1. Overview of Viewshare

Viewshare is a tool for creating new interfaces, relationships, and access points for digital resources. Using Viewshare, you can expose, visualize, and manage data currently stored in Excel spreadsheets, XML MODS, or OAI-PMH. You can view this data in a list or a table, on a map, or in a timeline, scatter plot or pie chart. You can also embed the views you create in existing websites.

The steps to create a Viewshare View are:

• Upload or link to data which exists in Excel spreadsheets, XML MODS, or OAI-PMH
• Describe your data
• Augment date and place information and lists
• Publish a URI of your data
• Build a data view
• Select facets (such as tag clouds) and views (such as maps and charts) for your data
• Preview your work
• Publish a URI of your Viewshare View
• Share and embed your Viewshare View

Whether you want to share spreadsheets with scientific findings or lists of artwork or photos in a more Web-friendly way, you can rapidly expose your content using Viewshare.

1.1 Supported Browsers

Viewshare makes every attempt to support the following Web browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer v.7 and v.8, Firefox v.4.x, Safari v.3.x, Safari v.4.x, and Chrome v.14.x.

The following web browsers mostly work, but are not as thoroughly tested and not officially supported: Opera v.9.x, Camino v.1.6.x, Firefox v.2.x.

Internet Explorer v.6 does not work with some of the software used by Viewshare and is not supported.

2. Creating and Managing a Viewshare account

Creating an account allows you to access all the features of Viewshare, create your own personal profile, save the views you create, and connect with other users who have similar interests.

2.1 Signing up

To gain access to Viewshare with an authorized account fill out the sign-up form.

2.2 Logging in

If your user account has been created, you may log in by clicking "Login" at the top right corner of the Viewshare Home Page Home Page. This will take you to the Viewshare Login Page shown in Figure 1. To use a previously created user name and password, enter these in the Log In section on the left side of the Log In page and click "Log in".

Figure 1. Viewshare Login Screen

See Settings: Managing Your Account for more details on setting up your Viewshare account.

2.3 Verify Email Address

In order to use the "forgot password" feature you will need to have a verified email address for your account. Please remember to verify your email address by taking the following steps:

• Visit the Settings Page by clicking on the "Settings" link at the top right corner of any page.
• Type an email address in the text box provided.
• Click the "Add" button. A verification email will be sent to the account indicated within 5 minutes.
• Click on the confirmation link provided in the email to complete the verification process.

2.4 Settings: Managing Your Account

Setting up your account helps you to get the most out of Viewshare. Doing so helps you find and connect with people you know in order to share data and views in Viewshare. It also helps to keep you up to date with what's going on in the system. This walks you through the key steps for changing your settings and managing your account.

You can manage your account settings from the Settings page (Figure 2) accessible via the link at the top right corner of every Viewshare page when you are logged in.

Figure 2. Settings Page

2.5 Verify or Change an Email Address

Email addresses are your way of keeping in touch with what's going on in the Viewshare system via notifications. They also allow you to reset your password if needed. When you sign up for Viewshare we will send a verification email to the email address from which your signup request was sent. To verify your email address, simply click on the link provided in the email. You will be directed to a page which says "Email Confirmed". Multiple email addresses can be added if you would like to receive communications in several accounts.

If you did not verify or enter an email address at signup time, you can do so by visiting the Settings page accessible via a link at the top right corner of every page, once you are logged in. Click "re-send verification email" if you cannot find the original message. Then go to your mail account and click on the link to complete the verification process.

To change your email address, click on the E-Mail Addresses tab accessible via the Settings page. New email addresses can be associated with your account as needed by simply typing them in the box provided and clicking the "Add" button.

To delete an email address, click the "remove" link next to the address that is no longer required. Note: You cannot delete your primary email address. If the address marked as primary is no longer needed, add a new email address and once it has been verified, mark this address as primary. You may now delete the old primary email address.

Viewshare email privacy policy: Your email address is simply used as a tool to help us communicate with you. We promise not to share or sell it.

2.6 Change Password

To change your password, click the change password tab on the Settings page. Enter your current password, then your new password twice. Click the "Change password" button to finalize the update.

Lost your password? Click on "Forgot password?" on the login page. If you have provided an email address, you will be emailed a new temporary password. Please log in and change this password to a permanent one ASAP.

2.7 Set Timezone

Set your timezone so that receive and sent time for notices is localized to your timezone. To do this, visit the Timezone tab on the Settings page, select the proper timezone from the pulldown menu and click "Change my timezone".

2.8 Change Notice Preferences

Viewshare can be set to send email notices when specific events occur, especially ones related to your participation in the Viewshare community (see Participating in the Viewshare Communityfor more information). To change your preferences for the email notices you receive, visit the Notices tab via the Settings page. Checking or unchecking the boxes allows you to control the types of email notification you will receive.

2.9 Subscribe to News Feeds

Internet news feeds are formatted text files that are accessible at Web addresses to help you find news information. The most common formats are RSS and Atom. News organizations use news feeds to update people with the latest news information. Viewshare uses them to update people regarding the latest data files uploaded and latest views created. You can track the latest data sets and views created across the entire site or by a particular user.

