What is a project update? How do I add one to my project?
A single update captures a small burst of activity. Put a whole series of them together, and you'll capture the entire project's story, from inception to completion, beginning to end, alpha to omega. Project updates are traditional reporting made simple, visual and immediate.
Each project in Akvo RSR has its own Updates page, a sort of “blog” for the project. Partners can stay in touch with what is happening in each phase of the project by reading and writing short posts, or updates, on the page. An update can be a brief paragraph, a photo or two with descriptive captions, or a link to a project movie. Think of it as a daily diary entry, not as a full-blown report: has a fundraising event succeeded in raising money? the foundation been laid for a well? a problem with local materials been solved? or perhaps the project is on hold for some reason?
It can be any little bit of news or merely a photo which helps tell the story of the project, which connects it back to those interested in its success.
Currently updates are added to projects through a simple web interface. Text updates will soon be possible through SMS (depending on country).
To add an update to a project
You must be a registered user of one of the project partner organisations to add updates.
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Sign in to your Akvo account, either by clicking Sign in in the upper right corner of the home page or other project pages, or in the Tools for this page box on your project's home page in Akvo RSR.
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To find your project's page, you can search the All projects list, choosing your organisation from the All partners pulldown. Click Filter; a list of your organisation's projects in Akvo RSR will appear. Choose your project from the listing by clicking on the title.
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When you are signed in, projects you have permission to add updates to will display the Add update link in the Tools for this page box. To open the Add update page, click on the link. Enter a title describing recent activity in the project. You can also add one or all of the following:
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A description of project activity in words, in the Text field.
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A photo related to the activity. To add a photo, click the Choose File button, find the file on your hard drive and click on it. Add a caption and credit, if appropriate.
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A URL to a YouTube, Vimeo or Blip video. Add a caption and credit, if appropriate.
Choose whether any text should appear above or below photos and videos.
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After reading back through the text, click the button Add update; the update page will open, displaying your update.
If you discover you made a typo, or accidentally uploaded the wrong video, or some other little mistake, use the Edit update button at the top of your screen to fix your mistake. You have a limited amount of time to fix these mistakes, so do re-read your update before the time expires.