Act Now

Act Now is a web app for creating action sign-up forms, allowing for conditional commitment.

I developed a ‘conditional commitment’ routine for canvassers. Would you go on strike if a critical mass would act likewise? This worked and led to a hall going on rent strike. The fear factor of eviction disappeared and many more joined the strike, leading to an agreed rent reduction.
— Roger Hallam in Common Sense for the 21st Century

Setup

Download the latest version of Act Now and unzip it.

• Mac OS
  • Disable Gatekeeper.
  • Double-click on libreaction.mac_os.command.
• Windows
  • Download SWI Prolog for Windows
  • Double-click on libreaction.windows.cmd.
  • Continue past warnings about "software from the internet".
• Debian
  • Install SWI Prolog: sudo apt install swi-prolog
  • Run the app: ./libreaction.pl

Try it out by visiting localhost:8080 in your web browser.

To run on a different port, ./libreaction.pl --port=9090.

Docker install

Alternatively, you can run Act Now in Docker (for OS X:

./act-now.docker.sh

Admin

Password

You'll be asked to enter a password for the admin account on first run. It can be changed later by running admin:set_password. from the Prolog console.

Creating a new action

Click on the small + below the action list, then log in with blank username and with the password you set.

Action dashboard (edit / outreach / ...)

Click on the small ~ by the action in the list, then log in.

Development

Design goals

• No JavaScript because not everyone have JS
• Minimalist: Less than 1000 lines of code
• Light on external dependencies: Use your own preferred email client for outreach

Roadmap

v0.1

• User-defined actions in XML
• Basic conditional action signup
• Conditional action signup if certain needs can be met
• Non-action support roles
• Email comfirmation on signup
• Email notification when target is reached
• Captcha / spam prevention / verify email
• Action deadlines
• Only show conditional commitment options for actions that have enabled those

v0.2

• Admin dashboard
• Email notifications using your own email client using mailto: with BCC
• Advanced queries

v0.3

• GDPR compliance helper scripts
• Buddy pair-up
• Signal / SMS text message confirmation
• Nearby actions
• Trainings

License

Act Now is free / libre / copyleft software.
GNU AGPLv3 or later
© Pelle Hjek 2021