TC Meeting Minutes

ATTENDEES: Wendy, Jon, Dan, Darren, Flavio
REGRETS: Oliver

Agenda: Update on Website work

Issue for schema validation
Example:
https://ddialliance.org/Specification/DDI-Lifecycle/3.3/XMLSchema/instance.xsd

https://app-eu1.hubspot.com/user-guide/144531336
CNAME record is now correct:
DNS Propagation Checker - Global DNS Checker Tool

Quick recap
The team discussed the ongoing issues with the website transfer to Hubspot, including DNS transfer problems and the need for setting up redirections for the specification URLs. They also discussed the potential consequences of rolling back the changes and the need to sort out publication plans for the CDI in January.

Next steps

• Darren to resolve DNS transfer issues with Candice within the next couple of hours.

• Darren to work on database-driven summary listing and hyperlink generation for individual record pages over the Christmas holidays.

• Darren to set up redirections for specification URLs to the correct locations on docs.ddalliance.org.

• Wendy to finalize and send the instructions for editing to Darren for review.

• Darren to contact Hubspot regarding the round-robin DNS issue if it persists.

• Wendy to send out a note on the user list if the site is expected to be down over the holidays due to transfer issues.

• Technical team to determine the appropriate locations for CDI publication and documentation by the January meeting.

• Wendy to coordinate with the team for the CDI publication in January, ensuring correct links and placements.

SUMMARY

DNS Transfer and SSL Certificate Issues

Wendy initiated a discussion about the status of the website, specifically the DNS transfer to HubSpot. Darren reported that the transfer was initiated the previous day, but some records were not yet picked up. He mentioned that Hubspot would automatically provision an SSL certificate once it was satisfied with all the DNS records. Darren also mentioned an issue with a CNAME record not being picked up by the Google Admin tools or any DNS tools, and he planned to discuss this with Candice and Jason, who are responsible for maintaining the zone file.

Hubspot Documentation and Redirection Issues

Wendy, Darren, and Flavio discussed ongoing issues with the documentation in HubSpot. Darren explained that he had found a solution to the problem and was available to work on it over the Christmas holidays. They also discussed the need for setting up redirections for the specification URLs to the correct location, with Darren offering to upload the necessary files into the correct folders on Hubspot. Dan confirmed that the generated documentation was currently the only thing added, and that the actual schemas would need to be put somewhere.

Website Transfer and DNS Discussion

Wendy and Darren discussed the process of moving their website to a new location. Wendy asked about the need to switch login addresses, to which Darren responded that the admin console URL would still be used for editing and content publishing. He also mentioned that he would have a better understanding of what Wendy could do once the domain transfer was completed. Wendy is finalizing the instructions for editing and plans to share them with Darren before granting Jared access. Darren suggested that if the DNS transfer issue couldn't be resolved by the end of the next day, they could either roll it back or continue to work on it when they return on the second. The team also discussed the potential for a broken link or a 404 error if the site was accessed via HTTPS. Jon suggested that not being able to access the website for a few days was not a significant issue.

Addressing Problem and Potential Consequences

Jon, Wendy, Darren, and Dan discussed a problem that needed to be resolved by the end of the next day. Jon suggested that the issue was not their responsibility and that the other party should either fix it or take the consequences. Wendy expressed concern about the potential consequences of rolling back the changes, suggesting that it might lead to the same problem. Darren agreed to contact Candice to discuss the issue further. The team decided to monitor the situation and take a decision later.

Addressing Site Downtime and Publication

Wendy suggested sending a note to the user list about potential site downtime due to transfer issues and DNS resolution problems. She also mentioned the need to sort out publication plans for the CDI in January, ensuring correct links and placement. Wendy asked the team to figure out technical fixes by their January meeting to facilitate this. Flavio confirmed that no major changes were expected, only ensuring things are in their final places and links are updated.

CDI Publication Delay to January

Wendy informed the team that due to EDDI and the holidays' influence, the CDI publication was delayed until January. Website issues may also be a factor. Member's clarified their availability and preferred means of contact between now and January 6.

The team wished each other well for the holidays.