To subscribe to news feeds for the Viewshare site:

• From anywhere on the site, click the RSS icon at the right side of the browser address bar.
• Select "Subscribe to 'Latest Data Views News Feed'" or "Subscribe to 'Latest Data News Feed'" depending on your preference.
• You will be redirected to a page showing the results of your subscription choice.

To subscribe to news feeds for a specific Viewshare user:

• From the profile page of the user, click the RSS icon at the right side of the browser address bar.
• Select "Subscribe to 'Latest Data Views News Feed for [USERNAME]'" or "Subscribe to 'Latest Data Feed for [USERNAME]'" depending on your preference.
• You will be redirected to a page showing the results of your subscription choice.

2.10 Fill Out Your Profile

Profiles are a way to tell the Viewshare community a little bit about yourself. You can enter your full name, some text about your interests, your location and a web site URL. Other users will be able to see your profile as they encounter you within the Viewshare community.

To add information to your profile:

• Visit your home page shown in Figure 3 by clicking on the "Home" link available at the top right corner of every page.
• Click the "Edit" button found near the center of the screen.
• Type in your profile information.
• Click the "update" button.

You can update your profile information at any time in the future by clicking on the "Edit" link on your Home page.

Figure 3. My Home Page

3. Create A Viewshare View

There are a number of steps to creating a Viewshare View, each of which is explained in more detail in this section:

• First, you upload data to Viewshare using previously created files which exist on your desktop or which are accessible via URL.
• Then you edit and augment your data to prepare it for use in creating unique, dynamic Viewshare Views such as maps, timelines, and other visualization options.
• After augmenting your data, you will begin to create you Viewshare Views. When saving a newly-created View, you will be prompted to provide a title and description, as well as whether the View will be public or private.

3.1 Upload Your Data

You can upload a data file to Viewshare by starting from either your Home Page or the Data tab. Click the "Upload Data" button displayed. You will be directed to the "Upload Data" page shown in Figure 4. For more information on the supported file types and sizes see Section 3.1.1: Details of Supported File Types.

Figure 4. Upload Data

3.1.1 Details of Supported File Types

For the moment, three types of files can be imported into Viewshare: simplistic Excel spreadsheets, XML MODS, and OAI end points are supported formats.

Simplistic Excel spreadsheets may be used to get data into Viewshare, but every version of Excel's proprietary format cannot be supported. Currently, .xlsx files are not supported, so be sure to re-save the files in an .xls version for upload. By "simplistic" spreadsheets, we mean that a single worksheet can have contiguous rows and columns that form a rectangle. This "rectangular spreadsheet" can have blank columns to the left and right and an optional title and subtitle at the top, as long as they are in single cells.

Best results will be obtained from data files of 1MB in size or smaller. Larger amounts of data will result in significant time delays or even a failure to load the data set.

3.1.2 Add a File From the Desktop

• Click "From a file on your computer" under the "Simple Spreadsheets" or "XML MODS" section of the "Load Your Data" screen.
• Locate and select the file from your hard drive.
• Click "Upload".
• Viewshare loads your file into the "Describe" screen to allow you to describe your data.

3.1.3: Add a File From a URL:

• Click "From the web" under the "Simple Spreadsheets" or "XML MODS"section of the "Load Your Data" screen.
• Paste your URL into the text box and click "Upload".
• For OAI upload, click "Open Archival Initiative" on the "Load Your Data" screen. Enter your OAI end point in the URL box and click "Load Sets."
• Once the sets have loaded, you can use the "Set" drop-down box to choose a set to upload and the "Limit" drop-down to select the number of records to load. Click "Upload" to begin the upload.
• Viewshare loads your file into the "Describe" screen to allow you to describe your data.

3.1.4 Troubleshooting Data File Uploads

If you encounter a problem uploading your file, please use the following troubleshooting tips to try to correct the problem:

For XML MODS:

• XML MODS files must be valid XML. Try the validator at Validome. Both Viewshare XML MODS upload methods also contain a checkbox to verify data at the point of upload.
• Check that your XML MODS follow the Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) schema. For more information about the MODS schema can be found at the MODS home page.

For spreadsheets:

• Remove any data that is not in a solid rectangular area. This includes white space, page titles, scattered cells, and additional worksheets. There can be blank cells within your worksheet, but not populated cells outside of the rectangular area.
• Check that your formatting is consistent throughout each column (e.g. column is all in date format, currency format, etc. as appropriate)
• Make sure that data of the same type but in different columns is formatted consistently (e.g. dates in different columns are in the same date format).

If you have a file that you think should work after troubleshooting please send us your file with some information to help us debug the problem. Create a new discussion thread in the troubleshooting forums. Be sure to include the following information in your post.

• Explain the spesific problem. Are you getting some of the data but not all? Is the file simply not working?
• Your computer's operating system name and version.
• The name and version of the application used to create the file.
• Please copy and paste information from the "About" page of the application used to create the file. For example, if your file was created in Excel, choose the "Excel" menu option, then "About Excel". Copy and past the version information that appears on this screen.

3.2 Describe Your Data

Figure 5. Describe Your Data

After successfully loading the data, you will land on a "Describe Your Data" screen. There are a number of buttons on the toolbar for editing and navigating the records in your uploaded data:

• The green "Add" button will be used for augmenting your data as described in Section 3.2.4.
• The green arrow buttons allow you to navigate through the records you uploaded.
• The red "Delete Record" button allows you to delete the current record from your data set.
• The red "X" buttons will delete that specific data field from you records. Note: Deleting a field will delete that field from all the records in your data set, not just the record you are currently working with.

