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Public-Facing Site Guide

The Working Group site can serve two purposes at the same time:

  1. a coordination space for the group while work is underway
  2. a public-facing record of the group work as outputs mature

The homepage may begin as a scaffold. Over time, replace placeholder text with concise scientific narrative, links to evidence, and clear reuse guidance.

Sections A Live Working Group May Add Or Fill In

Working Group Question

State the central question in plain language. A strong question tells readers what the group is trying to understand and what kind of evidence or output may answer it.

Why This Matters

Explain the scientific, community, management, policy, or education need. Keep this short enough that a new reader can understand the motivation before seeing the methods.

People And Roles

List participants, institutions, and responsibilities. Roles help readers understand the expertise behind the work and help collaborators know who to contact.

Data And Evidence

Describe the datasets, observations, models, or sources the group uses. Link to public datasets when possible. For large shared files, point to the relevant persistent storage README or metadata note.

Methods And Workflows

Summarize the reproducible steps. Link to scripts, notebooks, workflow diagrams, or method notes in the repository.

Emerging Findings

Share early patterns carefully. Distinguish observations from interpretation, and mark preliminary findings as preliminary.

Outputs And Reuse

Link to reports, figures, data products, notebooks, dashboards, manuscripts, or other outputs. Explain which outputs are ready to reuse and which are still working materials.

References

Add literature, data, and software citations in the format supported by the repository. If the repository uses a bibliography file, add entries there and cite them from Markdown pages.

Keep The Site Useful During The Work

The site does not need to wait until the project is finished. During the working group, use it to share:

  • the current question
  • the current phase
  • meeting outputs and synthesis notes
  • data access notes
  • draft figures or summaries
  • decisions and blockers

As outputs mature, revise the same sections into a cleaner public record.

Keep The Public Record Clear

Before sharing the site broadly, check that:

  • preliminary materials are marked clearly
  • final outputs have citation or reuse guidance
  • large files are linked through metadata notes rather than committed directly
  • public text explains why the work matters
  • the homepage points readers to the most important outputs

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