For collections that have are using Specify and wish to publish their data on the internet, the Specify Web Portal is a full-featured web interface for public access to specimen data and images. It is an optional component of a Specify installation. Working from an exported copy of a Specify collection database, the Web Portal provides full-text indexed searches, structured, and spatial queries of specimen holdings. Express searches are fast with full-text indexing on every word in the database. Structured queries allow precise control of the search scope and multi-field queries can be constructed with AND or OR logic. Searches can be qualified to return only records with geo-coordinates or with attached images.
The Specify Web Portal displays specimen information in three views–Records, Images, and Map. On the “Records” tab specimen data are shown in a traditional grid view. The choice and number of data fields to display in the web interface is determined by each collection, and web users can sort and re-arrange data columns during a session. The search panel is customizable with an institutional logo or brand image, and the pages can be embedded into institutional content management systems or web platforms.
The Specify Web Portal is an effective tool for publishing specimen data–it is configurable and customizable. Specify’s Schema Mapper and Data Export tools make issuing updates from a Specify collection database easy. The Web Portal is intended for institutional web server computers; setup requires the technical expertise of a server or network administrator. Installation information is available on Github:
Check out some examples!
Using the Specify Web Portal
Using-the-Specify-Web-Portal.pdf (1.1 MB)
Please note that some of the instructions about loading data or setup may be out of date. Consult the GitHub repository for more information