1 Reply by writter

  • writter
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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hello,
at the moment I'm trying to set up my first Indicia web site. As I'm struggeling a bit, I wonder, if it is possible to see, how existing websites work, so that I could learn from good examples?
Is it technically possible, to export just the structure of an existing Indicia website and then to import it to another installation of Indicia, so that somebody else can start from there? Are there Indicia users, who are willing to share?
Where are actually the data? Can I access and manipulate the tables via postgreSQL or other tools?
For my survey I need a fixed set of locations, users should not be able to enter data for any other place than for those, which I set up. Is that possible?

Regards,
Wolfgang

2 Reply by Jim Bacon

  • Jim Bacon
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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hi Wolfgang,

There are various ways we might be able to help with examples but I'd like to clarify what you need.

Is it the warehouse configuration for a website that you would like help with or the client website which displays the recording form?

If it is the client website, are you building it with Drupal or without?

And if it is the client website you want help with, is it just in relation to the recording form that you need help or are you thinking about the larger picture of building a site that provides species information, photos and so forth?

Records that you submit are stored on the warehouse that you have specified in configuring your client website. If you have your own warehouse you can access the tables directly with postgreSQL tools. If you are using a warehouse hosted by BRC then you cannot do this.

With a warehouse login you can see and edit the data via the warehouse website. You can can also manipulate and present the data using the reporting facilities of Indicia.

With regard to fixed locations, are you able to predefine the locations precisely or do you want the user to indicate whereabouts they are within a predefined boundary?

Regards,
Jim Bacon.

3 Reply by writter

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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hi Jim,
thanks for your answer. I fear, your questions show, that I'm very much a beginner with Indicia.
I wouldn't mind to get help with the warehouse and the client website, if that's not too demanding. Client website without warehouse wouldn't work anyway, would it?
I've started building with Instant Indicia.
I only need to set up an entry form. It is not necessary to give more information about the species, I don't need photos and I even don't need a map, because users should only be able to enter data for a fixed set of locations (transects), which they don't change.
Later I need access to the data in a way, that I can import them into our central Recorder database.

Regards,
Wolfgang

4 Reply by Jim Bacon

  • Jim Bacon
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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hi Wolfgang

Okay, that is clearer. You would like an example of the Warehouse set up and Instant Indicia setup for a simple recording form.

So I could set up a website for you to look at that was the same as the one created by following the Instant Indicia tutorial. However, I think this might not show you anything you haven't already seen. Correct me if I am wrong.

Moreover, you have a couple of specific issues which I can address more directly.

The easier one is accessing your records. Create a new Indicia Form in Drupal by selecting menu items Content Management > Create Content > Indicia Pages and then opt for the Report Grid form in the Reporting Category. In the Report Settings for this form you can choose the Library > Occurrences > Occurrences Download report which provides a mechanism for you to extract your data. I haven't used this myself yet.

In order for you to achieve selection of position from a drop down list of locations I think you are likely to have to start delving in to PHP coding because I'm not aware of that being a permutation for which a ready made form currently exists. You might want to look at documentation on prebuilt forms and, for creating the form content, see the section on building a data entry page on the building a basic page tutorial. This is a step up from configuring prebuilt forms in Drupal, however. How do you feel about that?

Jim Bacon.

5 Reply by johnvanbreda

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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hi Wolfgang & Jim
The MapPanel already almost does what you want with the location select. If you drop a location_select control and a map onto a form then when you select a location, the map will pan and zoom to show the location's boundary. You can either do this using PHP or a prebuilt form in Drupal if the form supports it.  If you are using the "MNHNL Dynamic 1 - dynamically generated data entry form" form in the "General Purpose Data Entry Forms" section when you add a form using Drupal, then on the Edit page for the form find the Form Structure box under the User Interface section. Somewhere in this list of tabs & controls you must insert either [location select] or [location autocomplete] as described in the help text to get the location control to appear. You can also remove the [map] line to remove the map if you want to (though I haven't tested this).

Next, when the user selects a location, you need to find the spatial data for the location and store it in the input form, because the way the location control is expected to work currently is that you pick a location, then the map zooms in, then you click to set the exact spatial reference. If you don't want the user to have to click on the map, then you would need to add JavaScript to the page which requests the location's data from the warehouse then stores it in the sample:entered_sref control on your form, ready for submitting with the record(s). I'm not sure if you or anyone you are working with has any JavaScript experience? If not I will see if I can find time to help.

John van Breda
Biodiverse IT

johnvanbreda's Website

6 Reply by Jim Bacon

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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hi Wolfgang, John

Some very helpful comments, John. They make sense to me because I know what you are talking about. Is it clear to you, Wolfgang?

If we add a [location select] on the dynamic form it offers a choice of all locations available to my website. Adding the option
@location_type_id=911
beneath the [location select] will pick just the locations tagged as transects on the BRC test server (where 911 is the id which can be found by inspecting the term in the Location Types termlist of the warehouse.)

I noticed that there is a Transect Editor form in the Sectioned Transects category of iForms which sounds like it could be worth investigating, Wolfgang.

Jim Bacon

7 Reply by writter

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Re: Examples for Indicia web sites

Hi John and Jim,
thank you very much for your replies. I was out of office yesterday and most of today. So I couldn't answer. I will have a look at your answers and will try to understand your posts and then possibly come back with more questions.

Thanks a lot,
Wolfgang