Title: HOT Tasking Manager: Monthly update blog - July 2023

General talk
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Greetings, Tasking Manager Enthusiasts!

Welcome to our monthly roundup, dedicated to sharing the most recent progress and enhancements within the Tasking Manager. We’re excited to bring you the latest updates from the Tasking Manager. Let’s delve into the notable accomplishments of July and provide you with a preview of what’s on the horizon.

Enhancements and Optimizations:

Our dedicated team has been diligently working to introduce valuable features and elevate the existing functionality. Let’s take a moment to explore some of the standout updates:

  • Advanced Bad Imagery Reversion: Project managers and admins will gain the ability to revert tasks marked as unavailable by specific users. This addition will mitigate false positives arising from imagery source errors.

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  • Textual Refinement: We’ve fine-tuned our user interface by renaming ‘administrators’ with ‘managers’ on the organization card. This small but meaningful change ensures consistency and clarity across the platform.

  • Firefox Scrollbar Fix: Our team has tackled a compatibility issue on Firefox where an unnecessary scrollbar was obstructing content due to specific scrolling mechanisms. The issue is now resolved, guaranteeing a smooth browsing experience.

  • Translatable Boundary Text Info: Responding to user feedback, we’ve introduced the ability for text customization in the “Task for project XXXX. Do not edit outside of this area!” section within editors. This enhancement addresses a reported issue, allowing the text to be tailored to user language preferences ensuring a more personalized experience.

  • Enhanced Comment Management: We’ve introduced a confirmation dialog when deleting comments in the questions and comments section. This prevents accidental deletions, promoting a user-friendly environment.

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  • Dependency and Test Updates: We’ve updated a lot of our underlying dependencies in the codebase. This ensures that our app stays updated with the latest technologies; these behind-the-scenes enhancements contribute to a more stable and secure platform.

Upcoming Features and Enhancements:

We’re excited to share some of the features and improvements we’re currently working on, which will be implemented in the near future:

  • Transition to ohsomeNow Stats: We are currently in the process of transitioning from the Missing Maps Leaderboard API to the ohsomeNow Stats, a product developed by the Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology (HeiGIT). With this change, not only will we be migrating the API due to the impending expiration of the Missing Maps Leaderboard API, but we will also be significantly improving the delay in receiving updated stats. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting upgrade!

  • Streamlined Email Alerts for Task Invalidation: Continuing our efforts from the previous month, we are still dedicated to enhancing our email notification system. The focus remains on sending alerts exclusively when additional comments are added during successful task validation, effectively reducing email volume for users. We greatly value your insights on this feature. Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions on our GitHub page discussion here.

  • Network Error Handling Advancements: The enhancement journey of our error handling continues to encompass both the client and server sides. Our primary objectives remain to adopt optimistic network error handling, improve code maintainability, and craft improved user interfaces. Our backend error handling system is undergoing a significant overhaul to deliver detailed and precise error messages. This overhaul significantly boosts the efficiency of debugging and issue resolution.

  • Dependency Updates and Integration Progress: Our collaboration with Meta remains steadfast. The ongoing initiative involves the migration of the embedded RapiD editor to its latest version, Rapid v2. This collaboration doesn’t stop there. We’re collectively working on updating dependencies, standardizing code, and embedding the new version into our Tasking Manager web app. These steps promise to elevate the app’s overall functionality. Simultaneously, we’re also actively exploring the upgrade of our fork of the iD editor to its latest iteration.

And that brings us to the end of this month’s tech team update! While you might notice fewer visible changes on the surface, please rest assured that our commitment to improving the Tasking Manager remains unwavering. In fact, a significant portion of our efforts has been dedicated to updating dependencies and test cases and making other essential behind-the-scenes enhancements. These engines power the platform, ensuring its stability, security, and future growth.

We’re sure you’re as excited as we are about our progress on the Tasking Manager. Your ongoing support and contributions hold immense value for us.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates next month as we continue to make our web app even better for you.

Feel free to reach out if you have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions. Together, we’re making the Tasking Manager an awesome platform for our community.

Be a part of the Tasking Manager community

Until next time,
hot_tech and Kathmandu Living Labs

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