How to contribute

OpenSolano is a community project. Everything on this site is open source, and contributions come from residents who care about making local government more legible and participatory.

You don't need a tech background. Start where you are, with what you know.

1

Share what you know

The most valuable contributions are often local knowledge that doesn't exist in any database.

Submit feedback on a parcel

Visit /parcels, pick a site, and tell us what you'd like to see there. The form takes two minutes.

Attend a meetup

We meet regularly in Vacaville. Bring your questions, interests, or just come listen. See /meetup for dates.

Report something you noticed

A data error, a missing park, a parcel address that's wrong, a link that's broken. Email ryan@civic.studio or open a GitHub issue.

2

Contribute data and corrections

The site runs on data that residents help verify and improve. If you know something is wrong or missing, you can fix it.

What we need

  • • Verified parcel data — real addresses, APNs, and zoning for vacant sites
  • • Street-level photos — of parks, parcels, and community facilities
  • • Meeting notes — summaries from city council, planning commission, or parks commission meetings you attend
  • • Budget and financial data — links to primary sources, corrections to existing data
3

Use GitHub to contribute directly

OpenSolano's code and data live on GitHub. If you're comfortable with GitHub, you can propose changes directly. If you're not, that's okay — this section will get you started.

What is GitHub?

GitHub is where this website's files live. Think of it like a shared folder that tracks every change anyone makes, who made it, and why. It's how open-source projects coordinate work among many contributors without stepping on each other.

You don't need to install anything to get started. Everything below can be done from a web browser.

Getting started (10 minutes)

  1. 1
    Create a free GitHub account at github.com/signup. Use whatever email you're comfortable with.
  2. 2
    Visit the OpenSolano repository. This is where the website's files live. Browse around — the _data/ folder has data files, and collections/ has the content.
  3. 3
    Open an Issue to report a problem, suggest an improvement, or ask a question. Click the "Issues" tab, then "New issue." Describe what you noticed. That's it — someone will respond.
  4. 4
    Edit a file directly (when you're ready). Navigate to any file and click the pencil icon to edit it in your browser. GitHub will walk you through creating a "pull request" — a proposed change that gets reviewed before it goes live.

What to expect

  • Issues get a response within a week. Usually faster. If something is urgent, email directly.
  • Pull requests get reviewed and merged or discussed. Small fixes (typos, data corrections) often merge the same day. Larger changes get feedback.
  • No contribution is too small. Fixing a typo, adding a missing phone number, or noting that a park's hours changed — it all helps.
  • Your contributions are public and credited. GitHub tracks who contributed what. This is open-source civic work — your name is on it.
4

For developers

If you write code, the site is Jekyll + Tailwind CSS, deployed to AWS via GitHub Actions. 

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/opensolano/opensolano.github.io.git
cd opensolano.github.io

# Install dependencies
bundle install
npm install

# Run the dev server
bundle exec jekyll serve

Data lives in _data/. Content lives in collections/. Layouts are in _layouts/. Check the README and CLAUDE.md for architecture details.

What participation means here

OpenSolano is practicing a form of participation. Not attending a meeting and hoping someone listens. Not signing a petition. Participation as a sustained practice — showing up with local knowledge, improving shared tools, and building a civic record that outlasts any single meeting or election cycle.

GitHub is the platform because it treats contributions as first-class objects. Every correction is tracked. Every improvement is attributed. Every proposed change can be discussed before it goes live. That's what civic infrastructure should look like.

The goal is not to turn residents into software developers. The goal is to give people a way to contribute what they know to a shared resource that gets better over time — and to see their contribution land.

Not sure where to start?

Come to a meetup and we'll find something that matches your interests and skills. Or just email — every conversation helps.

Meetup schedule Email us