ATTENDEES: Wendy, Oliver, Dan, Jeremy, Christophe
REGRETS: Jon

Website shift scheduled for 18 December

• Darren is continuing work on this and coordinating with ICPSR via Jared on 18 December shift

  • General clean-up of page formating

  • Database generated pages

  • Links between pages and to documents

  • DNS changes and mappings to retain previous links for users to major pages

• Training group will review their current content pages (as changes were not made in transfer) as basis for later input for improved section

• Wendy is completing Editing Instruction Manual for consistency and will complete first major draft by the 18th for Jared's use

DDI Codebook 2.6 preparation for review/vote

• Completed:

  • Field level documentation reformatted (PR38)

  • Update on dates and version information in schema and readme files (PR39)

• TO DO:

  • update member list

  • update change log

  • complete first full draft of high-level document

  • complete production process document and plan for moving to automated production process

  • update Field Level Documentation HTML pages

    • Having a bit of trouble getting the field level doc software running on windows 11, there will be a solution just not worked it out yet

DDI Lifecycle 4.0 planning for summer release

• Making some updates to the COGS tooling from Hackathon

  • JSON tooling

  • RDF content

• Update those tooling and get out a BETA3 review in January/February

• Also, now some samples of Lifecycle 4.0 from Hackathon (RDF, JSON, XML)

  • This will allow a new set of reviewers (content to get involved

• We have more on the NECTAR publisher which supports the JSON representation, full Lifecycle, CDI, questionnaire and study level information so people can create their own examples

• Work on a secondary examples section - move all the examples to this area and improve access from HubSpot

• Creating a standardized data set and then creating examples in each of the DDI products and have content expressed across the different products

• This also supports transformation and transport between different products

• DDI Developers docs

Activities from EDDI - interest in new working groups, organizing non-product specific Roadmap activities

• Types of Working Groups

  • Technical Group - manages publication

  • Product Groups

  • Content Groups

  • Practitioners Group - Best Practices as an output

• ADD in Christophe's email

• Variable Cascade - could be an example of this type of group as they already have content

• Start as a sub-group of TC

• Christophe will follow-up on this and keep the TC informed - he will contact others interested in this

EMAIL CHAIN

RE: Practicioner's Group
Jared to Christophe:

This is to follow up on our discussion about the Marketing Working Group and the potential new Practitioners Working Group you are interested in. I'm copying Jon so he's aware on the marketing side.

I've let Jon know you've kindly offered to provide use cases from Insee, as well as that you'd be open to participating in the working group. Jon: would you be able to add Christophe to future meeting invitations?

Christophe: Can you say more about the goals of the Practitioners Working Group, including expected outcomes and participants? Once we have a written proposal, we can figure out if this should go to the Executive Board or the Scientific Board. Either can review and approve a working group, depending on the group's scope.

Refining idea to application/use cases
Christophe to Jared:

My comment was in reaction to the ddi alliance's poster inviting proposals for new working groups and I think it's a very good message. Generally speaking, I think that between the DDI training group and the technical working groups, there is room for working groups on application cases. The working group on questionnaires is a very good example of a working group. We could imagine (by making a list to Santa Claus) a working group on setting up the variable cascade, a working group on managing variables over time, a working group on the methodology for associating a concept with a variable.

I don't know if we should set up a general working group for practitioners, as the content is likely to be heterogeneous and difficult to manage, and it might be more appropriate to set up working groups on practical and fairly well-defined use cases.

I'm thinking of making a list of the work that we're planning and if the marketing group can help us to get an overview of what would be interesting and possible to address collectively and relevant, that would be great.

Links with Marketing
Jared to Christophe:

I like your idea to establish WGs based on well-defined use cases. Sounds good to start with a list of work you're planning and working with the Marketing WG. Jon's on here so he can help coordinate with the Marketing WG once that list is ready.

Establishing sub-committee, broadening to TC interests
Jon to Jared, Christophe, Wendy, Oliver:

Thanks for this Christophe, I think the DDI representation group started by INSEE/CLOSER and Constances is a good example I think of what you are thinking of, I think Frank had the idea that it would find a more official home under the Alliance at some point? But perhaps a little less? I think as they would be cross product (or at least address the different issues, they would be suited to being Technical Committee sub-groups, which would be possibly short lived to develop application use cases, I think the questionnaire group is a bit wider as it does cover a wider remit so a formal working group probably might make more sense?

Would that work? Under the current way the Alliance sets up WG’s it’s a bit inflexible and has to have more ‘paperwork’. Would that address the use-cases you are thinking of?

Discussion regarding TC
Wendy to Jon, Jared, Christophe, Oliver

Can we kick around some thoughts on this during the TC meeting on Thursday? Right now we basically have product, content, and externally focused working groups (Marketing - EB, and Training - SB). I'd like to get a clearer picture and see where cross working group coordination would be needed in terms of on-going product development as well as furthering the TC/SB goals of use case development, best practices guides or other possible outputs from such groups.

ATTENDEES: Wendy, Oliver, Jon, Darren, Dan, Jeremy
REGRETS: Flavio

Quick recap

The team discussed the progress of their website project, with plans to proceed despite some issues and to launch by the end of the year. They also addressed issues related to a public URL and image functionality, and the interest of others in reviewing the DB generated content. Lastly, they discussed the use of existing tags for risk assessment purposes and the potential use of DDI metadata for these purposes.