Prior to working with your data, it is wise to save your data set. Click the "Save" link and you will be prompted to give your dataset a title, description, and to make it public or private. Any of this information can be amended later, but it is best to save early and often.

The "Describe Your Data" screen also allows you to review the individual data fields and "describe" them to support creation of your Viewshare View. During the Describe step there are a number of options for modifying the data:

3.2.1: Hide a Field

To hide a field so it does not show in the final Viewshare View, uncheck the check box next to the data field in the "Enabled" column. Note: Fields already unchecked are typically fields or data that gets added by the system during the upload process but does not need to display.

3.2.2: Rename a Field

• Click the pencil icon or the actual text of the field name you wish to change in the "Field Name" column as shown in Figure 6. An editable text box appears.
• Edit the text as desired.
• Click the "Rename" button to rename the field.
• Click "Cancel" to revert to the last saved version of the field name.

Figure 6. Rename a Field

3.2.3: Change a Data Type

Data types are used to drive view features such as the ability to plot data on a map or a timeline. By changing data types, you indicate to Viewshare what kind of data it is dealing with so that it can be properly processed. For instance, to plot a data point on a timeline, it must be indicated as "datetime" format. It is advisable to indicate data types during the Describe step so that you do not have to edit your data set again later if you decide to add a new data-driven view when building your Viewshare View. Note that your data must be in the proper format in order for Viewshare to display it in the appropriate view. If you choose to alter the data type, you should remove the default value of "text" to ensure the Viewshare View display functions properly. If you are unsure whether your data is in the proper format for display see Section 3.2.4: Augment Your Data.

To change the data type for a field:

• In the Types column, click the pulldown list next to the data field to be updated.
• Add a property type for the data field by clicking on the desired type.

Repeat this process until all data field types are described as desired.

3.2.3.1: Explanations of Viewshare Data Types

• Text: All fields default to the text type. Data set as text will simply display the contents of the field as text.
• URL: This will wrap a HTML link around the data provided. For this to work, the field should contain a full URL. For example, http://viewshare.org
• Image: Setting a field to the image type will wrap an HTML image tag around it. For this to work, you need the url for the image itself. This will not work with URLs to pages that have images on them. In general, this means you are going to want to have images that end in an image file format extension (things like .jpg, .png, etc.). Note: Seeing an image file extension in a URL does not necessarily mean that that URL is an image URL. This has primarily been an issue for users hosting content in a wiki. For example, this url is for a page about an image http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Continental_Hotel,_Philadelphia,_by_Cremer,_James,_1821-1893.jpg if you right click on the image on that page and open the image itself you will see that the actual image URL is http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Continental_Hotel%2C_Philadelphia%2C_by_Cremer%2C_James%2C_1821-1893.jpg
• Date/Time: Showing data on a timeline requires the dates be formatted in ISO 8601 format for date times. For example, 2008-04-01T00:00:00+0000 will be plotted on a timeline at April 1, 2008.
• Location: Plotting data on a map requires a decimal value for a point of latitude and longitude. For example, 37.386,-122.084 will map to Mountain View, California.
• Number: This will treat the values of a data set as linear numerical data. It is used for creating histograms and number range facets. It will work with decimal numbers (1, 2, 3, 10000, 0.0001, etc) it will not work with textual expressions of numerical information (ten, five billion, thousands, etc.)

3.2.4 Augment Your Data

If you plan to view your data on a map or timeline when creating a Viewshare View, you will need to ensure that your data is in the proper format to support these visualizations.

• Plotting data on a map requires a latitude and longitude. Example: 37.386,-122.084 will map to Mountain View, California.
• Showing data on a timeline requires the dates be formatted in ISO 8601 format. Example: 2008-04-01T00:00:00+0000 will be plotted on a timeline at April 1, 2008.

If your file doesn't have data in these formats or if you are not sure it is in the proper format, Viewshare can augment or transform some types and forms of information into the proper format. Note that Viewshare never changes existing data in your file during the augmentation process. Viewshare only adds columns of new data to your file. You may only augment data when loading or editing the data in the Viewshare tool, before you start creating views.

3.2.4.1 Augment Dates

If your data has any of the following date formats, you may augment the data in this stage to allow plotting on a timeline when building a Viewshare View in a later stage:

International unambiguous, Y2K-safe formats such as:

• YYYY (eg 1997)
• YYYY-MM (eg 1997-07)
• YYYY-MM-DD (eg 1997-07-16)
• YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20+01:00

A subset of ISO 8601 dates (as prevalent in LC MODS):

• YYYDDMM
• YYYYDDMMhhmmss

Also basic US convention, Y2K-safe year dates: MM/DD/YYYY

To augment your date data so that it may be placed on a timeline:

• Click the "Add a Field" button on the Describe screen toolbar in the "Field Name" column.
• Provide a name for the new field in the text box at the top of the screen, for example: Augmented Date.
• Click on the timeline image to indicate the type of view the data will be used in. The current field names of your data are displayed on the right. By clicking the "+", choose the field that contains any of the date information listed above. Note: Currently date information must be contained in one field to perform date augmentation.
• Scroll down and click the "Create" button at the bottom left hand corner of the data augmentation popup window to create the new field. See Figure 7.
• You will now see a new row in your data profile. Click the "Augment" button on the Describe screen toolbar to generate data values for the new field. If your augmentation is successful you will see dates formatted in ISO 8601 format in the value column.
• If your augmentation is not successful you will receive an error message at the top of the screen. Please copy this error message and start a post in thetroubleshooting forums. Be sure to include as much relevent information about your problem in your post.

