diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 9e1d27c..7c9144d 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -16,11 +16,44 @@ Supported data sources include DX Clusters, the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN), th ![Screenshot](/images/screenshot3.png) -### Accessing the public version +## Accessing the public version You can access the public version's web interface at [https://spothole.app](https://spothole.app), and see [https://spothole.app/apidocs](https://spothole.app/apidocs) for the API details. -### Running your own copy +This is a Progressive Web App, so you can also "install" it to your Android or iOS device by accessing it in Chrome or Safari respectively, and following the menu-driven process for installing PWAs. + +## Embedding Spothole in another website + +You can embed Spothole in another website, e.g. for use as part of a ham radio custom dashboard. + +URL parameters can be used to trigger an "embedded" mode which hides the headers, footers and settings. In this mode, you provide configuration for the various filter and display options via additional URL parameters. In this mode, any settings that the user has set for Spothole are ignored. This is so that the embedding site can select, for example, their choice of dark mode or SIG filters, which will not impact how Spothole appears when the user accesses it directly. + +These are supplied with the URL to the page you want to embed, for example for an embedded version of the band map in dark mode, use `https://spothole.com/bands?embedded=true&dark-mode=true`. For an embedded version of the main spots/home page in the system light/dark mode, use `https://spothole.com/?embedded=true`. Providing no URL params causes the page to be loaded in the normal way it would when accessed directly in the user's browser. + +The supported parameters are: + +| Name | Allowed Values | Default | Example | Description | +|-------------|-----------------|---------|-------------------|------------------------| +| `embedded` | `true`, `false` | `false` | `?embedded=true` | Enables embedded mode. | +| `dark-mode` | `true`, `false` | `false` | `?dark-mode=true` | Enables dark mode. | + +More will be added soon to allow customisation of filters and other display properties. + +## Writing your own client + +One of the key strengths of Spothole is that the API is well-defined and open to anyone to use. This means you can build your own software that uses data from Spothole. + +Various approaches exist to writing your own client, but in general: + +* Refer to the API docs. These are built on an OpenAPI definition file (`/webassets/apidocs/openapi.yml`), which you can automatically use to generate a client skeleton using various software. +* Call the main "spots" or "alerts" API endpoints to get the data you want. Apply filters if necessary. +* Call the "options" API to get an idea of which bands, modes etc. the server knows about. You might want to do that first before calling the spots/alerts APIs, to allow you to populate your filters correctly. +* Refer to the provided HTML/JS interface for a reference +* Let me know if you get stuck, I'm happy to help! + +## Running your own copy + +If you want to run a copy of Spothole with different configuration settings than the main instance, you can download it and run it on your own local machine or server. To download and set up Spothole on a Debian server, run the following commands. Other operating systems will likely be similar. @@ -139,17 +172,11 @@ You should now be able to access the web interface by going to the domain from y Once that's working, [install certbot](https://certbot.eff.org/instructions?ws=nginx&os=snap) onto your server. Run it as root, and when prompted pick your domain name from the list. After a few seconds, it should successfully provision a certificate and modify your nginx config files automatically. You should then be able to access the site via HTTPS. -### Writing your own client +## Modifying the source code -Various approaches exist to writing your own client, but in general: +Spothole is Public Domain licenced, so you can grab the source code and start modifying it for your own needs. Contributions of code back to the main repository are encouraged, but completely optional. -* Refer to the API docs. These are built on an OpenAPI definition file (`/webassets/apidocs/openapi.yml`), which you can automatically use to generate a client skeleton using various software. -* Call the main "spots" or "alerts" API endpoints to get the data you want. Apply filters if necessary. -* Call the "options" API to get an idea of which bands, modes etc. the server knows about. You might want to do that first before calling the spots/alerts APIs, to allow you to populate your filters correctly. -* Refer to the provided HTML/JS interface for a reference -* Let me know if you get stuck, I'm happy to help! - -### Structure of the source code +### Code structure To navigate your way around the source code, this list may help. @@ -198,7 +225,7 @@ Finally, simply add the appropriate config to the `spot_providers` section of `c The same approach as above is also used for alert providers. -### Thanks +## Thanks As well as being my work, I have also gratefully received feature patches from Steven, M1SDH. diff --git a/views/webpage_about.tpl b/views/webpage_about.tpl index d8b1fc2..483a036 100644 --- a/views/webpage_about.tpl +++ b/views/webpage_about.tpl @@ -3,11 +3,19 @@

About Spothole

Spothole is a utility to aggregate "spots" from amateur radio DX clusters and xOTA spotting sites, and provide an open JSON API as well as a website to browse the data.

