[Archivesspace_Users_Group] ArchivesSpace Public User Interface updated roadmap (delaying the candidate release until March, 2017)

[Custer, Mark]

Dear Colleagues,



I'm writing to provide an updated timeline for the release of the new ArchivesSpace Public User Interface.  As many of you are aware, we have been aiming to have a candidate release ready for December 16th, with the official, production-ready release to follow in March 2017. However, we are behind schedule at this point, so we have decided to push back the candidate release date until the end of March 2017 to coincide with the next major release of ArchivesSpace.  Because of that, we don't expect the production-ready release to be available until June 2017. Even though we are three months behind our original schedule, a LOT of important progress has been made since August, including the following:


o    We have conducted and outsourced some really important and helpful usability<https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/wiki/display/ADC/Usability+Testing> and accessibility tests (thanks to many people at Harvard, Melissa Wisner at Yale, and WebAIM)
o    Search results have been enhanced, which now include additional description and context (e.g. repository, collection, etc.)
o    Searches can be limited by date ranges
o    Searches can be limited to a specific collection / resource record
o    Sorting options have been added, including the new ability to sort by the year of the described material.
o    Pagination features have been updated.
o    The new citation feature has been implemented, which will even work if you have JavaScript turned off
o    Mixed content and formatted elements display as expected (e.g. italics and bold text is supported, although we're still working out a way to support internal linking features).  Essentially what this means is that EAD tags won't display in the PUI!
o    A robust implementation of archival inheritance has been developed (see AR-1300<https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/browse/AR-1300>), which is especially important since the ArchivesSpace PUI provides component-level result pages.



If you're interested to learn more about the new inheritance feature, here's a 10-minute screencast that illustrates how it works:  https://vimeo.com/195457286



So what features remain to be implemented?



There are some minor adjustments, such as:
o    Ensuring that all unpublished records do not display in the PUI. The ability to unpublish an entire repository and all of the material descriptions attached to that repository will be a new feature in the staff interface, by the way, which will coincide with the release of the new PUI. All repositories will be published by default, as usual, but you will now have the ability to suppress one or more from the PUI if need be, as requested in AR-1228<https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/browse/AR-1228>.


There are also a few major features yet to be added or completed.  Here is a full list of those major features that we're still aiming to include in the candidate release:
o    Make comprehensive styling updates that will address aesthetic elements of the site as well as make the site even more user-friendly (e.g. not showing every facet on the right-hand side of the page immediately)
o    Add a single-scroll view of an entire resource record (i.e. the ability to review an resource record and all of its descendants without having to go to separate web pages for each resource component)
o    Add a container-only view of any resource record that has containers attached, which will users to "peek" inside each box to see the titles of the contents contained within each (taking advantage of the new top container model); or, barring that feature, we'll look at adding an Excel/CSV export option for that same type of flattened view.
o    Add the Request feature, which will generate an email with the information outlined in AR-1064<https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/browse/AR-1064>
o    Finish up the Classification / Record Group views
o    Provide instructions on what can be modified easily and how, along with all necessary updates to the user manual
o    Update the "Collection organization" side panel so that it will include more links beyond just the links to any immediate children (as per the Cherry Hill design)
o    Conduct a final pass on the default labels used throughout the application.  These labels are really tough, sometimes, depending on the data that follows.  Of course, all of the labels in the PUI can be edited within an ArchivesSpace installation.
o    Add the PDF request feature
o    Provide a better user interface for those cases when a published digital object record is linked to a published resource, resource component, and/or accession record.
o    Update the metadata that is embedded in each HTML page to help optimize how search engines understand the ArchviesSpace PUI.
o    Time permitting, add the book bag feature (although this will likely be postponed)


As always, you can see the current state of the new PUI in our test corpus site at:



http://pui.hudmol.com<http://pui.hudmol.com/>

(Thanks, again, to Hudson Molonglo for hosting this website!)



You can also read the minutes of our development calls, at the following location on the ArchivesSpace wiki:



https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/wiki/display/ADC/Meeting+Schedule%2C+Minutes



Once the candidate release is available, we will be seeking more feedback via an online survey, and we would especially appreciate all of the institutions who use the current public interface to weigh in heavily at that time. And for those of who have already provided feedback, either directly to me or by any other means, thank you.  It's really been appreciated!



Please let me know if there are any questions,



Mark Custer


On behalf of the ArchivesSpace Public Interface development group.

*         Laurie Arp, LYRASIS

*         James Bullen, Hudson Molonglo

*         Mark Cooper, LYRASIS

*         Mark Custer, Yale University

*         Bobbi Fox, Harvard University

*         Payten Giles, Hudson Molonglo

*         Brian Hoffman, Consultant

*         Susan Pyzynski, Harvard University

*         Mark Triggs, Hudson Molonglo

*         Brad Westbrook, ArchivesSpace

*         Melissa Wisner, Yale University

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lyralists.lyrasis.org/pipermail/archivesspace_users_group/attachments/20161214/1047ef3f/attachment.html>