OpenFile is powered by your ideas. The stories our reporters cover all start out as files opened by users like you.

To start a story, you open a file and tell us your idea. Maybe you have a question about a neighbourhood project. Maybe an important issue isn’t being covered properly, or needs more attention. Or perhaps you saw something in your city and asked yourself, “What’s the deal with that?”

After you open a file, an OpenFile editor reviews it and posts it on the website as a Growing File. Now that it’s public, you can share your file with others and people can comment and add relevant links, videos and images. We then assign a professional journalist to manage the file and start reporting. When the reporter has filed his or her story, the file is posted on the site as a Reported File , kicking off a new cycle of feedback and participation.

Read on below for a more detailed breakdown of the process. Or open a file now to get things started.

LIFECYCLE OF A FILE

1. Open a file

Just click the Open a file button in the utility bar. Join the OpenFile site. Then fill out the page where you tell us the story you want us to look into and click “Submit”.

2. Grow your file

Once your story is up on the site as a Growing File, you can send it to others you think should know about it. You can also post it to Facebook or Twitter. Now the community can add to the file with photos, related links, videos and comments. This ensures we get plenty of information about the story from many different perspectives.

3. Help report your file

Next, your Growing File is assigned to a reporter. OpenFile employs professional journalists to ensure that stories are accurate, informative and well-written. We'll let you know by email and through your OpenFile account when your file has been assigned. Now you and our reporter work to keep the file growing, while the journalist also gathers reporting and conducts interviews.

4. Your file becomes a Reported File

After investigating, the reporter takes all the information he or she has gathered from you and the community and produces a story. Once reviewed by an editor, the story is posted to the site in the Reported Files section. Now you can share the Reported File and continue to help your file grow by adding new information and participating in the comments. Who knows, it might even spawn a brand new file.

5. Afterlife

Files never die. If there is new information about a Reported File, let us know by adding to the file. We might assign the reporter to produce an updated story. Everything we publish stays online so that we can update files as the story evolves over time.

Ready to go? Join OpenFile today and help us make the news.