3.2.4.2 Augment Locations

If your data has any of the following location information, you may augment the data in this stage to allow plotting on a map when building a Viewshare View in a later stage:

Locations:

• city, state
• city, state, zip
• city, country
• zip code

Note: Location augmentation can fail if any sub-component does not appear in the geocoding database used for automatic latitude/longitude look-ups. Also, at this time location augmentation will not work for zip codes in zip+4 format.

• Click the "Add" button in Describe screen toolbar.
• Provide a name for the new field in the text box at the top of the screen, for example: Augmented Location.
• Click on the map image to indicate the type of view the field or fields will be used in.
• The current field names of your data are displayed on the right. By clicking the "+", choose the field or fields that contain any of the location information listed above. The chosen field from which to derive the new value will move to the left-hand column. If your location data appears in more than one field (City, State, Country), select all of those fields to create more precise latitude and longitude data augmentations. For best results, drag and drop the chosen field names so they are ordered as they would typically appear on an address label.
• Continue selecting fields in this manner until you have indicated all the fields that will be used to derive the data values in the new field.
• Click the "Create" button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen to create the new field. See Figure 7.
• You will now see a new row in your data profile. Click the "Refresh Augmented Data" button at the bottom of the Describe screen to generate data values for the new field. If your augmentation is successful you will see latitude and longitude numbers in the value column of your new field.
• If your augmentation is not successful you will receive an error message at the top of the screen. Please copy this message and start a discussion in the troubleshooting forums. The more detail you can include the better we can help you.

Figure 7. Data Augmentation Popup Window

3.2.4.3 Extract Lists

If you have multiple data values which appear in one field, these values can be extracted for individual use in facets or views.

A list can be extracted using the following steps:

• Load or edit a file that has one or more fields which contain a list of multiple values.
• Click the "Add" button.
• Type a field name into the text box provided.
• Click on the "List" icon to choose the list extraction service.
• Select the source field which contains the list of multiple values to be extracted.
• Select a pre-populated pattern from the drop down list. If none of the patterns match the pattern of your data:
• Click on the "build a pattern" link to create a custom list extraction.
• Enter your pattern or a single character delimiter if appropriate. When entering a character delimiter, remember to include spaces if they are present (e.g. " -- ") Advanced custom patterns can be created by entering a regular expression.
• Select the pattern type from the pull down list. Valid choices are "pattern" if a regular expression has been entered or "delimited" if a character or string of characters has been entered as a delimiter. If you have chosen from the pre-populated pattern pick list you do not need to select a pattern type as it has already been set for you.
• Click the "Create" button to create the new field to hold the extracted values.
• Click the "Augment" button to generate extracted values for the new field.
• If your augmentation is not successful you will receive an error message at the top of the screen. Please copy this message and start a discussion in the troubleshooting forums. The more detail you can include the better we can help you.

3.3: Inspect and Edit Data Set Information

You will have added a Title, Description, and Published status (i.e. public or private) to your data set upon the initial data set save. This information can be amended at any later point. To inspect and edit you data set information:

• Click on the "Data" tab at the top right of the Viewshare workspace. This will take you to your Data Sets page as shown in Figure 8.
• Click the "Inspect" link of the data set you wish to amend. Note: The "Inspect" page allows you to edit information about the data set, not the records within the data set.
• Click the green "Edit" button beneath the data set profile to change the Title, Description and Published status of your data set. You can also refresh, export, and delete data sets from this page -- actions described in the following section.

Figure 8. Your Data Sets Page

3.4 Working With Data Sets

Each time you upload and describe data, Viewshare creates a new data set. Once a data set has been uploaded to Viewshare and published, you can view the data, edit and augment the data, refresh the data, or delete the data set. You can also choose to build new Viewshare Views using the data. Multiple Viewshare Views can be built off of the same data set to afford you different views of the same data. You can even build a new Viewshare View off of another user's data set if you wish.

The "Your Data" section under the Data tab shows all of data sets you have uploaded and which are available to work with in Viewshare. Your data sets can also be viewed from your Home Page.

3.4.1 View a Data Set

To view a data set:

• Locate the data set to be viewed in the list shown on your Home Page or the Data tab.
• Click on the linked name of the data set you would like to view.
• A read-only display of your data properties and descriptions will appear.

3.4.2 Edit a Data Set

To edit a data set:

• Locate the data set to be edited in the list shown on your Home Page or the Data tab.
• Click the "Edit" link to the right of the data set to be edited as seen in Figure 8.
• You will be directed to the Describe screen and can edit data types, names, or augment additional data as needed.

Note: Additions to the data in your data set will not be reflected in Viewshare automatically. You can add new data to a data set by replacing the data set file with a newer version as needed, as described in the next section.

