Help fund the new GeoNetwork editor

Many of you have asked us how to participate in the redesign of the GeoNetwork metadata editor, as described in a previous article.

Today, we’re launching the first call for participatory funding for the GeoNetwork OpenSource project.

This is our objective: from modern components, to propose a new intuitive and ergonomic editor that adapts seamlessly to users' needs.

The fundamental principles of our approach are the following:

1. Make the metadata accessible to everyone
2. No dependency on schemas
3. A custom editor

To participate in this participative financing, you just have to fill in the form at the bottom of the page, specifying your organization and the amount you would like to contribute. We will then contact you to contract your participation.

We will continuously update this page to inform all interested parties of the evolution of the contributions, of the different stages released and of the progress to follow this campaign day by day.

Deliverables for each development stage

• Source code
• Builds: docker image "editor", zipped HTML app, etc.
• Deployment, usage and administration documentation
• API doc

Development stages

150k "A new metadata editor”

• GeoNetwork users discover a new metadata editor with a focus on the user experience
• The editor covers the main fields of a metadata, divided into sections to address the most common use cases.
• As a user, I can create a new metadata record, but also load and edit any metadata in my catalog.
• Depending on my user profile (novice, advanced), I can adapt my path and the level of complexity. 
• A metadata can be created from existing metadata: from my catalog or by providing the URL of a remote metadata.
• I have access to editing shortcuts, such as an "open license" switch that, when activated, automatically fills in several license-related fields (not shown).
• Some fields are pre-filled in relation to my user profile, such as the contact point.
• I have the possibility to upload data that will be attached to the metadata.
• I can save "template metadata".

In the background, any interaction with the GeoNetwork catalog uses a brand new REST API, developed for the occasion.

300k "Editing customization"

As a GeoNetwork administrator I can configure the editing path. All the documentation is provided to help me in my task.

• For the fields to be filled in the form, I can configure the following:
  • The label
  • The list of values
  • Default value
  • Type of field
  • Constraints
• I can modify the sections and their content.
• I can change the layout of each section. For example, I can put some fields next to each other (several columns), others below each other. I can provide foldable blocks, visible or hidden by default.

New tools have been implemented to facilitate the editing process, such as replacing four text fields with a drawing tool to define the extent of a bounding box.

As a user of the new editor:

• My use of the form is more intuitive (last entered values are available, I can use shortcuts, etc..)
• I know exactly where I am in the filling of the metadata form thanks to a visual indicator
• I can stop and resume editing at any time.

Learn more about the project

After the success of the "Datahub", we are now starting the development of a new application in the GeoNetwork-UI project, in the form of an editing frontend for the GeoNetwork backend.

The technologies are the same, the design is of similar inspiration, with a strong will of simplicity and ergonomics. 

The initial inspiration is to be found in the MDedit project (developed by DataGrandEst), an application that was very successful in certain communities.

The latter will not be maintained any more and we thus have the ambition to replace it by this new editor. We will try to go even further in the simplicity of edition, by carrying out in parallel a revision of the metadata model, and by bringing possibilities of customization of the form and the user path.

A detailed technical proposal has been proposed and validated by the PSC GeoNetwork.

Everything is now ready to start the project. The design and architecture phases have already started but we need your financial support to reach our goals.

This kind of funding campaign is something quite new within the GeoNetwork community. We hope it will allow us to achieve most of the needs and desires of the community through this common effort

Thank you to our sponsors