Background

VIVO and Vitro use themes (which in turn use templates and css) to render information into HTML for presentation to users through web browsers.

Users of VIVO have expressed a strong interest in having a new theme that a) reflects current web design principles; b) is responsive, that is, the theme responds to the size of the display in a mature way, presenting results well on tablets and phones.  This is sometimes referred to as "mobile first" design; c) emphasizes use cases in the UI design, and de-emphasizes lists of entities.

Symplectic has developed a new theme for VIVO that addresses these user concerns.  Symplectic has made the new theme available as open source.  In developing the theme, several issues were uncovered that will need to be addressed to provide the theme to the VIVO community.

Resources

• Code repository for Symplectic Bootstrap theme on github
• Presentation of Symplectic bootstrap theme at VIVO 2016 Conference in Denver
• Poster of Symplectic bootstrap theme at VIVO 2016 Conference in Denver
• Demo site for Symplectic Bootstrap theme

Deliverables

1. Phase I
   1. A new, responsive theme for VIVO, based on the Symplectic VIVO theme.
   2. Enhancements to VIVO and Vitro to improve the relationship of the theme to the rest of the code.  Themes should be capable of completely controlling the look and feel of the application.  These enhancements may require changes to the existing VIVO and Vitro themes.  No functional changes in those themes are expected as a result.
   3. Enhanced documentation regarding templates and themes for the purpose of customizing a theme or creating a new one.
   4. Enhancements to VIVO and Vitro to provide simple configuration of a theme for support of institutional colors, name, and logo.
2. Phase II
   1. Re-evaluation of core technologies (Freemarker, Java, Solr)

Suggested schedule

Context

Provide a brief description of why the Task Force is being proposed. Include sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand how the work fits into the current context of the current activities of the VIVO project. Only 2-3 bullet points or sentences are necessary.

Objectives

Provide a bulleted list of the Task Force objectives.

Deliverables

Provide a bulleted list of deliverables.

Suggested schedule

Members

Name and Affiliation Ralph O'Flinn - task force lead

Name and AffiliationMike Conlon - facilitator

Name and Affiliation Simon Porter  - member

Name and Affiliation Benjamin Gross - member

others to be solicited from the VIVO CommunityLooking for additional members and developers

Meeting Times

TBD (to restart in Feb 2018)

Communication Channels

• Distribute proposed charter and solicit participation from community via appropriate mailing list

• Announce task force creation and progress on relevant Working Group calls.

• Create a page in the VIVO wiki (wiki.duraspace.org), with child pages for agenda, notes, and additional information

Agendas and Notes

• Solicit agenda items from task force members 3 days before meeting

• Prepare agenda and distribute no less than 24 hours before meeting

• Please join our new slack channel - contact Ralph O'Flinn for information

• Updates from the task force will be available in VIVO Updates

• Child pages to this page will contain meeting notes

Agendas and Notes