Report - Creator Table Specifications Committee

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CREATOR TABLES

(As reported out January 19, 2015 and approved by the Board February 2, 2015)

The Grand Comics DatabaseTM, hereafter referred to as the GCD, desires to have a table or set of tables for comic creator information that conforms to data requirements previously adopted by the GCD. The purpose of this Request for Proposals is to solicit proposals from potential bidders to create such tables in accordance with the attached Specifications.

The attached Specifications list in detail the Scope of Work, Communications Between Contractor and the GCD, Project Schedule, Table Design Constraints, GCD Coding Practices, Project Deliverables, and Payments. Also included are several informational Appendices. All proposals shall conform to these Specifications.

Bidders should have familiarity with coding in Python and Django, designing web pages, and relational databases such as MySQL. Bidders shall submit the following information with their bid:

  1. Detailed methodology for completing the work in accordance with the attached Specifications.
  2. A proposed schedule of progress for their work.
  3. A list of their qualifications including but not limited to listings of previous relevant work, training and/or education, references, and links to active websites and code samples that show the Django code they used to generate the sites.
  4. A lump sum price for the proposed work. Additionally, bidders may submit prices for the work broken down in various methods of their choice.
  5. Any additional information that will assist the GCD in choosing a contractor.

All bidders shall send their proposals to “GCD Project Manager, Mr. Donald Dale Milne”, via the e-mail address [email protected]. Bidders shall also send any questions to the same address. Questions will only be answered by e-mail, so bidders must be sure to include a valid e-mail address on all correspondence. If questions are received that clarify, extend, or replace part of the attached Specifications, those questions and answers will be forwarded to parties known to have acquired this Request for Proposals.

The GCD will accept or reject proposals based on a combination of conformance to the Specifications, price, bidder qualifications and proposed work schedule. The final criteria will be to select the bidder that the GCD believes will allow it to acquire the best work available for our purposes. The GCD is not obligated to accept any proposal, and may reject all proposals. The GCD also reserves the right to enter into additional negotiations with any bidder.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR CREATOR TABLES

(As reported out January 19, 2015 and approved by the Board February 2, 2015)

1.0 General – The Grand Comics DatabaseTM, hereafter referred to as the GCD, desires to have a table or set of tables for comic creator information that conforms to the data requirements as set forth in APPENDIX A - “Final Technical requirements for Creator Records for Grand Comics DatabaseTM”, which is hereby made a part of these specifications by reference. The table(s) shall be developed to hold the information currently held in the online version of the Who's Who of American Comic Books, hereafter referred to as the Who's Who (see http://bailsprojects.com/about.html and http://www.bailsprojects.com/whoswho.aspx), which is also hereby made a part of these specifications by reference as APPENDIX B.

2.0 Scope of Work – The work shall consist of three (3) major tasks and whatever subtasks are required to complete these major tasks. These major tasks are:

2.1 - Define the actual creator table(s) design in the django code as currently used by the GCD.
2.2 - Develop webpage display template for the GCD website, of the data to be contained in the new creator table(s), compatible with and similar to the current GCD data display webpage style. The webpage display template shall be based on the current webpage design template, including the current CSS specification, so that the existing template and specification can be reused where possible. Such display template may consist of multiple pages as determined by consultation between the contractor and the GCD. Possible pages may include: display of the creator with aliases, display of creator with companies worked for, display of creator with features worked on, display of creator with biographical data, display of creator with links to other GCD pages of his work, display of creator with images such as portrait or work sample, display of list of creators, and/or others.
2.3 - Develop a webpage-based editing interface for the data of the new creator table(s) in the GCD, compatible with and similar to the current GCD editing interface style. The webpage display template(s) shall be based on the current webpage design template, including the current CSS specification, so that the existing template and specification can be reused where possible. Editing of all information for a single creator on a single webpage is desireable, similar to current GCD editing pages for a single story sequence, a single issue, a single series, or a single publisher. However, an editing interface that requires multiple pages to accomplish will be considered. Editing functions shall be compatible with the current GCD workflow, which involves tracking the state of an object being edited through reservation, editing, submission, review, rejection, comments, and approval. This editing process shall retain a change history of all states and changes, in the same manner as existing GCD editing processes. As per the existing GCD editing workflow, creation of both actual creator table(s) and corresponding editing support table(s) will be required.
2.4 - The contractor shall design the table(s) to allow future addition of data fields that will allow links to existing data tables of the GCD. No work shall be done on the live GCD website as part of this contract.

3.0 Communications Between Contractor and the GCD –

3.1 - All communications between the contractor and the GCD regarding any technical aspects of the contract shall be made through the designated GCD Project Manager, Mr. Donald Dale Milne, via the e-mail address [email protected]. The contractor shall not rely on any voice communications with the GCD.
3.2 - All communications between the contractor and the GCD regarding any financial aspects of the contract shall be made through the GCD Treasurer, currently Mr. Tony Rose, via the e-mail address [email protected]. The contractor shall not rely on any voice communications with the GCD.
3.3 - In the event of any disagreement or dispute with either the GCD Project Manager or the GCD Treasurer, the contractor may appeal a decision to the full GCD Board, via the e-mail address [email protected]. The decisions of the GCD Board relating to disagreements and disputes under this contract shall be final and binding.

