msb-vertnet / msb-mamm

Issue tracking for MSB Mammal data in the VertNet portal (portal.vertnet.org).
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New monthly usage reports and stats #23

Open VertNetInfo opened 8 years ago

VertNetInfo commented 8 years ago

Dear VertNet data publishers,

We are happy to announce that the new version of the VertNet usage report generator is up and running, and the great news is that usage stats for past few months are now available for your review in each of your GitHub repository Reports folders.

In September 2015 our old report generators went offline unexpectedly due to changes in the portal infrastructure. No statistics were lost. Since then we have fixed and improved the report generator so that we can provide you with a more robust and sustainable tool. We also took the opportunity to improve the look and feel of the reports.

The new report generator brings some changes in the way you can access the usage reports.

First, when you visit your GitHub repository pages, and look inside the Reports folder, you’ll see text files for all of the reports we’ve generated, including the months September 2015 - January 2016. The reports prior to September 2015 will look as they always have, the new style has been applied to reports from that date. Each new report will include a link to a shiny new Statistics page (see below), which will eventually serve as a gateway to all reports. For now, the new Statistics page will display only the new style of report (Sept15-Jan16). We’re working on a way to transform the old reports into the new presentation, and when we do, you’ll see them on the new Statistics page. Until then, you’ll still have access to the older reports via your GitHub repositories.

BONUS: We’ve added a link to the new Statistics page for each repository on every publisher’s page. To find the links, visit our Publishers page (http://portal.vertnet.org/publishers), then click on any institution and look for the Usage link.

Second, when you visit the new Statistics page, you see a link to visit a handsome new page that displays your monthly report. The default view is the HTML report, but if you prefer just the text version of the stats, you can get that by clicking on the red button labeled "RAW REPORT (TXT)" at the top of the page. The raw report uses the same text structure used for reports prior to September 2015 to make it easier for you to compare your monthly statistics.

Finally, you might notice the "Cumulative data" section is missing. We found a bug in the way some of these values were calculated and have decided to shut it down, but we’ll bring it back as soon as we create a way to present these data accurately. For now, we know your monthly statistics are correct. The good news is that your third-grade math teacher is very pleased that you’ll have to use your brain again to create your cumulative stats — at least for a little while.

GitHub notifications have now resumed and you should receive notifications at the beginning of each month beginning in March 2016. We’ve posted the stats for January 2016, so you should have received that notification already (you won’t get notifications for the reports from Sept-Dec 2015, but the reports will be available on your new web page and archived in GitHub). If you have any questions, suggestions, or issues please contact us directly (phone, email, or http://www.vertnet.org/feedback/contact.html).

Thanks for your patience and, as always, for being a part of VertNet.