DevDiary 1: Portal implements content audit, navigation improvements and new marketplace functionalities

Hi everyone and welcome to the first DevDiary entry! 

With the launch of EOSC Enhance on 1 December 2019, the project is expected to bring new functionalities and improve the overall experience in the EOSC Portal all while continuing to collaborate with contributing initiatives such as EOSC-hub and OpenAIRE-Advance as well as the EOSC Portal Editorial Board. 

To keep track of all the changes happening to the EOSC Portal, EOSC Enhance is launching its DevDiary blog series that will review some of the latest changes to the EOSC Portal. All these enhancements, new functionalities, bug fixes, and improvements are implemented on a staged approach that culminates in two major EOSC Portal releases, one at the end of 2020 and the final release mid-2021.

It is important to note that the EOSC Portal is a work in progress. Its launch in 2018 was a joint contribution from various initiatives and it was only in December 2019 that a project was funded for the portal. 

Since then, the EOSC Portal has served its purpose - it has allowed the EOSC community to imagine and frame their idea of what EOSC can look like - something more tangible. It allowed the community to pilot ideas on branding, onboarding, user support, ordering, community engagement, just to name a few. For a stakeholder-led initiative like the EOSC, this is an important step in its development.

So, let’s dive into what’s new in the EOSC Portal!

On the Road to Portal Release 1

Changes in the Content

Immediately after the launch of EOSC Enhance, the project, as part of its activities in the EOSC Portal Editorial Board, carried out a website audit of the Content Component (CC) of the EOSC Portal. Among the changes include the following:

  • Content related to the EOSC Governance has been changed into a redirect to the EOSC Secretariat website where the most up-to-date information on the EOSC Governance can be found.
  • The content on the following pages were updated:
  • Overhaul of the EOSC in Practice Section
  • Improved the user experience for the CC main menu
  • An informative page on EOSC Enhance has been added

Navigation Improvements

The EOSC Portal is made up of three major components. Upon the start of EOSC Enhance, navigation menus across these components were different. 

As one of the first actions that came out of the EOSC Portal website audit, the navigation menu across the EOSC Portal Home, Providers Dashboard and Catalogue & Marketplace has been aligned. While this has been achieved for the most part, there are additional links being corrected. 

Moving into the future, we expect to carry out further improvements on the user experience 

Changes in the EOSC Portal Catalogue and Marketplace 

Key to a successful EOSC Portal is an appropriate understanding of EOSC end - users and their needs and the deployment of stable functionality that adds value by responding to those needs. 

A detailed analysis of the requirements is continuously performed and those requirements translated into a real model. First new functionalities are already available:

1. The User can choose two or more EOSC Resources and compare selected attributes on the EOSC Portal.

 

 

2. The User can visualise offerings of EOSC Resources on (interactive) maps on the EOSC Portal.

Currently, we are working towards the implementation of the user profile, so stay tuned!

 

What do you think of the latest enhancements we’ve implemented? Do you have an improvement you would like to see?
Provide feedback now!
 

03 June 2020