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analytics.usa.gov: Now with agency-specific dashboards
on February 18, 2016
We’ve added agency-specific dashboards to analytics.usa.gov! Starting today, you’ll see a dropdown from the main analytics.usa.gov page that allows you to view the same dashboard, but filtered for websites that are administered by one of 10 specific agencies.
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analytics.usa.gov: New features and more data
on December 2, 2015
We’ve recently added a few new features to analytics.usa.gov: location data, download data, and expanded downloadable files.
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An introduction to HTTPS, by 18F and DigitalGov University
on July 16, 2015
18F uses HTTPS for everything we make, and the U.S. government is in the process of transitioning to HTTPS everywhere. As part of this effort, we've recently partnered with DigitalGov University to produce a two-video series introducing the why's and how's of HTTPS.
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Where we were for the National Day of Civic Hacking
on June 11, 2015
Last weekend, thousands of civic hackers from across the country came together for the National Day of Civic Hacking to better their communities. We love this kind of stuff, and couldn't help but get involved.
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The U.S. government is moving to HTTPS everywhere
on June 8, 2015
Today, the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) finalized an HTTPS-Only Standard for all publicly accessible federal websites and web services. This standard is designed to ensure a new, strong baseline of user privacy and security across U.S. government websites and APIs.
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Taking the pulse of the federal government's web presence
on June 2, 2015
The U.S. federal government is launching a new project to monitor how it's doing at best practices on the web. A sort of health monitor for the U.S. government's websites, it's called Pulse, and you can find it at pulse.cio.gov.
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How we built analytics.usa.gov
on March 19, 2015
The U.S. federal government now has a public dashboard and dataset for its web traffic, at analytics.usa.gov. 18F worked with the Digital Analytics Program, the U.S. Digital Service, and the White House to build and host the dashboard. Read on to learn about how the dashboard works, the engineering choices we made, and the open source work we produced along the way.
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For public comment: the HTTPS-only standard
on March 17, 2015
Today, the White House's Office of Management and Budget is releasing a draft proposal for public comment: The HTTPS-Only Standard, at https.cio.gov. This proposal would require all new and existing publicly accessible federal websites and web services to enforce a secure, private connection with HTTPS Feedback and suggestions during this public comment period are encouraged, and can be provided on GitHub or by email.
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A complete list of .gov domains
on December 18, 2014
We're happy to say that the .gov registry is now releasing the entire set of 5,300 .gov domains, including those outside of the federal executive branch.
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Going to .Gov college
on December 15, 2014
Last week, a number of teammates coordinated to put on three DigitalGov University courses that covered a range of topics, from culture change and open source to the latest in API trends.
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Take a gander at our /Developer page
on July 23, 2014
A growing trend both inside government and outside is to have a simple welcoming page for outside developers who may be interested in your team’s efforts. This material is often located at website.gov/developer and points visitors to technical material that developers may be interested in, especially APIs. Collecting technical documentation in one place facilitates the developer experience, ensuring that they can find and begin using APIs with as little friction as possible.
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Intro to APIs: Working with URLs, JSON, APIs, and Open Data — without writing any code
on June 25, 2014
June 27, 2014, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Register now. GSA’s digital teams are offering a user-friendly intro course to APIs. Regardless of your skill level, you will walk away from this lesson understanding what APIs are and how developers use them.
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Announcing the /Developer Program: a new hub for federal API creators
on May 29, 2014
We recently launched our /Developer Program (pronounced "slash developer") to help federal agencies develop useful, robust APIs. The Program is a collection of educational resources, opportunities to engage the community for help and feedback, and tools that can help you build APIs — essentially an ever-growing knowledge base curated by 18F.
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Packaging up API usability testing for agency reuse
on May 19, 2014
Over the past year, a GSA collaboration has seen a project that offers API usability testing to federal agencies go from the pilot stage to a regular, robust series. Already, 13 agencies and programs have participated, and several more participate with every monthly session that passes. The best examples from across the government have made clear that one of the most important tasks of API producers is to regularly engage their developer community and listen to what they have to say. But just encouraging agencies to do this only goes so far.
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Make government APIs better with user experience
on May 10, 2014
An API is a product just like a car, a website or a ballpoint pen. It’s designed to help someone do something. Products are either designed well—they meet expectations and deliver value—or they are designed poorly and create frustration and confusion. Inevitably, bad products are abandoned without a thought, like an old T-shirt with holes in it.
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Open source and terms of service = a better developer experience
on April 11, 2014
One of the important changes occurring across the federal government is the role of open source for non-code projects - using an open, iterative model of collaboration inherited from the coding community for all kinds of new purposes. Want to see a great example of this in action? In recent years, as more and more agencies offer public APIs, some have included a developer terms of service (TOS).
