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Community Energy Dashboard

On Civic Ladder, open any level and choose the Dashboard tab to see how much civic vitality the area has this month.

The page opens with Our Visioning Stats and a subtitle naming the civic area.

Every area with summary data shows a Participation Counts card — even when the score is low or the area is below the platform threshold. Zeros are intentional: the labels set a clear participation goal.

Areas with enough local platforms also show a Community Energy score card. Areas below the platform threshold do not show a Combined Energy card at the parent level; they show participation counts and may list child communities ranked by energy.

For Thinkers rankings in the same area, see metrics-ranking.md. For regional citation patterns, open the Sources chip on Thinkers — see citations-and-publisher-stats.md.

Community Energy vs Combined Energy

Most areas with enough local platforms (10 or more published platforms of their own) show a direct Community Energy score on the Energy card.

When a civic area has fewer than 10 published platforms of its own, the Dashboard does not show a Combined Energy card for that area. Participation counts still appear (counts may be zero), and the Within {area name} card ranks child communities when they have active residents this month.

Some child communities in that list may themselves be below the platform threshold. Those rows show a Combined Energy badge with this explanation:

This area doesn't yet have enough platforms of its own for a direct score; Combined Energy adds up the energy of the communities within it.

Combined Energy answers "how much energy is inside these borders?" — not "how energetic is this single community?" The badge marks scores that are not directly comparable to a single-community Community Energy score.

Participation counts

First card on the Dashboard when summary data exists.

Three compact metrics — Followers, Collabs, Returning — show this month's Depth stage counts. Tap the info icon on the card for definitions and overlap rules (for example, returning collaborators also appear in Collabs; followers exclude collaborators).

Card label What it counts
Followers Residents who follow a leader in this area this month
Collabs Residents who contributed to a leader's platform this month
Returning This month's collaborators who also contributed in a prior season

Counts may be zero — the cards still show labels so residents see what participation looks like.

Depth

Depth measures how deeply residents participate through the engagement funnel:

Stage What it means
Followers Residents who follow a leader in this area this month
Collabs Residents who contributed to a leader's platform this month
Returning Collaborators who also contributed in a prior season

Participation counts on the Dashboard show each stage's count for the current month. Tap the info icon on the Energy card for the full Depth formula table (weights, √count per stage, and contributions).

Depth formula (Energy card help)

When you open the Energy card info modal, Depth is shown as a table:

Stage Calculation Contribution
Followers weight × √count e.g. 4 × √4 = 8.0
Collabs weight × √count e.g. 10 × √2 ≈ 14.1
Returning weight × √count e.g. 20 × √2 ≈ 28.3
Depth total sum ≈ Depth

Weights: Followers (4), Collabs (10), Returning (20) — deeper engagement contributes more than a follow alone.

Diminishing returns: Each stage uses √count so additional participants help a bit less each time.

Returning loyalty bonus: Returning collaborators count in both the Collab and Returning rows by design — not accidental double-counting.

Followers vs Collabs: Followers in the table exclude residents who are also counted as collaborators this month.

Breadth

Shown in the Energy card help modal for areas with a direct Community Energy score.

Breadth captures whether participation and leadership are spread across many residents and leaders, or concentrated among a few. It appears as a participation multiplier applied to Depth.

The multiplier rewards broader participation within the area. The help modal shows participation and leadership ratios, the band (0.75×–1.25×), and the computed multiplier. Below the active-resident threshold, Breadth is neutral (1.0×).

Score display and rounding

The gauge shows Community Energy rounded to a whole number (for example, 50 instead of 50.4). The help modal shows Depth, Breadth, and the raw math with one decimal where helpful. Comparison chips (vs last month) and peer baselines may still use one decimal.

Last season

Shown on the Energy card for areas with a direct Community Energy score.

A delta chip such as ▲ 3.2 vs last month compares the current month to the closed prior month. On the first season for an area, no delta chip appears.

Peer comparison baseline

Shown on the Energy card for areas with a direct Community Energy score.

When the area has same-level siblings inside a containing parent community, the Energy card may show a baseline line such as:

Neighborhood median: 42.0 · You're above average for Montgomery County

This compares your area's energy to the median of its peer neighborhoods. The line appears only when enough sibling communities have energy data for a meaningful median (at least two peers with energy this month).

Child communities list

The Within {area name} card ranks lower-level communities inside the current civic area that have active residents this month. For parent areas below the platform threshold, this card is the primary Dashboard content after participation counts. For areas with a direct Community Energy score, it appears below the participation and Energy cards.

Tap the info icon on the card for ranking rules, Combined Energy badge meaning, and when civic level labels appear on rows.

Each row shows:

  • Community name
  • Civic level label (for example, "Town or City" or "Neighborhood") when the list mixes more than one community level
  • Energy value for the month (one decimal place)
  • A Combined Energy badge when that child area is below the platform threshold

Tap a row to open that community's civic level page (Thinkers, Questions, and Dashboard tabs).

The card is not shown when no lower-level communities inside the area have active residents this month — including when the area has no child civic areas. Parent areas below the platform threshold with no qualifying children may show only the page header and participation counts.