[okfn-help] Puzzled by CKAN groups

[Rufus Pollock]

2010/1/16 Jo Walsh <jo at frot.org>:
> dear all,
>
> I got an OpenID so I can finally log into CKAN rather than editing it by IP.
> http://metazool.myopenid.com/

BTW it is trivial to convert this into an openid at e.g.
http://frot.org or the like with a simple line in the head or your
home page ...

> I am a bit confused by CKAN groups - in theory a great feature.
> I don't see a "join the group" option when looking at, say,
> http://ckan.net/group/geodata

At the moment, you have to be added to the group by one of the
existing group owners (the whole point is the group is run by a
specific group of people). It would be good to have a join now button
though which at least notified others of your desire to join.

> I am not sure what having packages assigned to a group really buys, over
> focusing a group on a tag. A way to filter out the highest-quality entries

The idea of groups as opposed to tags was simple:

Anyone can add (or remove) a tag from package but a group is
controlled by its owners. Put simply: a group is a "curated" tag.

I also think groups are important to the community building on CKAN as
they provide a defined place for specific communities to come together
-- thoughts on this very welcome.

> or focus on packages with high user demand / ratings - this is something Jo
> Cook of OSGeo was suggesting as a need, there are a few very widely reused
> packages.

This is a high priority, see e.g.:

http://knowledgeforge.net/ckan/trac/ticket/75 (Record and display
package "usage" information)

http://knowledgeforge.net/ckan/trac/ticket/183 (Browse packages by rating)

http://knowledgeforge.net/ckan/trac/ticket/144 (Most popular packages
listed on homepage)

Regards,

Rufus