3.4.3 Refresh a Data Set

To refresh a data set:

• Locate the data set to be edited in the list shown on your Home Page or the Data tab.
• Click the "Inspect" link to the right of the data set to be edited.
• You will be directed to the Data Set profile screen.
• Click the "Refresh" link on the upper right.
• Follow the instructions to upload a file. Once your file has been uploaded, you can proceed to the Describe step where you can change field types and names, augment data, and resave your data set.Note: Be sure to save your data set after refreshing, otherwise the data changes will not be implemented.

Once resaved, your data set will now contain the refreshed data. Warning: Please be careful when refreshing data. Only replace data sets with ones that have the exact same format. If you replace your original data set with one that has a different format you may break existing views built by you and by others.

3.4.4 Delete a Data Set

If data sets are out of date or no longer needed, they may be deleted. To delete an existing data set:

• Locate the data set to be deleted in the list shown on your Home Page or on the Data tab.
• Click the "Delete" link next to the data set you would like to delete.
• After confirming the delete prompt, the data set is removed from your data sets list. This action cannot be undone.

Important Note: Deleting a data set causes all Viewshare views associated with the data set to be deleted as well. You will receive a warning message if there are multiple views that have been created from the data set you are trying to delete. Please review this carefully before proceeding. Consider that if other users have built Viewshare view using your data set, their work will also be deleted.

3.5 Build Your Viewshare View From a New Data Set

Once you have completed the Describe process and have saved your data set into the Viewshare system, you must take an additional step to "Build" a Viewshare View so that others may interact with your data using the Viewshare tools. You can click on the Data tab and then click the "Build" link next to the data set you would like to use to create a new Viewshare View, as shown in Figure 8. During the Build process, you are building a Viewshare View -- forming the user interface for your uploaded data. You can determine the general look and feel of your Viewshare View, how the user can search, narrow results, and view timelines, maps, and the other interfaces Viewshare can create.

Figure 8. Locate Build Link

3.5.1: Pick a Canvas

The first step in building in a Viewshare view is to pick a canvas. When you click the "Build" link, the "Pick a Canvas to Create a Data View" box will appear. A canvas is a template that dictates the layout of your screen. You will be presented with a variety of canvas options in a pop-up box as shown in Figure 9. To pick a canvas, simply click on the layout you prefer and you will be taken to a Build screen which reflects your canvas choice and allows you to begin the Build process. Note: You cannot change your canvas style after it is chosen. To build a view with a different canvas, you will need to create a new view.

Figure 9. Pick a Canvas

3.5.2: Add a Title, Description, and set Publication status

When first saving you new Viewshare view, you will be promted to give it a Title, Description, and set its publication status to Public or Private. As always, saving your view early and often is recommended. See Section 3.5.14 for how to edit Title, Description and Publication status after the initial save.

3.5.3: Add Facets

Facets add visual elements to the page and provide users with a way to narrow the information presented. You may place facets to the right, left or above the main section of the interface depending on the canvas selection you have made. There are several types of facets that you may add:

• Search box: Gives you the ability to search any part of a record
• List: Creates a list from a designated field that you can use to narrow your search
• Tag Cloud: Creates a tag cloud from a designated field that you can use to narrow their search
• Logo: Allows you to place a logo available via URL directly into your Viewshare view
• Text: Allows you to add descriptive text to your Viewshare view

To add facets which will appear in your published Viewshare view:

• Click on "Add a Facet" in the area of the screen where the navigation tool will be placed. These will be shown at the top, left or right portions of the screen depending on the canvas selection you have made at the beginning of the Build process.
• Select the type of facet that will be added: search, list, tag cloud, logo, or text.
• For list and cloud facets, select the property that will drive the navigation for the selected facet. For example, if navigating the information by state is desired, select the data field that contains state information.
• For logo facets there are three settings:
  • Image URL: Enter the URL of the logo you want to display.
  • Alternate Text: Enter the words that should appear when you mouse over the image, when the image is unavailable or when someone is using a text reader.
  • Destination URL: Enter the URL the user should be taken to if they click on the image in your finished Viewshare view.
• A placeholder for the selected facet will appear in the appropriate portion of the screen. For convenience, facet type, property name, number of fields containing values, and number of fields missing values are displayed.

Figure 10. Add Facets

3.5.4: Remove Facets

Facets may be removed at any time during the Build process. To remove a facet:

• Click the down arrow which appears at the top right corner of the facet that should be removed.
• Click "Delete".
• The facet will disappear from view.

Figure 11. Remove Facets

3.5.5: Rename Facets

Facet names default to the original property label, but these may be changed if desired. To rename a facet:

• Click the down arrow which appears at the top right corner of the facet that should be renamed.
• Click the "Rename" link.
• Type in the new name for the facet.
• Click "OK" to accept changes.
• The new facet name will appear at the top of the facet.

Figure 12. Rename Facets

3.5.6: Add a View

Views are like lenses which allow users to create various visualizations of information, for instance to show all of the records in one list, or data plotted on a map or a timeline. The default view is the list view.

