How-to

Publish your service list

A public agency can put its services at two addresses. People read /services. Machines read /services.json.

The first half of this page you can take with you. The second half needs your staff.

Start here

Take these with you

None of this is your inventory yet. It is the shape of one, and the blank form for yours.

  1. Read a finished list

    Civic Studio's own list is the worked example. People read it at /services. Machines read the same names at /services.json. The services in it are ours. The two addresses are what to copy.

  2. Copy the form

    The form is one block per service. Copy it once for each service you are listing. Blank lines are allowed. Unknown is an answer.

    The form.

  3. Borrow an example, if you want a start

    The example is a short list of services most cities already deliver. It is not a real department. Replace the publisher. Delete the rows you do not offer. Add the rows you do.

    An example list of city services.

Your part

From here, your staff take part

The form and the example stop at the door. A finished list names your services, the pages where people start them, and the position that owns each one. Those answers are inside the agency.

We can draft the first pass with you. We cannot supply it from the outside.

  1. Name the doors the public can start

    A permit. A payment. A record. A repair. If you are not sure a service belongs on the list, keep the row and write unknown. A service the public cannot start does not need a row yet.

  2. Fill the form once for each service

    The position that owns the service is the line that stays. The person's name and email can wait, or stay blank. When you publish the file, give each service a short name and keep it. When the service ends, remove the row. Do not give that short name to a different service.

  3. Publish both addresses

    Put the list where residents and your own staff can read it, at /services. Put the same list where machines can read it, at /services.json. You can do this yourselves. You can keep the working copy in the system you already use, and publish the file from there. You can ask another group to do it.

    If you ask us, we draft it with the people who do the work. The draft still needs your answers.

Draft it with us