admin Tool (BAT) which local authorities can use attached to a Facebook page to send activity information out to their Facebook page fans, or to find out how is using Boredometer in their local area.

To find out more about Bordometer check out the Plings Developer Wiki, or watch this short Screencast from app developer Harry Harold.