3.5.7: Set List View Preferences

A list view, which simply presents a list of records in your data set, is automatically created as the default view option. To modify preferences for the list view:

• Select the List tab above the data fields list.
• Hide any fields that you do not want displayed by unchecking the box next to the associated data field. For instance, with files that have a large number of data fields, you may want to hide some fields that are not of interest to your intended audience to make your Viewshare View less cluttered. This is especially important for map and timeline view, as clicking on a record in these views will bring up a pop-up window containing the properties selected to display. Thus, for some Viewshare Views, fewer displayed properties allow for easier interaction with the view, while for others, more displayed properties may be desired. By checking and unchecking the boxes in the show column, you can dictate which properties are dispayed in each different view.
• To add a title which will appear at the top of each record in the list view, select the button next to the property which contains the data to be displayed as a title.
• Data fields may be reordered by clicking anywhere on the field to be moved and dragging it to the desired location.

When done, you may want to click on the "Show Preview" button at the top right of the workspace to see how your list view appears. When previewing you will notice an option at the top of the list called "grouped as sorted". When this box is checked, your list is divided by subheadings based on the sort order of the list.

3.5.8: Add a Map View

Map View data pre-requisite: Your file must contain latitude and longitude values and the field type set to "location" during the Describe step in order for data points to appear in your map view. If you do not have lat, long values or are not sure if they are in the proper format for mapping, see Section 3.2.5: Augment Your Data.

Figure 13. Add a View

To add a map view:

• Click "Add a View" next to the List View tab, then select "Map".
• Click the radio button in the "Lat,Lng" column next to the field that displays your latitude and longitude data. This enables values to be plotted on a map.
• If you would like map pins to display in different colors based on property values, click the radio button in the "Color" column to create a color-coded map legend. Click on the "none" button directly below the Color column header to remove all color coding.
• Once plotted on a map, each of the pin points can be clicked and data from your available data fields is displayed in the pop-up box. To add a title for the pop-up box, click the button in the "Title" column next the property you want displayed as the title. To hide data fields in pop-up display, uncheck the box next to the data field to be hidden. You may want to do this if your records have many fields that makes viewing in the pop-up more difficult.
• Data fields may be reordered by clicking on the field to be moved and dragging it to the desired location.

When done, you many want to click the "Show Preview" button at the top right of the workspace to see how your Map view appears. Make any adjustments you want clicking the "Show Builder" button which appears in the "Show Preview" buttons place when you are previewing the view. Use these buttons to toggle back and forth between the build page and the preview page while creating your view.

3.5.9: Add a Scatter Plot View

A scatter plot is a type of display using coordinates to display values for two variables for a set of data. The data is displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the position on the vertical axis. To set preferences for a scatterplot view:

• Click "Add a View" next to the List View tab, then select "Scatterplot".
• Choose the data property to represent the X axis.
• Choose the data property to represent the Y axis.
• To hide data fields to be shown in the display, uncheck the box next to the data field to be hidden. To add a title for the pop-up box, click the button in th "Title" column next to the property you want displayed as the title. Select a data field from the pulldown menu which contains the data to be displayed as a title.
• Data fields may be reordered by clicking on the field to be moved and dragging it to the desired location.

When done, you many want to click on the "Show Preview" button to see how your Scatterplot view appears. Make any adjustments you want clicking the "Show Builder" button which appears in the "Show Preview" buttons place when you are previewing the view. Use these buttons to toggle back and forth between the building page and the preview page while you are creating your view.

3.5.10: Add a Table View

Viewshare allows you to show your data displayed in table format. To set preferences for a table view:

• Click "Add a View" next to the List View tab, then select "Table".
• If desired, use the radio buttons in the "Sort By" column to determine the default property by which the table will sort. Use the drop down box to select "Ascend" for ascending sort order and "Descebd" for descending order.
• To hide data fields to be shown in the display, uncheck the box next to the data field to be hidden.
• Data fields may be reordered by clicking on the field to be moved and dragging it to the desired location.

When done, you many want to click on the "Show Preview" button to see how your Table view appears. Make any adjustments you want clicking the "Show Builder" button which appears in the "Show Preview" buttons place when you are previewing the view. Use these buttons to toggle back and forth between the building page and the preview page while you are creating your view.

3.5.11: Add a Timeline View

Timeline data pre-requisite: Your file must contain date information in ISO8601 format and set to type "datetime" during the Describe step in order for data points to appear in your timeline view. If your date values are not in ISO 8601 format or if you are unsure if they are in the proper format, see Section 3.2.5: Augment Your Data

To set preferences for a timeline view:

• Click "Add a View" next to the List View tab, then select "Timeline".
• To indicate the range of time to be plotted on the Timeline for entries, use the buttons in the "Start" and "End" columns to choose the properties which contain the start and end date for the range of time to be plotted as shown in Figure 14. If there is only one date, a point in time (rather than a line indicating a span of time) will be displayed.

  
  Figure 14. Choose Timeline Range

• Time scale (e.g. day, week, month, year, etc.) (known as "time bands") can be indicated using the pulldown band menus. The time bands create a horizontal timeline with 2 bands: one time scale in the top band (such as month); and another time scale in the bottom band (such as year). The two bands scroll independently to allow for different ways to inspect the data. Note: It is usually advisable to leave these bands on the default setting of "auto". This allows the application to make a sensible guess as to scale based on the data it was provided. If results do not appear as desired, or there is a need to achieve consistency across a set of collections, the user may adjust the settings.
• If you wish to color code items on the timeline based on a property, select the radio button next to that property. Items plotted on the timeline will appear color coded and a legend is added at the bottom of the timeline. For example, to color code based on the "Start Date" property, click the "Color" radio button to its left.
• Once plotted on a timeline, each of the timeline items can be clicked and your data fields will be displayed in a pop-up box. To hide data fields to be shown in the display, uncheck the box next to the data field to be hidden. To add a title for the pop-up box, click the "Title" button next to appropriate property. To hide data fields to be shown in the display, uncheck the box next to the data field to be hidden.
• Data fields may be reordered by clicking on the field to be moved and dragging it to the desired location.