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While there are several other web-based interfaces to DX clusters, and sites that aggregate spots from various outdoor activity programmes for amateur radio, Spothole differentiates itself by supporting a large number of data sources, and by being "API first" rather than just providing a web front-end. This allows other software to be built on top of it.

+

While there are several other web-based interfaces to DX clusters, and sites that aggregate spots from various outdoor activity programmes for amateur radio, Spothole differentiates itself by supporting a larger number of data sources, and by being "API first" rather than just providing a web front-end. This allows other software to be built on top of it.

The API is deliberately well-defined with an OpenAPI specification and API documentation. The API delivers spots in a consistent format regardless of the data source, freeing developers from needing to know how each individual data source presents its data.

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Spothole itself is also open source, Public Domain licenced code that anyone can take and modify. The source code is here. If you want to run your own copy of Spothole, or start modifying it for your own purposes, the README file contains a description of how the software works and how it's laid out, as well as instructions for configuring systemd, nginx and anything else you might need to run your own server.

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The software was written by Ian Renton, MØTRT and other contributors. Full details are available in the README.

+

Spothole itself is also open source, Public Domain licenced code that anyone can take and modify. The source code is here.

+

The software was written by Ian Renton, MØTRT and other contributors. Full details are available in the README file.

This server is running Spothole version {{software_version}}.

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Using Spothole

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There are a number of different ways to use Spothole, depending on what you want to do with it and your level of technical skill:

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  1. You can use it on the web, like you are (probably) doing right now. This is how most people use it, to look up spots and alerts, and make interesting QSOs.
    2. +
  2. If you are using an Android or iOS device, you can "install" it on your device. Spothole is a Progressive Web App, meaning it's not delivered through app stores, but if you open the page on Chrome (Android) or Safari (iOS) there will be an option in the menu to install it. It will then appear in your main app menu.
    3. +
  3. You can embed the web interface in another website to show its spots in a custom dashboard or the like. The usage is explained in more detail in the README file.
    4. +
  4. You can write your own client using the Spothole API, using the main Spothole instance to provide data, and do whatever you like with it. The README contains guidance on how to do this, and the full API docs are linked above. You can also find reference implementations in the form of Spothole's own web-based front end, plus my other two tools built on Spothole: Field Spotter and the QSO Map Tool.
    5. +
  5. If you want to run your own version of Spothole so you can customise the configuration, such as enabling sources that I disable on the main instance, you can do that too. The README contains not only advice on how to set up Spothole but how to get it auto-starting with systemd, using an nginx reverse proxy, and setting up HTTPS support with certbot.
    6. +
  6. Finally, you can of course download the source code and develop Spothole to meet your needs. Whether you contribute your changes back to the main repository is up to you. As usual, the README file contains some advice on the structure of the repository, and how to get started writing your own spot provider.

FAQ

"Spots"? "DX Clusters"? What does any of this mean?

This is a tool for amateur ("ham") radio users. Many amateur radio operators like to make contacts with others who are doing something more interesting than sitting in their home "shack", such as people in rarely-seen countries, remote islands, or on mountaintops. Such operators are often "spotted", i.e. when someone speaks to them, they will put the details such as their operating frequency into an online system, to let others know where to find them. A DX Cluster is one type of those systems. Most outdoor radio awards programmes, such as "Parks on the Air" (POTA) have their own websites for posting spots.

diff --git a/views/webpage_alerts.tpl b/views/webpage_alerts.tpl index e830bde..f39925f 100644 --- a/views/webpage_alerts.tpl +++ b/views/webpage_alerts.tpl @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ % rebase('webpage_base.tpl')
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diff --git a/views/webpage_bands.tpl b/views/webpage_bands.tpl index ae10cd0..c9daaa6 100644 --- a/views/webpage_bands.tpl +++ b/views/webpage_bands.tpl @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ % rebase('webpage_base.tpl')
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diff --git a/views/webpage_base.tpl b/views/webpage_base.tpl index cf2497e..6fb6383 100644 --- a/views/webpage_base.tpl +++ b/views/webpage_base.tpl @@ -3,11 +3,9 @@ - - + - @@ -48,7 +46,7 @@
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