Using the Web Interface
From CKAN
In general you should be able to jump straight into a CKAN site and start using it but this guide provides some additional instructions.
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Terminology
- Resource = a single file/API/etc (name taken from URL = Uniform Resource Locator!)
- Dataset = a collection of Resources that you would want to keep together
A Dataset actually often consists of multiple files or APIs, for example because
- the dataset is split into lots of files (e.g. statistics by month)
- there are multiple versions of the same resource e.g. single file and an API or the 'same' data in different formats (e.g. RDF and CSV).
Search for material
See Searching CKAN
Add a dataset
- Go to http://thedatahub.org/dataset/new
- Fill in the form (you only really need title, license and brief description -- plus any links to associated resources)
Note: you don't need to login to do this (at least not on http://ckan.net/ -- other CKAN instances may require this). However, if you don't login then the resulting Dataset won't be 'owned' by you and the system log will just record your IP address rather than your user name as the creator.
Grouping Datasets
Often you want to collect Datasets together in groupings. To do this you can either:
- Use tags
- Use groups
Tags are the easiest since anyone can add a tag to a dataset. Just agree on a tag and then apply to all the datasets. You'll then be able to see all the datasets with that tag at:
http://ckan.net/tag/{tag-name}
Groups provide more control as only the owners of a group can add datasets to that group.
Creating a CKAN Group
- Visit http://thedatahub.org/group/new -- you'll need to be logged in to do this
- Fill in the form
- If you want to add other people as group owners so they can add datasets to the group visit the group's Authorization tab and give those people the Editor role
- Edit the group and search for datasets you want to add to the group (you can also add a dataset to a group by editing the dataset)
