This is an Open Artifacts project.

What is an Open Artifact?

Think of Open Artifacts as open source for everything humans create, from toys to governments. They give life to our ideas by inviting the community to join us in their development.

Like open-source software, these projects are free to use, adapt, and improve. Cultural Creators, like us, engage with open artifacts as part of our Creative Practice to improve ourselves and to help build a better world.

Visit Evolve The World to learn more about these concepts and how they fit together.
Open Artifacts Initiative

Ways to Build an Open Artifacts Project

Open Artifacts projects have three main requirements:

  1. They must be freely available, preferably online.
  2. There must be a way for others to contribute to the project.
  3. They must be open for reuse, remixing, and redistribution.

From a practical standpoint, that means you need to have:

  1. A "home" for the project where people can find it
  2. A place to store publicly available files about the project
  3. A way for users and contributors to interact with your project
  4. A license that makes clear what others can do with the project

To borrow some terminology from programming, you need a "stack" of tools and services to build your Open Artifacts project. Below are some common ways to build such a stack. They are not in any order of preference; the best choice depends on your specific needs and goals.

Website only

A Home: A website works great to communicate your idea and give your project a home. You can use free services like GitHub Pages, Neocities, or WordPress.com to create a website for your project.

Storage: A website also provides a place to share files, instructions, and other resources related to your project. You can upload and link to source data, images, code snippets, and more.

Interaction: You can use comment sections, contact forms, or embedded social media feeds to allow users to interact with your project.

License: You can include a license file or section on your website to clarify how others can use your project.

Website + Message Board

A Home: A website provides a central hub for your project, where you can explain its purpose and goals.

Storage: The website can host project files, resources, and documentation.

Interaction: A message board (like Discourse, Reddit, or a forum plugin) can facilitate user interaction, discussions, and contributions.

License: You can include license information on your website to clarify usage rights.

Examples: The Hovalin 3D Printable Violin uses a website and a Discourse forum for interaction.

Repository only

A Home: A code repository (like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket) can serve as the central hub for your project. Many open-source software projects use the README file in their repository as their home page.

Storage: Repositories are designed to store files, making them ideal for hosting project resources, including code, data, and documentation.

Interaction: Repositories have built-in tools for collaboration, such as issue tracking, pull requests, and wikis, which facilitate user interaction and contributions.

License: You can easily add a license file to your repository to specify the terms of use for your project.

Examples: The GliaX Stethoscope project is hosted on GitHub.

Repository + Website

A Home: A website provides a central hub for your project, where you can explain its purpose and goals. It gives you more flexibility in design and content presentation compared to a repository alone. The repository can be used to host the website as well as the project files.

Storage: The repository can store all the project files, while the website can link to these files and provide additional context and resources.

Interaction: The website can include comment sections, contact forms, or forums for user interaction, while the repository can handle contributions through issues and pull requests.

License: Both the website and repository can include license information to clarify usage rights.

Examples: This website itself is built using a repository (on GitHub) and a static site generator (Eleventy) to create the website.

Social Media + Public Storage

A Home: Social media platforms (like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook) can serve as a home for your project, allowing you to reach a broad audience and share updates.

Storage: Public storage services (like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Zenodo) can host your project files, making them easily accessible to users.

Interaction: Social media platforms provide built-in interaction features, such as comments, likes, and shares, facilitating engagement with your project.

License: You can include license information in your social media posts or link to a license file stored in your public storage.

Examples: The HeaterBloc project uses X and Google Drive.

Wiki Website

A Home: A wiki platform (like Wikidot, Fandom, or MediaWiki) can serve as a collaborative home for your project, allowing multiple users to contribute and edit content.

Storage: Wikis can store various types of content, including text, images, and files, making them suitable for hosting project resources.

Interaction: Wikis have built-in collaboration tools, such as discussion pages and edit histories, facilitating user interaction and contributions.

License: You can include license information on your wiki pages to clarify usage rights.

Examples: The Wikipedia platform is a well-known example of a collaborative wiki website. Rep Rap is another example that uses a wiki to document 3D printing projects.