AidStream upgrade: publish your IATI data effortlessly

This post is written by Anjesh Tuladhar at Young Innovations, who developed and currently manages the IATI publishing tool, AidStream.

We’ve decided to redevelop AidStream from scratch with a mission to make publishing IATI data effortless for our users.

When we launched our IATI publishing tool back in 2010, the technology we used hindered us from improving the site over time. We were not able to add new features and enhancements that AidStream users needed to make the system simpler.   

With hundreds of organisations now using AidStream to publish information on their development projects to the IATI Standard, the time has come to modernise our system for the future.  

Our new AidStream site, to be launched in the first week of April, will transform the experience of publishing IATI data. With a great new look and excellent features, users will be able to start using the new system right away.

What has changed?

Our newly designed system adapts to changes quickly and easily. Here’s a first look at the new AidStream site and just a few of its great new improvements.

Use AidStream on your mobile or tablets

AidStream is now responsive on different devices allowing you to quickly enter data on your mobile wherever you are.

For example, here’s what you will see when you enter the title of your development activities on a Desktop:

On a mobile it has a much simpler view:

Upgrade to the new version of IATI by yourself

We are now giving the decision about upgrading to you. When using the new AidStream site, you will be informed when there is an update available and have the choice of clicking on the “Upgrade to IATI Version 2.02” button as seen below.

Save time by importing your activities in bulk

If you have avoided AidStream because you have lots of activities to publish, our new bulk activity importer will make you think again. Instead of adding each activity manually, you now have the option to upload activities (initially for core fields) in bulk by using a standardised CSV template (see below).

Set your local time zone

You can now set and view all events in your local time zone. Previously everything was shown in the time zone of the AidStream website.

AidStream’s simple new look

And just to reassure you, we’ve given the new AidStream site a clean, simple new look and have even changed the logo 🙂

We’ll be here to help

If for any reason you are confused about AidStream’s changes, our friendly staff can be reached on [email protected] for further support.

A small thing to note: We have placed strict validation in the publishing workflow to ensure that your files don’t show any problems in the IATI Dashboard. The errors, which might be slightly confusing at times, can be easily corrected. Just remember we’re here to help you, so do get in touch should you see any confusing errors.

The future is bright

AidStream’s brand new system means we can quickly and easily make improvements in the future. We will continue to enhance the look and feel of this tool to make it more easy to understand and use. Please do get in touch if you have any suggestions or comments about the system by emailing [email protected].