On February 25, 2013 iDigBio launched a new design for http://iDigBio.org and a new set of features for our specimen portal at http://portal.iDigBio.org.
Meet our Graphic Designer
Jeremy Spinks is a graphic designer practicing mainly in the online arena. Jeremy works at the Institute for Digital Information & Scientific Communication, at Florida State University, where he has also taught graphic design and typography. With 15 years of experience and several regional and national recognitions, he specializes in bridging the gaps between client desires, artistic aspirations and technical realities. Jeremy has the following to say about the new iDigBio website and portal design:
"Simply put, the redesign of the iDigBio website is focused on making it easier to understand and to use. Several internal concerns have been addressed regarding usability. In addition, the site tries to be more approachable to a lay visitor. With the latest release of the iDigBio specimen portal, there is also a new consistency in the visual language used, which will help users navigate the collection of technologies that make up the iDigBio website. Several further improvements to content organization are planned in future iterative steps."
If you would like to leave feedback for Jeremy, or any of the members of website/portal team, please use the iDigBio contact form found here: https://www.idigbio.org/contact
iDigBio Specimen Portal V1 Release Notes
The V1 release of the iDigBio Data Portal and APIs is focused on correcting shortcomings identified in the technology demonstrator and in completing the foundation for a system that we hope will serve the community for years to come. We have made numerous front-end user interface improvements, improved the stability and flexibility of the API, and have worked very hard to complete the due diligence to make sure that the requirements for data providers are minimal but sufficient to ensure the smooth operation of the system. Several of the systems being deployed with V1 are brand new with this release (ID resolver and CSV download), so we would like to call these out specifically as elements that may change significantly in the future based on identified needs and uses, and on which we would welcome any and all comments and suggestions for improvements to their operation.
User Interface Improvements
* Specimen Record search now available from the portal home page (Internally Identified)
* Improved interface for displaying current query parameters (User Requested)
* Add multiple views for search results, include tabular and contact sheet formats (Internally Identified)
* Added the ability to save, recall, and link other users to searches in the iDigBio portal (requires log-in) (Internally Identified)
* Added the ability to link to a search by query parameters (Internally Identified)
* Added the ability to view recent searches (Internally Identified)
* Added the ability to download a the results of a search as a CSV file. (beta) (User Requested)
* Added descriptive labels to all record view terms (User Requested)
* Grouped record view terms into categories (User Requested)
* Provider IDs are now visible from the API and record view pages. (User Requested)
* Media records now display links back to the specimen (User Requested)
API Improvements
* JSONP formatted response if the 'callback' parameter is included. (Internally Identified)
* File hashes and original file names are captured automatically into the media access point when uploading media via the /media endpoints (Internally Identified)
* Well known Inter-Type relationships should now automatically generate inverse relationships (Internally Identified)
* Implement prototype ID resolution service (beta) (User Requested)
* The search.idigbio.org API endpoint is being migrated from Solr to ElasticSearch (http://www.elasticsearch.org/), to better match the deployment model of the rest of the iDigBio infrastructure. (Internally Identified)
* Updated underlying libraries to correct a bug that was causing data corruption for data records with unicode data elements. (Internally Identified)
Data Changes
* All test datasets have been purged from the system.
* iDigBio has started engaging with TCN data providers to solicit additional datasets for inclusion. This will be replaced with a self-signup model in the coming months.
Feedback
Your feedback and comments are vital to the success of iDigBio. Please feel free to share with us any questions, comments or concerns you have about the new look and feel of iDigBio.org and features available through our specimen portal: https://www.idigbio.org/contact