Next steps

• Jon to write guidelines for reviewing the new website, focusing on navigation and overall structure.

• Dan to document ideas and recommendations for moving away from XML-specific profile validation tools towards more flexible, serialization-agnostic approaches.

• Wendy to attend a meeting in early 2025 to discuss DDI profile validation tools and potential expansion of the technical committee's work in this area. She will keep TC members informed.

Summary

Website Progress and Launch Plans

Wendy, Jon, Oliver, and Dan discussed the status of the website work. Wendy expressed uncertainty about the progress of database-driven pages, while Jon suggested they should move forward despite some issues. Jon proposed getting feedback from a limited number of people, possibly including someone from CLOSER, to identify any major navigation issues. Dan mentioned that they couldn't review the website at the moment due to lack of logins. Jon agreed to update the document outlining what they're asking people to review. The team decided to proceed with the website launch by the end of the year, with plans for further improvements in the following year.

Darren emailed during meeting that he would be working on this next week.

Wendy, Dan, Jon, and Oliver discussed issues related to a public URL and image functionality. Wendy confirmed the existence of a public URL and provided the link in the chat for Dan to access. Dan noticed that the images were not working, specifically mentioning the logo. Wendy agreed to add the URL to a document for future reference. Dan also suggested not sharing the URL in the meeting minutes for privacy reasons.

Discussing DDI Profile Validation Tool

Wendy discussed an upcoming meeting in early 2025 to discuss a DDI profile validation tool provided by CESSDA. As agreed in the past year, the DDI profile should not be part of the lifecycle standard and that it might be more beneficial to use existing tools for validation. They also discussed the need for better guidance on creating more flexible profiles in different serializations. Dan agreed to put his ideas into a more structured format to focus the discussion on what it would look like when the DDI profile is taken out of the lifecycle and put into this new format as well as role of TC in providing guidence for profiles in general and the use of standard tools for validation.

Using Tags for Risk Assessment

Wendy discussed her interaction with Jordan, a data librarian from USAID, who was seeking ways to use existing tags to identify combined identifiers for risk assessment purposes. Wendy suggested using the Data Relationship and Logical Record Descriptors to identify unique and complex identifiers. She also asked if anyone was using DDI metadata for similar purposes, to which Oliver responded that someone was doing something similar. Wendy will share the email chain so others can see if they can add to discussion or provide a contact.

Quick recap

Wendy and Jon discussed the progress of a project, including the addition of links to download packages and the need for a controlled vocabulary for topical content. They also considered the structure and management of their news section, deciding to archive old news items and focus on current issues. Lastly, they discussed the organization and management of various web pages, identifying redundant or superseded pages and planning to rename them to standardize the approach. Additionally, reviewed Codebook 2.6 PR 38 and approved for merging.

Next steps

• Darren to finish working on the auto-generated pages over the weekend.

• Wendy to rename the test products page and create a standard products page with appropriate hierarchies.

• Oliver to create yearly PDF archives for old news items and copy over the last two years of news to the new system.

• Wendy will download and validate Codebook v2.6 revision prior to merging

Summary

Webpage Progress and Controlled Vocabulary

Wendy discussed the progress of a project, mentioning that Jon had added to the executive board and Logos pages, and she had added version pages. She also mentioned the addition of links to download packages on each of the documents. Jon suggested that Darren was still working on auto-generated pages. Wendy raised a question about the examples page, which was previously a database but is now a standalone page. She suggested that the information could be retrieved from Drupal as separate pages. Oliver agreed. Wendy also mentioned the need for a controlled vocabulary for topical content and asked about the status of switching over from CVS.

News Section Management and Archiving

Oliver and Wendy discussed the structure and management of their news section. They considered two options: either creating a large PDF of their news archive from the beginning to the current point in time, or trying to import the entire thing from HTML. Wendy suggested archiving old news items by creating a PDF for set periods, such as yearly or every other year, and keeping only the current and past year's news. Oliver agreed with this approach, preferring to copy over the last two years of news items and having a yearly PDF for each as a news archive.

Focusing on Current Issues and Plans

Wendy emphasized the importance of focusing on current issues and archiving earlier news. She suggested that they should first complete their current tasks before opening up for people to view their plans. Jon, however, mentioned that he still needed to review a spreadsheet, which Wendy brought up for discussion. Jon indicated that there were a few outstanding issues on the spreadsheet, but he believed they were close to completion.

