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Key Concepts

Gino Miceli edited this page Jul 11, 2019 · 27 revisions

The following key concepts are visible to the user. Implementation details are excluded from this page for brevity.

Project

A data collection project, consisting of a map with a title, description, sharing permissions, and the configuration and project data described below.

Layers

Managers can define one or more layers that will contain vector map features (points, lines, and polygons).

They can import features into a layer in bulk when setting up the project ("predefined") features.

They can also optionally configure each layer to allow contributors to add their own points, lines, and/or polygons to the layer.

A default style (marker and color) can be set for each layer, to be used when new features are added by contributors or in bulk by managers (e.g., imported from CSV).

Layer was previously referred to as Feature type. The two are still roughly synonymous, but their usage may diverge over time given the slightly different scopes.

Form layout

For each layer, managers may optionally design a form to be used by contributors for providing observations about features in that layer.

Features

Point, lines, or polygons in layer, e.g. “Household @ location X,Y”, “Forest plot 145-876”. Includes geometry (location, shape), and zero or more observations. Feature may be added to a layer by contributors and/or loaded in bulk by project managers.

Observations

Data about a particular feature, gathered by contributors using the form provided by the project manager.

Observations were previously referred to as Records. This may still exist in some code and documentation; the two are synonymous.

User roles

The following roles are defined per project unless otherwise stated.

Owner

The original creator of a project. Project owners are also automatically assigned the Manager role.

Managers

Can access all project configuration, sharing, and data collection features for a specific project.

Note: Features and observations are also assigned an owner upon creation.

Contributors

Depending on project sharing settings set by manager, contributors can add features and observations, but can’t change project configuration (feature types, forms, sharing, etc.). The project config determines whether contributors can add new features, or only add observations for existing features. Contributors can modify features and observations they own (i.e., ones they themselves added), but not those of others.

Managers may also act as contributors.

Viewers

Read-only access to entire project. The manager can also set projects as public, making anyone (including anonymous users) and owner.

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