NHMA Entomology UI Improvements for quick entry

[FedorSteeman]

Request by @hansviborg For a new quick registration project involving volunteers, NHMA Entomology would like the creation of a separate user group with a simplified UI and limited permissions.

The UI should have the following changes compared to the standard one:

New Collection Object:

• NHMA -> Beholdes, men ændres til ”New Catalog Number”
• Accession -> Beholdes
• Alt Cat Number -> Beholdes, men ændres til ”Old Catalog Number”
• Cataloger -> Beholdes - Kan man opsætte så den bruger (Agent) der er logget ind som default er udfyldt i feltet?
• Cataloged Date -> Beholdes – Kan man have den aktuelle dato som default så man ikke aktivt skal markere dette?
• Ex Collection -> Beholdes

Determinations (Rubrikken skal altid være slået ud):

• Taxon -> Beholdes
• Preferred Taxon -> Fjernes
• Verbatim Scientific Name -> Fjernes
• Determined Date -> Beholdes
• Determiner -> Beholdes
• Remarks -> Beholdes

Col Obj Attribute Hele afsnit fjernes da frivillige ikke kan kønsbestemme og alle præparater er Adult

• Sex -> Fjernes (Frivillige kan ikke kønsbestemme)
• Stage -> Altid Adult

Collecting Information:

• Start Date -> Beholdes
• End Date -> Beholdes
• Method -> Fjernes
• Locality -> Beholdes, men vi skal have fundet en geography/lokalitetsnavne backbone.
• Verbatim Locality -> Beholdes
• Locality and Habitat Notes -> Beholdes Vi georefererer alle præparater.

Collectors:

• Agent -> Beholdes
• Remarks -> Fjerens
• Verbatim Collectors -> Beholdes
• Field Notebook Page ->Fjernes

Preparations:

• Prep Type -> Altid stå på ”Pinned”
• Count -> Altid stå på ”1”
• Storage -> Beholdes. Kan feltet gøres bredere?
• Prepared Date -> Beholdes
• Emergence Start Date -> Fjernes
• Emergence End Date -> Fjernes
• Remarks -> Fjernes

Attachments -> Fjernes Collection Object Citations -> Fjernes

Slut Rubrik:

• Modified By Agent -> Beholdes
• Modified Date -> Beholdes
• Generate Label On Save -> Beholdes
• GUID -> Beholdes

[FedorSteeman]

The forms have been designed in test environment by @AstridBVW and added to the Limited User group.

However for some reason, this only works in Specify6. In Specify7 Limited User accounts get a "Page not found" when trying to open a collection object form.

To be continued...

[AstridBVW]

A simplified UI has been made with the changes requested but with a few exceptions.

These include:

• Cataloger: at this moment it is not possible to set a default value for this field.

• Cataloged Date: at this moment it is not possible to set a default value for this field, however if you click on the calendar symbol next to the field, it automatically fills out with the current date.

• Determinations: it is not possible for the table to be permanently "slået ud", you have to click on Add to fill out the table.

• Col Obj Attribute, Stage: Stage can be set to have the default Adult, however for the data in the field Stage (Adult) to be added to the Collection Object, the table Col Obj Attribute has to be visible on the form.

We recommend using the function "Save and add another" to carry forward the information entered on the form to the next collection object. Then you don't have to keep filling out repetitive information such as Cataloger etc.

Additional notes:

• One of the requests was for the Storage field to be made wider. This could only be done by moving the fields around. Also, the Storage field can be made even wider if necessary.

• The field Determiner was made shorter, and the field Agent under Collector was made wider. These were just tweaks that can be reversed if necessary.

[FedorSteeman]

We've tested and tried the above solution in Specify7 and thanks to the "carry over" feature when using "Save and add another" this works smoothly, because the cataloger, cataloged date and even other fields like determinations are copied to the next entry.

We have added the simplified UI to the "Limited Access" user group in a test environment and it works fine in Specify6, but we're having issues in Specify7, where the user cannot get access to the data entry form for some reason. We're debugging and reaching out for help on this particular glitch.

Alternatively, we could add the simplified UI form on user level for each of the volunteer accounts to be created.

[FedorSteeman]

Answer from Kansas: "In Specify 7.6.1, Limited access users and Guests don’t have write access. They can only read data and use the query builder. That will be fixed in Specify 7.7 with the introduction of a highly customizable permission system. "

Meaning that until we upgrade, we need to use the workaround of adding the form to individual users, while adjusting their permissions individually.

[FedorSteeman]

Showed @hansviborg our progress while he was at the office anyway. There were some things off, so perhaps I wasn't getting the latest version of the UI. In any case, we marked out some stuff and agreed so far on the following:

• Workflow would require on pre-filling the non-varying fields Cataloger, Cataloged Date, Stage and Prep Type at the start of the session and then using "Save and Add Another" to carry forward these values.
• It may be a good idea to move the non-varying sections together at the top so once the session is initiated, focus can lay on the bottom part with determination, location etc.
• Sex should be replace with Stage
• Storage to be made wider and moved down the other fields under Preparations
• Remove attachments section

We also agreed on the creation of a single volunteer account that the different volunteers can log in as, and the creation of corresponding agents for each volunteer. The volunteers will then be able to choose the cataloger that corresponds to themselves. This way, we can more easily control both the UI design and permissions for this particular user account. It is possible to be logged on concurrently with this single account and make changes at the same time.

[AstridBVW]

@FedorSteeman @hansviborg The UI above does not look like the one I have made, so I suspected you had the wrong one. I just logged in to NHMA2 and the UI imported to the database was not mine. I have just reverted and reimported my UI, if you log in to NHMA2 you can now see the correct UI. As you can see, on the UI I have made, these three points are already done:

"Sex should be replace with Stage Storage to be made wider and moved down the other fields under Preparations Remove attachments section"

With exception of the positioning of Storage - if you are not happy, I can move the fields around again.

The sections can be placed however you want, but please take a look at the correct UI and let me know what you want moved.

[FedorSteeman]

@hansviborg So below is what the form looks like now. If you could you either confirm or specify any further changes? Then we'll implement those too and get ready to roll out to production.

BTW You can try out yourself at a test copy of your database we rolled out at: https://specify-test.science.ku.dk/specify/

On that site, the new form has been uploaded at the Discipline level, so all users have access to it. In production, we will of course restrict it to the volunteer user.

[hansviborg]

Just had a look and everything look exactly as we imagined. These changes should make registerng new specimens easier/faster for people new to Specify. You have a 'go' to roll out the changes in the live database.

Thank you very much for all the help!

[FedorSteeman]

Rolled out to live database under user 'volunteer'.

@AstridBVW noted that "Stage" default value is not working, so we're not quite done yet.

[FedorSteeman]

Note to @AstridBVW : Staged doesn't automatically select "adult" upon addition of this attribute, but once done, it will remain sticky and be carried over. So I think this solution works as is.

[AstridBVW]

@FedorSteeman Agreed.

[FedorSteeman]

Closing ticket. All that remains is an authoritative list of geographic names including UTM coordinates as per #148

[hansviborg]

Can we have fields below reinstated, please? They are are used much more than we expected.

Emergence Start Date -> Emergence End Date ->

[FedorSteeman]

@hansviborg The necessary changes were made now by @AstridBVW but we may need to restart the webserver to effectuate these on Sp7, which would disrupt service and cause users to have to log in again.

[hansviborg]

Thanks! You are the best!!