The User Tools menu acts as the hub for all Specify configuration and customization, be it for an individual user or for the entire database. This is where you can access crucial functions such as form definitions, report resources, Security and Accounts, and much more.
Accessing the menu
You access this menu by clicking on your username in the navigation menu.
Specify 7.7:
Specify 7.8+:
This menu is broken up into six categories:
User Account
Change Password
This option allows the current user to set their new password.
Log Out
This logs the current logged in user out of their account.
Customization
Preferences
This launches the User Preferences interface.
Schema Config
Launches the Schema Config tool.
Administrative Tools
Generate Master Key
This generates a master key to be used when accessing Specify 7 through Specify 6 remotely.
Repair Tree
This option allows the user to repair tree structures if something is potentially broken. This manually renumbers the nodes associated with the trees.
Resources
This menu item gives access to both App Resource and View Sets.
Security and Accounts
Links to the Security and Accounts panel.
Export
Create DwC Archive
Specify 7.7:
The user can enter the name of the DwCA definition and Metadata files present in App Resources to manually build a DwCA export.
Specify 7.8:
The user can select the resources from the list, first by selecting the DwCA export mapping and then the DwCA metadata file.
Update RSS Feed
If the database has an ExportFeed app resource present in App Resources, this refreshes the DwCA export accessible via RSS feed. After this process begins, the user specified in the ExportFeed document will receive a notification that includes a link to the export.
Documentation
About Specify 7
This item brings up the About Specify 7 menu just as the Specify 7 logo does on the home page. This includes contact information for the Specify Collections Consortium, a description of our program, warranty and legal information, as well as technical information about your device and database. We may ask for this information when troubleshooting issues.
Community Forum
This links to our Discourse home page.
Technical Docs
This is a link to the GitHub wiki, containing mostly technical information and documentation.
Developer Resources
Clear Browser Cache
This clears the browser’s cache for your current Specify 7 instance. This is advisable if you are experiencing issues locally and suspect there are local issues impacting your workflow.
Database Schema
You can visualize the current schema in the database by clicking this menu item. This schema table can be exported as a JSON or TSV. Every table can be expanded to show more details about the fields, relationships, and more.
Operations API
This item links to your Specify 7 installation’s Operations API page.
Tables API
This item links to your Specify 7 installation’s Tables API page.