When done, you many want to click on the "Show Preview" button to see how your Timeline view appears. Make any adjustments you want clicking the "Show Builder" button which appears in the "Show Preview" buttons place when you are previewing the view. Use these buttons to toggle back and forth between the building page and the preview page while you are creating your view.

3.5.12: Add a Pie Chart View

Click "Add a View" next to the List View tab, then select "Pie Chart". Since view preferences can be selected directly in your finished pie chart view, there is little to configure for this view. Data that would display well in a pie chart view in any spreadsheet program is a good candidate for the Pie Chart view.

• If you wish to hide data fields to be shown in the display, uncheck the box next to the data field to be hidden.
• Data fields may be reordered by clicking on the field to be moved and dragging it to the desired location.

When done, you many want to click on the "Show Preview" button to see how your Pie Chart view appears. Make any adjustments you want clicking the "Show Builder" button which appears in the "Show Preview" buttons place when you are previewing the view. Use these buttons to toggle back and forth between the building page and the preview page while you are creating your view.

3.5.13: Delete a View

It is simple to delete a view during the Build process if you decide that it is no longer needed. To delete a view that has been added during the Build process:

• Click the down arrow next to the view to be deleted.
• Click "Delete".
• The view disappears from the Builder screen.

3.5.14: Rename a View

Views are given default names by Viewshare, but these can be changed during the Build process if needed. To change the name of a view:

• Click the down arrow next to the view to be renamed.
• Click "Rename".
• Type the updated view name in the text box provided.
• Hit enter / return on the keyboard to complete the task.

3.5.15: Reorder Your Views

"List" views set as the default view, but you may move another view into the default position so it appears first in your Viewshare View. To change the default view:

• Click on the tab of the view that you would like to be the default, and drag it to the first position (far left). See Figure 16 below which shows the Map view moved to the default position.

Figure 15. Change Default View

3.5.16: Change Background Theme

Viewshare allows you to choose from a list of background themes to customize the colors, look and feel of your published Viewshare View. Themes can be changed in the Describe, Build, or Preview phase by clicking on the "Theme" pulldown menu near the top right corner of the page.

Figure 16. Change Background Theme

3.6 Preview Your Viewshare View

Once all data and formatting options have been set as desired, the "Show Preview" button shows what the final version will look like once finalized. This is a functional interface so you may test all your facets and navigation.

Viewshare Views can be modified as needed during creation and after saving. If the preview does not produce the desired results, return to the Describe and Build steps to modify view as needed. When in the preview mode, click on "Show Builder" to return to the build page. Click on the "Show Preview" button again to see the results of any modifications and toggle between the two pages until the preview matches your desired results.

3.7 Working With Viewshare Views

Once you have created a Viewshare View, you may want to inspect, edit or delete it. To perform any of these functions, visit your Home Page or the Views tab and locate the Viewshare View with which to work. There you will see "Inspect," "Edit," and "Delete" links to work with your View.

You also have permissions to see (but not edit or delete) Viewshare Views created by others. To do this, visit the profile page belonging to the creator of the Viewshare View of interest and click on the linked name of the view you would like to inspect.

3.7.1 Inspect an Existing Viewshare View

To inspect an existing Viewshare view:

• Locate the Viewshare view to be inspected in your Home Page or the Views tab.
• Click on the "Inspect" link of the view to be inspected.
• You will be directed to a profile page of the view, where you will find information on the view, including the data set upon which it was built.
• You can also edit the view's Title, Description, Publication staus by clicking the green "Edit" button in the center of the page, as seen in Figure 17.

Figure 17. Inspect View Page

3.7.2 Edit an Existing Viewshare View

To edit an existing Viewshare view:

• Locate the Viewshare View to be edited in your Home Page or the Views tab.
• Click the "Edit" link next to the view to be edited.
• You will be directed to the Build process where changes can be made as desired.

3.7.3 Delete a Viewshare View

To delete an existing Viewshare View:

• Locate the Viewshare view to be deleted in your Home Page or the Views tab.
• Click the "Delete" link next to the view to be deleted.
• You will be asked if you are sure you want to deleted the view. Click "OK" to delete the view or "Cancel" if you decide you do not want to proceed with this action. This action cannot be undone.

3.8 Create a Viewshare View from an Existing Data Set

Viewshare allows for multiple collections or views to be created for the same data set. To create a new collection using an existing data set:

• Locate the data set to be used in the list shown on your Home Page or on the Data tab.
• Click the "Build" link next to the data set you would like to use as the basis for your new view.
• Follow the steps outlined 3.5: Build Your Viewshare View From a New Data Set to create a new view.

3.9 Sharing a Viewshare View

You can also choose to share a view with only a specific set of individuals by creating a shared link. The shared link will include a special shared key in the URL that will only allow people with that URL to access your view. After clicking the "Share" link in the right corner of your view page you will be prompted to name and save your link.

