- The Global FTT Petition - Guide and FAQ
- The Global FTT Petition - Guide and FAQ
The Global FTT Petition
The RHT/FTT campaigns have gained real momentum for 2011, with an outspoken advocate of the FTT chairing the G20 and with national coalitions set up and running in more than 20 countries. Policy asks vary by country but fundamentally the campaign is about a small transaction tax on speculative, ’socially useless’ transactions in order to fund public goods, tackle poverty and provide funds for global climate change mitigation and adaptation.
We believe that we need to provide a visible statement of our common ask and joint forces for a RHT/FTT. We believe that we can influence governments around the world by providing evidence of a global civil society movement. This is why we want to collect an impressive number of signatures globally, under a joint petition text. We will hand-over the petition to the chair of the G20 meeting in November 2011.
Your Own FTT Petition
A campaign is most effective when it is tailor-made for very specific target groups. For instance, our joint RHT/FTT petition is interesting for both environmental and aid organisations. We obviously would like to use different stories to link the issue to our specific campaign narratives and emphasise the urgency to tackle our specific issues. The same accounts for organisations in different countries: there are different stories to tell in e.g. the UK and Greece.
A diverse network we are, we have plenty of policy targets on all national, regional and international levels. We have different specific demands to these various policy targets. A wider audience, the supporters and constituents of our cause, are as diverse in language, culture and motivation. Some want the FTT to curb excessive trading with its negative implications; some want the FTT as it may provide a steady source of revenues financing global public goods.
Whilst there’s need and good reason to join forces via a joint global petition, – only that will make a really impressive number of signatures possible, – national coalitions and even individual partners of our wide networks need to be able to contributing to the very same petition, including the impressive number of signatures, whilst adapting its content, tone and design to their specific audiences and policy targets.
How does it work?
We’ve created a multilingual, real-network, online petition software. It is open source. Friends of the Earth Europe installed it on the server www.policat.org. It is our joint, neutral host for this global petition. All signatures and respective data is collected and safely stored on www.policat.org.
Virtually anyone of us can instantly publish the petition on our websites. We call it: “to embed a petition widget”. Why is that?
You can bring the whole petition onto your own website, by “embedding” it like a youtube video. The petition comes in a box, like a little gadget in a window, in short, a widget. It will be your own little widget, very much unlike a banner or a link.
The whole petition workflow will happen inside your widget: it will display a petition text, a background text and links to the privacy policy, facebook and twitter; and there will be the sign-on form, once an online activist filled it in, it will say “thanks for taking part in the action” and offer to send a tell-a-friend email. Your online-activists will stay on your site.
Our petition system is multilingual and one petition can be addressed to diverse political targets at various international and/or national policy targets. People will sign on to the same key message – however you may decide to target your national head of state or finance minister. In fact you should adapt the narrative of our joint petition to your national and cultural context.
When creating your widget and embedding it into your website, you may change almost all texts that will be displayed in your widget (the title, a by-line, the background text…). You may even add specific demands to our main message that have specific relevance to your policy target or that make sense otherwise in your national context. Only the “core” petition text stays the same to ensure conformity.
Also, you can adapt the appearance of your widget to the look and feel of your website. Thus, you can integrate it seamlessly into your web-pages. By adapting language, text and design and making sure it fits into your messaging and targets your specific policy target, you can make it your own petition whilst at the same time being part of our global petition to the G20. The signature-counter in your widget will always display the over-all count of all signatures collected world-wide.
Activists will take part in the petition on your very website, in which you embed your widget. Thus, the system allows us to run our joint petition with maximum flexibility and without the need for a joint dedicated campaign website. We will use www.makefinancework.org for ourselves: as a hub for information and resources. You will be able to create your own widget on www.makefinancework.org and embed it together with your select resources on your own website.
Now, get the petition on your website!
Recap: There’s one global petition hosted on www.policat.org. However, the petition becomes public and open for sign-on only via so-called widgets: sign-on forms that need to be embedded into our websites. Every widget is unique and incredibly flexible: you can adapt the texts, tone and design of your widget and even add specific demands to our joint global petition text. Thus, you can make it your own petition whilst contributing to our joint global petition.
