[ckan-dev] ideas for improving the package registration screen usability

Fri May 27 14:13:36 UTC 2011

Hi,

I have been using CKAN a lot to register packages, and here's some
ideas on improving the process.

(1)

Problem: the "format" field does not make it clear and explicit
whether if input is intended to be a media type or a textual
description of the format. For instance, "application/rdf+xml" or "RDF
(XML)". I have already asked that question before in the mailing list,
and the answer is that is should be the media type. Indeed, many
packages are indeed registered like this in ckan.net, but the lack of
an explicit instruction often causes people to confuse and input a
textual description of the format (e.g.,
http://ckan.net/package/brazilian-politicians ). Worse yet, all the
examples of format given are textual descriptions!

Possible solution (easy): add a textual instruction to the text input
explaining that the expected input is a media type. This could be a
text label nearby or a tooltip over the format input text box.

Possible solution (harder, and does not exclude the previous
solution): have an autocomplete box pop up as the user starts typing,
with the possible, previously registered, media types. Some aliases
could also be recorded, so that e.g., when the user types "DOC" into
the text box, "application/msword" would appear in the autocomplete.

(2)

Problem: data packages with many similar resources are very tedious to register.

Possible solution: add a button to automatically copy the text of an
individual field (resource URI, format or description) from the above
row. Add keyboard navigation so that when an user presses the arrow
keys up or down, they can move to the corresponding field in the line
above or below.

What do you think of these ideas? Worth a ticket?

Best regards,
Augusto Herrmann