= Welcome to the !OpenBlock developers site =

== What's !OpenBlock? == 

!OpenBlock is a web application that displays "hyper-local news": things that are happening right on your block and around the corner.

!OpenBlock can also be used as a service providing a REST API, feeds, and custom widgets for integration with your existing systems.

Any kind of data that has both a location and a date could be displayed by an openblock site. Typical examples include: local police reports, news articles mentioning local places, restaurant inspections, etc.

The best way to understand what !OpenBlock can do is to see it in action. Check out the demo at [http://demo.openblockproject.org demo.openblockproject.org].

Development on !OpenBlock is ongoing. Catch up with the latest news on our [http://blog.openblockproject.org blog]. If you're a developer, [http://groups.google.com/group/ebcode join the discussion list], [https://github.com/openplans/openblock head to github], or dive into our [http://openblockproject.org/docs/ detailed documentation]. 


== Installing ==

See the install instructions at http://openblockproject.org/docs/

For system-specific requirements, see InstallationRequirements. 

Read the FeatureList.

== Data ==

Learn more about the [wiki:Data Data] needed to run !OpenBlock

== Future Plans ==

[wiki:Planning/Installation Plans for Installation Strategies]

[wiki:Planning/RestAPI Plans for REST API]

[wiki:Planning/AdminUI Plans for Admin UI]


== More Resources ==

Project Homepage: http://openblockproject.org

Blog: http://blog.openblockproject.org

Demo: http://demo.openblockproject.org

Chat: #openblock on irc.freenode.net


== History of !OpenBlock ==

!OpenBlock is a fork of the open-source code originally created for [http://everyblock.com/about Everyblock.com] by Adrian Holovaty and others.
While the original developers are continuing everyblock.com as a commercial project, !OpenBlock has been spun off as a fully free/open-source (GPL v3) project.

This work is being done by [http://openplans.org OpenPlans] with funding from the [http://www.knightfoundation.org/ Knight Foundation],
who also funded the initial development of everyblock.com.

For more information, see [http://openblockproject.org openblockproject.org]