In a nutshell: You can easily create your petition widget and embed it into your website (any CMS system, html-page, etc…). Just click on the “Embed this” link in any published widget, choose your widget language, change the title and by-line (“target”) according to your campaigns needs, modify or add specific demands to the petition text (“intro”, “footer”), and customise the appearance of the widget to make it look part of your website, insert your name and email, and click “generate widget”. You’ll get a single line of code. Copy and paste it into your website where-ever it should appear. As a web-editor, you must have the right to add “html & javascript” code. Your web-admin will know what that means and be able to help you.
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FAQ: How to create your petition widget?
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How to create your petition widget?
Find any widget online that is part of our joint petition. For example, use the widget on www.makefinancework.org/home... (the widget used on this page is the greenish box). In the bottom line of the widget, you’ll see a selection of links. Click on “Embed this” (or the according link if you see a widget in another language).
You will see a form with a “GENERATE WIDGET” button. Once you have made your preferred modifications and filled in all forms, click the button and wait for the “embed”-code to appear in the field below. Copy the embed code (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C) and paste it (Ctrl+V) into your website. It is a single line of html/javascript. Read below if you have difficulties
On the left side, you can choose the language in which the widget should be displayed. (Note: the text in the fields below should automatically reload. Read below, if it doesn’t). You may change all texts but the main petition text. However, you can add specific demands above or below the petition text by copying them in the “Intro” and/or “Footer” fields. We encourage you to do this as it allows you to tailor the petition to your audience and address your specific policy targets.
On the right side, you can adapt the appearance of your widget. A widget type “embed” should be your preferred choice (we use it on makefinancework.org). Choose the width available in your website. If you have less than 440 pixel width available, the widget would look too cluttered. Thus, you would need to choose the widget type “popup”. It will display a small banner-style box that adapts to the space available. When clicking on it, the full widget will appear in the middle of your page like a popup.
Can I change my settings after I have generated a widget code?
Yes. You will receive an email with an “edit” link to your widget. This allows you to make changes at any later time, i.e. after you have embedded your widget into your site. Wait for this email (don’t click on the button again, as it will just create another widget).
How to embed my widget into my website?
Every website is different. Whilst some use still good-old html code to build their websites, you are most likely using a “content-management-system” (CMS) to update your website. Usually, you can simply place the code between other texts – simply paste it into a page or new article.
Note: Your CMS system must allow you to use html/javascript. If it doesn’t work in the first place, ask your web administrator to change settings of your CMS system.
In some CMS systems, such as WORDPRESS, you simply add a “HTML-box” from your plug-in repository. Then go into “Options” or “Settings” or “Content” of this HTML-box and paste your widget code there. Once done, you can place the HTML-box where-ever your widget should appear on your website.
Can I embed my widget on my facebook page?
Yes. Make sure your widget is exactly 500 pixels wide. (Use the “edit” link in your email, if you’ve created your widget already. Or create a new widget, type: embed, width: 500 pixel.)
Go to: https://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=174186455969487 and click “Add to my Page” in the left column. Select your page. Go to your facebook page. You will find a new tab-item “*** ACTION ***” in the left column. Click on it. Add the number of your widget (this is the 4-digit number within your widget code). Done.
You can add more widgets for different languages. Facebook will automatically display the widget in the language of the facebook user settings. If no widget in this language is available, the English widget will be shown.
Note: the admin-menu will still appear as long as you are logged-in as page-admin. Use another login to see how it will look like to your facebook friends/fans.
Note: you can modify the tab-item label (“*** ACTION ***”) in your page settings. Click on “Apps” in your settings and click “Edit settings” of the App “Policat E-Actions”. Also, you can make this tab-item with your widget appear first once facebook users visit your page.
Can I download the contact data of the signees who signed the petition via my widget?
At this moment, unfortunately not. However, we are currently beta-testing a system that allows you, as an individual owner of a widget, to claim the rights and responsibilities for the data you’ve collected via your widget and to download it in comfortable spreadsheet format. We might make it available soon; we are waiting for approval of the procedure by the Belgian authority for data protection and privacy laws.
My national coalition wants to use the contact data of all signees of our country for follow-up. How do we get access?
