Constitutional Courier

Constitutional Courier is a modern, GTK-based desktop application that provides an elegant and intuitive way to explore the United States Constitution. Built with Python and GTK 4.0, it offers a clean dark-themed interface that makes reading and searching through constitutional texts comfortable and efficient. I am a beginner and I hope you folks enjoy using this.

(credit for the icon it is published under the Creative Commons License) https://www.svgrepo.com/svg/404467/constitution-constitution-book-court-gavel-law-book

Features

• Modern Dark Theme

  • Gruvbox-inspired color scheme
  • High contrast for improved readability

• Interactive Navigation

  • Sidebar navigation for quick access to specific sections
  • Full document view option
  • Smooth scrolling through articles and amendments

• Advanced Search Capabilities

  • Real-time full-text search
  • Highlighted search results
  • Quick search access via Ctrl+F shortcut

• User-Friendly Interface

  • Split-pane layout with adjustable sidebar
  • Clean and minimalist design
  • Keyboard shortcuts for common actions

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• GTK 4.0
• PyGObject
• libadwaita

Installation

1. Install system dependencies:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install python3-gi python3-gi-cairo gir1.2-gtk-4.0 libadwaita-1-0

# Fedora
sudo dnf install python3-gobject gtk4 libadwaita

# Arch
sudo pacman -Syu python3-gobject gtk4 libadwaita

2. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/moontowncitizen/constitutional-courier.git
cd constitutional-courier

3. Run the application:

python3 constitutional_courier.py

Usage

1. Navigation

   • Use the sidebar to jump to specific articles or amendments
   • Click "The U.S. Constitution" to view the full document

2. Searching

   • Press Ctrl+F to focus the search bar
   • Type your search term and press Enter or click the Search button
   • Search results will be highlighted in the text
   • The status bar will show the number of matches

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature/improvement)
3. Make your changes
4. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add new feature')
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/improvement)
6. Create a Pull Request

To-Do List

1. Bug Fixes
2. Fonts probably Go Mono nerd fonts.
3. Packaging
4. Ports (MacOS and Windows and maybe just maybe an android port)
5. Sound Effects? (revolutionary war sounds ding of liberty bell, tin whistle, yankee doodle etc.){an option only}
6. Maybe a fork of this for each state's constitution all offline.

License

This project is licensed under the GPL v3.0 License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built using GTK 4.0 and libadwaita
• Inspired by the need for accessible constitutional texts
• Thanks to the GTK team for their excellent documentation
• Thanks to python3 for being amazing for beginners

Contact

For questions, suggestions, or issues, please open an issue in the GitHub repository.

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Made with ❤️ for constitutional education and open source software!