For Project Managers

Planning a project

Use the planning phase to turn ideation into a concrete delivery plan: features (what the software will do), requirements (what each feature must satisfy), and milestones (when things land). Write a short vision statement so volunteers understand the goal.

1. Open your project and switch to the Planning tab.
2. Press Add Feature and describe one thing the software should do. Inside each feature, press Add Requirement to pin down what that feature must satisfy.
3. Press Add Milestone to mark when a slice of the work should land.
4. Write your Vision statement — one short paragraph on what success looks like and for whom.
5. When the plan tells the whole story, press Graduate to Governance. A readiness check warns you first if the plan has no accepted features or no milestones.

What happens next: your project moves to the Governance phase, where the team is chosen by vote.

Do it now: Open your projects →

Governance and team voting

Your team is chosen the way the NYC City Council makes decisions: positions are proposed and approved by vote, candidates are nominated, and project members elect them by secret ballot — results show only the totals, never how anyone voted.

1. Open your project's Governance tab and press Propose Position. Give the position a title — like Lead Developer — and tick Mark as required positionfor any role the project can't hand off without.
2. Proposing opens a 72-hour approval vote: project members vote Yes, No, or Abstain on the position by secret ballot.
3. On an approved position, press Nominate to put a candidate forward. When nominations are in, the project creator presses Open election — one secret-ballot session opens per nominee.
4. When every required position is filled and accepted, the creator presses Complete Governance. The button stays disabled until then — governance needs at least one required position — and completing cannot be undone.

How the vote math works

• A vote passes when yes outnumbers no among the ballots cast. A tie fails.
• It only counts if at least half of the eligible voters take part — that's quorum. The eligible-voter count is locked in when the session opens.
• Abstaining counts toward quorum but not toward yes or no.
• A position vote that fails on quorum can be reopened once. A second quorum failure withdraws the position.
• In an election, the nominee with the most yes votes among passing sessions wins and is seated automatically. A tie at the top — or no passing session — triggers one revote; after that the position is withdrawn.

What happens next: completing governance assembles the handoff package from your plan and team roster and submits it for administrator review.

Do it now: Open your projects →

Tracking progress

Each project moves through four phases — ideation, planning, governance, and handoff — and its overview page shows exactly where it stands.

1. Open your project. The phase indicator across the top shows the four phases with the current one highlighted.
2. Switch between the Ideation, Planning, Governance, and Handofftabs to see each phase's workspace.
3. Check Recent Activity on the overview: the activity log records key project events — phase graduations, governance votes, role assignments, and handoff steps — with a timestamp and the member who performed each one.

Do it now: Open your projects →

Handing off to CodeNOW

The handoff package — your plan, your team roster, and your technology choices — is what CodeNOW builds from. A platform administrator reviews it, and once approved, CodeNOW automatically sets up the real development workspace.

1. Complete governance (above). The handoff package is assembled from your plan and team roster and submitted for review automatically — there is no separate submit step.
2. Follow the review on your project's Handoff tab. The administrator approves the package, requests changes, or rejects it — the status card explains each outcome.
3. If changes are requested, the handoff page reopens the package for editing — refine the vision, charter, tech stack, and shared services, then press Re-submit for review.
4. Once approved, provisioning starts and the handoff page streams each setup step live.

What happens next: your project moves into active development on CodeNOW, and you keep following progress on the handoff page.

Do it now: Open your projects →

Managing your organization

Projects belong to an organization — a nonprofit, a city agency, a community group, a school, or just you. Organization admins manage the member list.

1. Open My organization. To start a new one, press New organization, then fill in Organization Name, Organization Type, a short Description, and an optional Website, and press Create Organization.
2. To bring someone in, open your organization and press Invite Member. Enter their email address and choose their role — member or admin.
3. The invitation is recorded as a pending membership until it's accepted; active members can then work on your organization's projects.

Do it now: Open your organizations →