Your national coalition needs to appoint one responsible guardian (a natural person) of the user data collected in your country. You may decide in your national coalition, who and how to send follow-up emails on this or similar campaigns. Once, you have agreed that within your coalition; please request the data by emailing to daniel.pentzlin@foeeurope.org. You will receive the data in spreadsheets with detailed information about where, via what widget and when users have signed-on. That allows you to maximise a personal approach in your mailings.
Note: All data collected must be used according to our privacy policy and according to data protection legislation world-wide. Thus, the use of data comes with rights and responsibilities. Online activists agree to our privacy policy when signing-on our petition. This must be respected. Also, data must be protected with all due-diligence.
Can I show the count of signatures I’ve collected via my widget?
Your widget shows the overall count of the global petition, adding the numbers of signatures collected via all widgets throughout the world.
See the count of your individual widget and much more statistical information; you may access the statistics of the system via an API and use it to display it on your website. Find the technical information about the API here: https://www.policat.org/api
Help! The petition texts seem not to be properly displayed in the Embed-this form.
The texts are displayed in single-line fields, but usually longer than this. To better see and adapt texts, we recommend to select (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C) the text in a field and paste it (Ctrl+V) into your text editor. Once you are done, copy your modified text back into the field.
I want to feature our petition in more than one language. How do I do this?
Every widget features one language. If you want to feature our petition in more than one language, create one widget per language. After clicking on “Embed this” in any other widget, just use the language selector to select the language in which your widget should appear.
I want to feature the petition in my language, but it does not appear in the language selector.
If your language is not in that list, we have probably not received a translation of the global FTT petition to the G20 in this language. Drop us an email: daniel.pentzlin@foeeurope.org and help us translate. Daniel will be happy to make your translation available in the system.
Who is responsible for the text in my widget?
You are responsible for the text in your widget. This is why you need to create your own widget and register it in your name.
I found a widget on a dubious website or with a text bluntly thwarting our joint petition
If a widget violates the terms laid out in the privacy policy, or, a widget is bluntly thwarting the main message of the joint petition, the administrator can block this widget. Please report abuses to daniel.pentzlin@foeeurope.org
I have embedded my widget on my website, but it seems that nobody uses it. What did I do wrong?
Place the widget prominently in your website. On a page, place it above the fold so users don’t have to scroll down to find it. Feature it on your front-page or at least maximum one click away from your front-page. Make sure, you refer to it in your articles and texts. Create a menu-item or add a big banner to your front-page.
Advertise the petition. This is – by the way – a great opportunity to bring more people to your website! Invite people to your page, on which you embedded the widget. Use your email-lists, use facebook, twitter, etc.
Help! I can’t see the widget and/or it doesn’t look right. Did the system crash?
No. You probably need to enable javascript in your browser settings. Or you are using an outdated web-browser. The system is compatible with most browsers, however, it does not support Internet Explorer Version 6 and below. Please update your browser to the newest version.
I want another design of the widget, i.e. I want to get rid of this cluttered footer-bar of the widget.
The petition system is designed for maximum outreach in coalition-campaigns. The social web buttons and the “Embed this” link are an integral part of the idea. They allow “snowballing” our campaign as virtually any organisation and even individuals, particularly bloggers, can embed a “widget” into their websites or link to it or write about it.
However, there is loads that can be done to improve design, usability and features of the system. If you are interested to support this great open source project, drop an email to daniel.pentzlin@foeeurope.org, indicating what change you’d like to see and what budget you could contribute to its further development.
Can I use the petition system for my own campaigns?
Yes. The system is open source and you can request services from the programmers to get the software installed for your own purposes (contact Christian Metzeler at www.webvariants.de). Please understand that we did not have sufficient resources yet to provide for source-code documentation or an installation guide. We appreciate your help in advancing this exiting open source project.
Help. I’m a geek!
The petition tool is a stand-alone, based on the Symfony framework (PHP/mySQL). It requires a standard Apache environment, Symfony, an Email-Server and SSL-encryption. It is optimised for heavy peak-load: We’ve tested it for 13 complete sign-on cycles per second over 45 Minutes.