4.0 Project Schedule –

4.1 - Project milestones shall be:
a) Submission of the django code to establish the creator table(s): 10% of project fee.
b) Approval of the django code to establish the creator table(s) : 10% of project fee.
c) Submission of the django and css code to create the data editing page(s) : 20% of project fee.
d) Approval of the django and css code to create the data editing page(s) : 20% of project fee.
e) Submission of the django and css code to create display page(s) of the creator data: 15% of project fee.
f) Approval of the django and css code to create display page(s) of the creator data: 15% of project fee.
g) Final live beta testing and approval of all work submitted: 10% of project fee.
4.2 - All bidders shall submit a Project Schedule detailing expected time for completion of the project milestones listed in Section 4.1. The contractor shall adhere as far as practical to the Project Schedule he submits during the bidding process. If the contractor believes he will not be able to make a project milestone, he shall notify the GCD Project Manager as early as possible. The GCD Project Manager shall have authority to revise the Project Schedule as required for delays deemed outside the control of the contractor. The resulting approved Project Schedule shall be used for all payment purposes.
4.3 - For project delays that the GCD Project Manager deems to be the contractor’s responsibility, the GCD reserves the right to levy liquidated damages on the contractor at a rate of $100 per week, to be measured against the approved Project Schedule as previously amended. The GCD shall notify the contractor of any such damages as soon as they shall be determined. Such damages, if any, shall be deducted from payments to the contractor.

5.0 Table Design Constraints – The creator table(s) shall hold all information fields listed in APPENDIX A. Some of these fields may be best located within existing tables and the contractor shall provide opinions as to changes required to accomplish such modifications of existing tables. The current technical staff (GCD Tech Team) shall make any changes to existing tables that are adopted by the GCD. Some changes proposed by the contractor may not be adopted by the GCD, requiring the contractor to incorporate storage of such information within the tables created by the contractor.

6.0 GCD Coding Practices –

6.1 - All technical computer work on both the user interface and the database of the GCD is currently performed by volunteers. The GCD Tech Team has attempted to document its processes and requirements and those are outlined herein. Additional details can be found in APPENDIX C, and all information linked to there is hereby made a part of these specifications by reference. The contractor shall follow both the letter and spirit of these documented processes. As a volunteer organization, the GCD attempts to keep our documentation precise and up-to-date but acknowledges that some things are out of date or missing. In any cases of uncertainty, the contractor shall contact the GCD Project Manager for clarification. All such clarification shall be issued in writing: the contractor shall not rely on any voice communications with the GCD.
6.2 - The GCD has adopted Review Board for code reviews, and all proposed code must go through code review and be approved by the GCD Project Manager or his designee before payment is processed. During the review, the GCD Project Manager will be assisted by other members of the GCD Tech Team, in addition to casual review and questions by other GCD members.
6.3 - All current GCD code is licensed under the GNU General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html). Therefore, all code written under this contract shall also be licensed under that same license.

7.0 Project Deliverables – The contractor shall deliver to the GCD the following items upon completion of the contract:

a) Django code to establish creator table(s) to hold all data fields listed in APPENDIX A.
b) Design of webpage(s) for the GCD website that display the data contained in the new creator table(s). The design may include html, css, and/or javascript code as needed.
c) Design of webpage(s) for the GCD website that create an editing interface for the data of the new creator table(s). This design shall include all code necessary to perform the actual work of editing the database table(s). The design may include html, css, and/or javascript code as needed.

8.0 Payments – The contractor shall submit invoices for each of the milestones identified in his approved Project Schedule. The GCD shall pay such invoices, less any damages that have been declared to the contractor under Section 3.0, if any, within 10 business days after receipt. The GCD shall pay the final invoice, less any damages that have been declared to the contractor under Section 3.0, if any, within 30 business days after receipt. The longer payment period for the final invoice is intended to allow the GCD to perform a final review and test of the code and table(s).

APPENDIX A - Final Technical requirements for Creator Records for Grand Comics DatabaseTM

See Report_WhosWho_Committee

APPENDIX B - Who's Who of American Comic Books

See http://bailsprojects.com/about.html and http://www.bailsprojects.com/whoswho.aspx for information about the data and design of the Who’s Who. A sample table of about 100 records will be supplied to the contractor for use during the project, if required by the contractor.

APPENDIX C – Technical Requirements

The GCD has chosen coding standards to avoid arguments and produce consistent code. Where possible, we have chosen standards currently in wide use outside of our own Tech Team to avoid it being about one team member's style, but there are always matters of interpretation. The interpretations we've made are the ones new code should follow. When in doubt, ask rather than spend time guessing. Code must meet the standards. Details of the standards, current practices, and current code are found at:

Web_Site_Project_Page

Developer's_Guide_to_the_Code

List_of_Third_Party_Packages

Current_Schema - This document is somewhat outdated, but represents the overall design intent.

Current Code Repository - (https://github.com/GrandComicsDatabase)

Current Bug Tracker - (http://dev.comics.org/bugs/)

(End of Report)