For the next technical support hour for GBIF nodes on July 2nd at 4:00 pm CEST, Morten from the GBIF Engineering team will introduce you to the new GBIF.org portal (demo site).
The focus will be on the search interface, custom data dashboards and the new multitaxonomy feature.
We will be happy to answer any questions related to or not related to the topic. Please feel free to post questions in advance in this thread or write to helpdesk@gbif.org.
Here are the video and the questions and answers from the session:
Q: How do you save a Dashboard and share it?
A: In the new GBIF portal, users can save custom dashboards directly in their browser. To share a dashboard, there’s a sharing button that generates a URL (orange arrow). When someone opens the shared URL, they’ll be prompted to keep the shared layout or discard their current one. The dashboard is currently stored locally in the browser, so it will be lost if opened in a different browser or device.
Q: Is the taxonomy page gone?
A: No, the taxonomy page is not gone. While the approach has changed, users can still access species pages. The new portal aims to make taxonomy browsing more context-specific. Instead of having multiple intermixed checklists, users will now browse taxonomy within individual data sets. The species pages will have the same data as the existing ones, but the presentation will be different, with a clearer distinction between different taxonomic sources like the backbone and Catalog of Life.
Q: Could it be possible to add a filter to sort datasets by publication/update?
A: The idea has been captured in this GitHub issue: Include dataset registration date in TSV export for dataset search · Issue #4809 · gbif/portal-feedback · GitHub. Please add a comment to the issue if it does not capture all the node’s needs.
Q: Is the option to view the Taxonomic distribution of occurrences still available when we perform a search, and it’s displayed as a tree?
A: When performing a search, you can view taxonomic distribution as a list, but not as a tree in the new portal.
Q: Where can we report bugs and issues with the new interface?
A: You can report issues here: GitHub · Where software is built
Q: Are the colors of the demo final?
A: No, they will probably change. The communications team in the Secretariat is working on the overall design.
Q: What is the plan for transitioning from the current GBIF backbone taxonomy to the extended Catalog of Life taxonomy?
A: The plan is a gradual transition:
The aim is to minimize disruption while providing a smooth migration path for users and data publishers.
Q: When will the new GBIF portal be officially launched, and how can users prepare for the transition?
A: The new GBIF portal is planned for launch in fall (October) of this year. Users can prepare by:
The current site will continue to run alongside the new portal during the transition period. The GBIF team is considering a community webinar to introduce the new portal and its features. Users are encouraged to start using the extended Catalog of Life taxonomy and provide feedback to help improve the new platform.
Q: How do you plan to launch the new portal?
A: The current plan is relatively simple:
The goal is to make the transition smooth and intuitive, hoping that most users will find the new interface familiar enough to use without extensive training. The team wants to gradually introduce the new portal, allowing users time to adapt and provide feedback.
Q: Has there been any progress on adding analytics to hosted portals?
A: Yes, there has been progress on adding analytics to hosted portals. While the country pages are not currently visible in the current environment, they are being developed and will be added soon. Additionally, the new custom dashboard feature provides a lot of built-in analytics capabilities. Users can now create custom dashboards with various views like tables, charts, and maps, which offer more flexible analytical options for exploring occurrence data.
Q: How do the feature icons work?
A: The feature icons are populated based on noteworthy attributes of a record. For example, an icon might indicate that a record has:
These icons appear as a column in the search results and highlight special characteristics of the records. Currently, you cannot filter directly on these feature icons - they are just an aggregated view to quickly show unique aspects of a record. Users can disable this column if they prefer.
Q: Paleo publishers can sometimes only supply Actinopterygii as the scientific name for their records. But since Actinopterygii is not part of the current backbone, the name does not get matched. Why is it not in the backbone?
A: Actinopterygii was previously removed from the current GBIF backbone because it was considered an intermediate rank in the Catalogue of Life version that was used to generate the current GBIF backbone. It is being reinstated in the new extended Catalog of Life taxonomy. The Catalog of Life team is working on improving paleontological taxonomy by:
They are currently testing and have two public versions of the xRelease in Checklist Bank, with plans to update the taxonomy during the fall. The goal is to provide a more comprehensive and accurate taxonomic classification, including groups like Actinopterygii.