Figure 18. Share Link

Once you have saved your link the system will show you the link and give you the option to view it. You will want to copy your link and distribute it to your intended recipients. You can always click the inspect link in the upper right of any view page to manage the shared links for a given view.

Figure 18. Creating a Shared Link

3.9.1 Managing Shared Links

On the inspect page you can see information about the data set a view is based on. From the inspect page you can create, see, copy, and delete any of your shared links. In the screenshot below you can see that the user has created two different shared links which they can manage independently of each other.

Figure 19. Managing Shared Links

3.9.2 Exporting Data from a Viewshare View

Viewshare gives you a variety of options for exporting the data from your Views. Whenever you mouse over a view in the public or "Show Preview" page, you will see an orange scissors button at the top right of the view window, as seen in Figure 20. Viewshare allows data to be exported in numerous ways:

• RDF/XML
• Semantic Wikitext
• Tab Separated Values
• Exhibit JSON
• Facet Selections
• Generated HTML

Figure 20. Export Data Link

4. Embedding a Viewshare View in Another Web Site

To embed a Viewshare view into a page on another site:

• Click the "Embed" link at the top right of your Viewshare View.
• Copy the code snippet in the box that appears.
• Locate the HTML page where you would like to place the Viewshare View and place it into edit mode.
• Paste the code snippet in the HTML at the precise location where you would like the Viewshare View to appear.
• Save your html file. Once you refresh your page, the Viewshare View will appear.

The primary attributes of an embedding environment that will affect the display of an embedded data view are the layout mechanism and the width allotment the environment grants the embedded display. CSS styling may have an impact as well.

Embedding is designed to be as self-contained as possible to avoid being affected by its surrounding environment. The layout is primarily achieved through a combination of CSS floats and, inside the Exhibit software that creates the views, tables. This suggests that environments that rely wholly on CSS for layout by way of floats may have a small chance of not holding the embedded view properly, but it's more probable the two systems can work together. CSS layouts based on other mechanisms, like relative or absolute positioning, may have more problems; fixed/percentage-width layouts will depend on the width allotment (see below). Table-based layouts are a subset of fixed/percentage-width layouts.

The embedded view will take up the full width of whatever element it is placed in. It is possible to place an embedded view in an extremely narrow element, but the view display will suffer in constrained spaces. Rough suggestions for width allotment for different view canvases are: 725 pixels wide for three columns, 490 pixels wide for two column, 375 pixels wide for one column. Font size and which views are used will have a heavy impact on the width required.

CSS styling is a broad topic, from colors to backgrounds to font sizes. The embedded view's stylesheets should not affect the rest of the embedding page. Exhibit is styled as black on white by default; pages that place bright text on darker backgrounds may need to consider styling the view themselves to achieve consistency using a tool like Firebug to discover the appropriate selectors.

Problems should be reported in the troubleshooting forums. The more detail you can include the better we can help you.

Note the CSS styling on Viewshare will not transfer in totality to the embedded display as some of the styling is Viewshare-specific. Embedded displays should instead be styled according to the user's needs. jQuery UI and 960 are both partially utilized, and the hooks provided by each can be used for styling regions of the embedded display.

5. Participating in the Viewshare Community

Viewshare offers social and community features to allow you to connect and share data with individuals with similar interests. The community allows you to find people you know and invite them to connect.

The social components of Viewshare can be accessed from many different parts of the site which are described in more detail below.

5.1 Find People

To find people to connect with, visit the Users tab and then click on the "All Users" tab. This directs you to a list of Viewshare users ordered by the date they joined the site. You may scroll or search to find users of interest. To find out more about each user, click on their user name to see their profile.

5.2 Invite Someone to Connect

Once you've located someone you want to connect with, visit their profile page. Add a personalize message in the text box or use the default message provided, and simply click on the green "Invite" button on their profile page. The invitation is sent by email as a connection request. Once approved by the invitee, you are connected. The new connection's user name will show up in the list on your Home Page under "Connections" and also on the "Your Connections" tab accessible from your Home page.

5.3 Your Connections' Data and Views

On both the "Data" and "Views" pages you will notice a tab for "Your Connections' Data" or "Your Connections' Views." You can use these tabs, or the "Your Connections" tab on your home page to quickly access you connections' data and views.

5.4 Your Messages

The fourth tab at the top right of the Viewshare workspace is the "Messages" tab. This tab is used for managing the messages you send and receive when participating in the Viewshare Community. Any unseen messages will be noted within the text of the tab, for instance "Messages (2)" will mean there are two unseen messages. Clicking on the "Messages" tab will take you to the "Messages" page as depicted in Figure 21.

Figure 21. Messages Page

On the "Messages" page, there are two tabs: one for "Notices" and one for "Invitations."

• The "Notices" page shows a history of notices you have received and has two green buttons. The "Configure E-Mail Notices" button will take you a screen for managing e-mail notification settings. This screen can also be accessed from the "Notices" tab on your "Settings" page. The "Mark unseen notices as seen" button is self-explanatory.
• The "Invitations" page shows a history of invitation requests both sent and received.

5.5 Follow Newly Uploaded Data Sets and Views

You can track data files and Collections as they are uploaded by subscribing to the appropriate news feed! See Section 2.9 to learn how to subscribe to both RSS and Atom new feeds to follow new data sets and views uploaded system-wide or by an individual user.