I discovered this morning that some people are not clear on the cost of a Photosynthesis account. Well, it’s free! 🙂 If you haven’t yet signed up for one to track the bills that are important to you, head on over to Richmond Sunlight and get one. For a little more detail on this, read this announcement.
Another question that came up was whether there is a limit on the number of bills that one can track. As far as I know, there is no limit. My own portfolio right now includes 61 bills, but I’ve seen at least one portfolio with over 100 bills in it. (I’m sure my portfolio will get larger. The last day for filing bills is January 18.)
One cool feature that I intend to use (as soon as I can find some free time) is the comments. (When looking at my portfolio, note my comments on HB836.) Now, the plan is that these comments will be integrated into the overall comments on Richmond Sunlight, so you may want to be careful about what you put in there. (Maybe that’s not such a good idea?)
Once again, I want to thank Waldo for making this all possible.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Thanks for the explanation, Vivian. I’ve been working today on a proper page to explain Photosynthesis. Though hundreds of people have signed up, many people have had to contact me to ask how much it costs, how it works, etc. Clearly I need a page on the site that explains what the heck it is. 🙂
I guess I wasn’t clear in my earlier announcement, either. I was so enthusiastic about it that I just assumed everyone would head over and sign up. Hopefully, this post and your page about it will clear up the confusion.
Awesome website! Thank YOU!
also note that Waldo has enabled RSS for both comments and photosynthesis.
I’ll let Waldo explain that.. but basically if you use a RSS Reader, you’ll get automatic notification on the bills that have “moved”.
I think I have that right… look for the little orange square…
Thanks, i’ve been looking for a way to find state bills.
With a few wizbangs and plugins, you can incorporate your Photosynthesis feed into your blog. And you can plug-in RSS based on “tags” from Richmond Sunlight.
This is not a shameless plug I promise but you can check one out here.
Waldo has created an incredible resource and opened it up for general use, including providing some APIs for incorporating his work into other websites.
The Daily Press is using it here. I wish the Pillot would do something like this southside.
Anyway… its a great tool. Thanks Waldo!!!
I would love to have a page with the bills I’m following on my blog. However, the folks here at wp.com have decided that having an RSS feed on a page would create too many problems (sploggers). And with 61 bills in my portfolio, an RSS feed in my sidebar would be WAY too long.
Even so, I am truly loving Richmond Sunlight.