We work with government and public bodies worldwide.

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FAQs

Frequently asked questions about Citizen Space.


Didn't find an answer to your question? Get in touch - we'll be happy to help.


What costs are involved? Is there an ongoing license fee?

Citizen Space uses an easy subscription-based model.

The standard subscription provides everything you need to setup, organise and publicise all your consultations, including hosting, support and upgrades .

  • Pay annually or quarterly - whichever suits you better.
  • Invoice billing as standard - no credit card needed.
  • Subscription is per organisation. Costs do not increase with the number of users, departments, teams, consultations or responses.
  • Optional extras include training, consultancy, upgraded hosting and custom features. We can help you work out what you need.

What about ongoing support and maintenance?

The subscription-based pricing for Citizen Space includes

  • User support via email and online helpdesk.
  • Regular security and maintenance updates to the system.
  • Service-level agreement (SLA) - covering availability of the system.
  • Account manager available by phone or email.

Is it easy to get setup?

Our account management team will walk you through the entire process ensuring everything is in place before launch. This includes:

  • Setting you up with a site admin username.
  • Providing you with our comprehensive user guide.
  • Rollout of your Citizen Space on our servers (in your territory if required).
  • Customisation to include your organisation's logo and heading colour.
  • Setting of custom introductory text, terms and conditions and accessibility policy.

Can you help me figure out what I need?

Absolutely. We pride ourselves on bringing our years of experience in as part of the service, to ensure our clients get what they need

How long does it take to set up?

Typically most deployments are complete in 1-2 weeks including completing all paperwork. You can be up and running very quickly.

How can I learn to use it?

We've designed Citizen Space to be easy to use. If you already have some experience with web software you'll be able to get started quickly. To get the most from it we also provide:

  • A complete illustrated user guide for the system.
  • A tips & tricks blog and mailouts.
  • We offer training days on-site, or guided training via conference call or webinar.

Training: what is included and is it useful to me?

We thoroughly recommend the training that is offered is taken up. We can come to your location to help you understand Citizen Space as a broad tool as well as providing some bespoke advice around how the system can be used in your organisation.

We can incorporate a training day with up to 10 users so different departments can be included to ensure maximum uptake across all areas. This can be combined with wider training in areas like social media; this gives a very cost-effective route to train key consultation and engagement skills across your organisation.

We can also offer tailored training and support via conference call or webinar.

What hosting is included?

Standard hosting is included with the subscription. If you expect to run high-profile consultations with high levels of traffic we can tailor an high-performance hosting package for you. We have extensive experience of scaling Citizen Space for high profile consultations.

Hosting features:

  • Service Level Agreement (SLA) with guaranteed uptime: Our servers are continuously monitored, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Delib will perform a fault diagnostic on any and all critical errors as soon as possible within a maximum response time of 2 hours.
  • Data security: All our staff have undergone Basic Disclosure checks, and our servers have been independently penetration tested.
  • Backups: Consultation data is backed up every 20 minutes.
  • Regular security and maintenance updates to the system.
  • Our team have over five years experience hosting and maintaining Citizen Space.
  • We can host on servers in your territory if required.

Can you host in my territory?

Yes. Where customers need sensitive consultation data to be physically held in their territory, we can host using servers in datacentres local to the customer.

We currently have local servers for the UK and Australia. We are adding more territories - if you require localised hosting, we're happy to help.

Can I host it myself?

It is possible for you to host Citizen Space yourself, but it's not cost-effective. Why host with us?

What URL/web address will my Citizen Space appear on?

You will be able use your own domain via a subdomain (possibly with the help of your web master or IT team), or we can provide a citizenspace.com address (e.g. www.citizenspace.com/yourname).

Can my Citizen Space's traffic be encrypted?

We offer the service of applying an enhanced level of security via encryption using an SSL certificate. We usually advise that clients purchase their own SSL certificate but can buy and manage certificates on your behalf at a small extra charge.

Is Citizen Space accessible?

Yes, Citizen Space is accessible to W3C AA / Level 2 or better. We also provide ARIA enhanced accessibility features.

Does it comply with data interchange standards such as RDFa and e-GIF

Yes. Citizen Space is a great way to be sure all your consultations provide RDFa metadata (as recommended by UK government). It also complies with government standards such as e-GIF.

How many users can I have?

Unlimited, at no additional cost.

How many consultations can I run with Citizen Space?

Unlimited, at no additional cost.

Can I export my data?

Yes, you have complete control and can export all of the data in the system at any point from your administration system.

Can I integrate Citizen Space into my site?

  • We can theme Citizen Space so that it matches your organisation's visual identity. More about custom theming.
  • You can use RSS feeds to integrate consultation information directly into other websites and systems, including services like Twitter. RSS is invaluable for consultation and engagement.
  • In terms of integrating with other software applications, Citizen Space has been designed to play nicely with others - allowing for integration with the widest possible range of other systems.

Can I customise Citizen Space to look like my organisations' sites?

Yes, we have a lot of experience working with organisations to ensure look & feel and branding is consistent across an organisation's online presence.

However, it should be noted that if detailed customisations are required there may be an extra deployment charge to apply the skin tweaks. Citizen Space is cost effective largely due to the savings made in the economies of scale found in multiple clients running the same version of the system. Hence, some of these savings will be lost (and therefore ongoing support costs would need to increase) if customisations alter your version of Citizen Space from the norm.

How can you meet my special consultation requirements?

Citizen Space can be customised to meet your needs. Typical customisations include adding/removing functionality, adapting Citizen Space to fit a particular consultative process, and specific integration of Citizen Space with other websites / tools.

Does it integrate with social media such as Facebook and Twitter?

Citizen Space has social media widgets to increase levels of participation and awareness. The widgets are located on each consultation record, making it easy for people to share consultations.

Who uses Citizen Space?

A wide range of government and public bodies use Citizen Space as a platform to manage and publish consultations.
» Client list and case studies.