Web Page Organization and Management

Wendy and Jon discussed the organization and management of various web pages. They identified pages that were redundant, superseded, or needed to be archived, and Jon suggested that these should be dropped. Wendy mentioned that she had made a list of all the pages in Drupal, including old and ancient things, and Jon confirmed that he had gone through the list and made suggestions on how to dispose of them. They also discussed the process of renaming pages to standardize the approach. Jon mentioned that Darren was finishing off some tasks over the weekend and they could push the button next week. Wendy agreed to make sure the appropriate hierarchies were in place for the new site and to rename a specific page to align with the standard products page.

Codebook v2.6 PR 38

Dan verified that he had reviewed the changes in PR 38 and noted that they all looked good. Given the number of changes this will be a topic in the next public review in the event that any issues are found with the texting revision of descriptions.

ATTENDEES: Wendy, Oliver, Jon, Dan, Jeremy, Flavio
REGRETS: Darren

Quick recap
Wendy and Oliver discussed the status of certain resources and standards, particularly focusing on a database-generated page and its connection to the hub. They also discussed the need for restructuring their website, focusing on the main lifecycle page, and how to structure the documentation for different versions of a product. Lastly, they discussed the organization and navigation of their documentation site, agreeing on the need to avoid duplicating content and to ensure that the site is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Next steps

• Jon to implement basic navigation on the docs.ddialliance.org site and address the case sensitivity issue in URLs.

• Wendy to provide Jon with content for product/version pages on docs.ddialliance.org, extracted from existing product pages.

• Dan to consider adding release pages for DDI Codebook to the GitHub repository, similar to what was done for Lifecycle.

• Team to clarify the purpose and content strategy for docs.ddialliance.org versus the product pages on the CMS site.

• Navigation on docs.ddialliance.org (fix case sensitive issue)

• Basic text around each product/version (Wendy send to Jon for each)

• How to get some of these pages from google, are we looking into ways to find that - this is a separate problem and has to way with the way Google picks up information

• Coordinate information on the GitHub pages to make them more comprehensible, differentiating between package of published version and development points to GitHub

Summary
Clarifying Database Status and Hub

Wendy and Oliver discussed the status of certain resources and standards, particularly focusing on a database-generated page that was moved over but its current status was unclear. Wendy suggested reaching out to Darren for clarification on the database's status and its connection to the hub. They also discussed the need for filtering by product and version in the database, and the importance of having the correct paths and links. Wendy planned to send a note to Darren to inquire about the database's status and its connection to the hub.

From Darren: I still have to wire up the dynamic pages to HubDB. Will complete over the weekend

Check on Markup examples. Check with Darren on this. Oliver will see if he can get an export
DB on Tools check with Darren that this is on his list

Website Updates and Controlled Vocabulary

Wendy discusses the website pages and suggests checking links to ensure they are not redirecting back to the DDI Alliance site. Jon volunteers to check the membership and partners pages. The controlled vocabulary page now links to the new site, but there is no way to navigate back from it. Oliver explains that updating the PDF exports from the controlled vocabulary tool would require significant changes. The group plans to revisit organizing certain sections like annual meetings and executive board listings in the future.

Website Restructuring and Navigation Issues

Wendy and Jon discussed the restructuring of their website, focusing on the main lifecycle page. Jon expressed concern about duplication and suggested moving certain content to docs.ddialliance.com. He pointed out that the current site lacks navigation and is case-sensitive, which he deemed problematic. Wendy acknowledged these issues and agreed to address them. The team also discussed the need to reduce duplication and improve the website's structure.

Version Documentation and Navigation Strategies

Wendy and Jon discuss how to structure the documentation for different versions of a product. They consider whether to have separate pages for each version or consolidate common information on a main product page. Wendy suggests keeping version-specific details like development work on individual version pages, while moving general information like licenses and future work to the main product page. Jon raises concerns about the individual version pages appearing too terse and wants to add more descriptive content. They also discuss how to handle navigation between versions and linking to downloadable packages. Additionally, they touch on documenting older, handcrafted products like DDI Codebook alongside the newer lifecycle-based releases.

Improving Documentation Site Navigation

In the meeting, the team discussed the organization and navigation of their documentation site. They agreed on the need to avoid duplicating content and to ensure that the site is user-friendly and easy to navigate. They also discussed the need for clear navigation on the Docs page and the potential for improving SEO. The team decided to create a static website as a flattened version of the existing links on the CMS. They also discussed the need to link individual product pages to the main page and to improve the site's accessibility from Google. The team agreed to continue working on these issues to improve the site's usability and navigation. We need to be able to navigation from child to parent (example: version to product) on the CMS pages as well as adding something into the html on the git hub to return to the CMS site.