/imc

Improve My City :: The new extension package for Joomla 3

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Improve My City for J3

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Travis-CI: Build Status

Important note: Currently use only on Twitter Bootstrap compatible themes

At current state you need a Bootstrap-compatible theme to get the most out of the IMC app. Demo is based on open source template Purity III from Joomlart

New features

Joomla 3 compatible

Improve My City 3 is not just a single Joomla component but a complete package containing a set of Joomla modules and Joomla plugins working together to achieve seamless Joomla3 ecosystem integration. IMC3 is no longer a monolithic all-in-one component but a complete redesigned package following the good design practices of Joomla framework.You can now define where to position the map, the issues list, the filters and even the buttons according to your template positions.

Frontend administration

IMC3 implements all necessary mechanisms to allow administrators handling the issues directly from the frontend without having to use the Joomla backend. Functionality remains the same but now every administrative features like publishing an issue, changing issue status and category or even removing an image could be achieved simply by logging in the frontend. IMC3 identifies user privileges and permits editing accordingly.

Edit your own issues

You made a mistake or forgot to include an important detail to your description? Have you forgot to upload an image or add some extra info on the issue address? With IMC3 that's no longer a problem. Your can edit your own issues even if they are not yet published! It's up to the administrator to decide if registered users are allowed or not to edit their issues with or without his confirmation.

Unlimited issue status steps

You can define how many and what steps are required to characterize an issue.

Submitted - Acknowledged - On progress - Solved - Unsolved - Closed - Archived.... Possibilities are countless

You can have unlimited steps according to your needs. You can skip steps or you can return to a previous step if you like. You describe the reason of changing through a very friendly dialog box without having to leave the editing page and all actions are recorded automatically so that everyone is aware of every single step taken up to the current status of an issue. You can even set different color to each step for better user experience.

Guest issue submission

IMC3 supports issue submission from non-registered users. Administrator can set if guest submissions are allowed or not. No personal information is required for guests. If that is the case, the button "Report an issue" is available to the public without any further actions needed. Note though, that issues submitted by guests are editable only by privileged users. Guests cannot change their issues nor are able to see their non-published issues as well.

Geolocation for easier submission

If your browser supports it, IMC3 can automatically spot your position in Google Maps module to help you locate the issue while you are on the move. Moreover it supports reverse geocoding meaning that you type an address and the marker is positioned to the appropriate location. If an address is found in multiple places you can choose the correct one from the suggestion list. Sometimes, it's useful adding extra information to the address field such as "next to the grocery store" or adding the correct street number but do not want to force the marker to change location through reverse geocoding. Now it is possible to lock the marker and type any information to help describe the location better or move the marker precisely without affecting the address field.

Full ACL support

IMC3 fully supports Joomla3 Access Control List (ACL) to set permissions even to lower issue level. Possibilities are endless. You can define your company/authority/municipality chart and set who manages what, define if users are allowed to edit issues or edit just their own issues. Set level of administration to each department and even create issues that are only visible to administrators. You can set global, category and issue permissions per user, group or access level. You name it!

Unlimited photos

IMC3 provides a very friendly mechanism to upload as many photos per issue as you like. You can simply drag 'n drop your files all at once and start to upload. Thumbnails are displayed before the final upload to help users preview their photos. A progress bar indicates the remaining time. You can remove or add photos at any time while in the backend both the original and thumbnail photos are created or updated automatically.

Detailed issue logging

Every action taken to an issue is being logged with details. From the moment it's submitted, when status or category changes or when a notification sent or a comment is made, everything is logged automatically. Who took the action, when that happened and why is happened is stored for each issue. The complete history is presented so as to let users aware of the complete progress. For convenient, when administrators view the issue details, the complete log is presented as well.

Multiple component layouts

Besides being able to position the map and filters in your desired template position, IMC3 also supports various component layouts. You can select among tabular or boxed list or photo thumbnails of issues listing. Showing the map or not can give a number of combinations to personalize your Improve My City website.

Extended filtering and search

IMC3 supports filtering issues by category. You can check which categories are displayed at any time and more over you can combine filters with textual search. Using the appropriate search module you can put the search box in any position and type a couple of words. When you apply, the results are narrowed based on you filtering criteria and search terms.

Extended notifications

Notifications are no longer part of the component but are enabled as Joomla plugins. Increasing modularity allows better control of who's being notified on various triggered events. Administrators define on each issue category which users get notifications by activating the desired plugins. Mail notification is part of the open source package ready to be set and used. IMC3 can also support SMS notification plugin, REST service invocation plugin and any type of notifications such as adding events to a calendar and so on. Modularity at its best!

This project is supported by ICOS/URENIO and Infalia Private Company.