Indicia is a toolkit that simplifies the construction of new websites which allow data entry, mapping and reporting of wildlife records. It’s not a finished online survey website – think of Indicia as a kit car as opposed to a manufactured car. You get the wheels, engine and all the important tricky bits ready-made, but you still have to assemble the parts.



Indicia is an Open Source project funded by the Open Air Laboratories Network and managed by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

About OPAL The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network is an exciting initiative that is open to anyone with an interest in nature. It aims to create and inspire a new generation of nature-lovers by getting people to explore, study, enjoy and protect their local environment. In 2007 OPAL received a grant of £11.75million from the Big Lottery Fund. 15 partners, including the NBN, are working together to deliver a total of 31 projects. The entire OPAL portfolio is headed by Imperial College London.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• An introduction to Indicia
• Get quickly oriented with parts of the Indicia project
• Some websites that have been built using Indicia
• An overview of the technologies used
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Screenshots
• Getting Started
• Installing the Indicia Warehouse Server
• Upgrading an existing Indicia Warehouse Server
• Building a basic PHP data entry page
• Setting up the Helper Configuration File
• Adding a custom attribute to your data entry page
• Importing a controlled list of terms from a CSV file
• Alerts and notifications in Indicia
• Options for user logins on your website
• Developers Guide
• Developer getting started
• Architectural Overview
• Data Model information
• Development Conventions
• Developer Documentation
• The prebuilt IForm library
• List of prebuilt forms and documentation
• Webpage Developer Recipes
• Warehouse Plugin Architecture
• Web Services
• General information on the data submission format for web services
• Information on calling the Data Services
• Information on calling the Spatial Services
• Writing reports for Indicia
• Setting up GeoServer for use with Indicia
• How the client website authentication works
• The login control
• The forgotten password control
• Using debug logging on the Warehouse
• How to use different web services for georeferencing
• Release Procedure
• How to release updates for the Indicia database schema
• Drupal Integration
• Using the Drupal IForm Module
• How to use your own JavaScript, CSS, language strings and indicia templates with the IForm module
• Advanced dashboard reports in Drupal
• Other Drupal Modules
• IForm Proxy
• Writing your own code to integrate Indicia and Drupal
• Joomla Component Guide
• Overview of the Indicia Joomla component
• Installing the Indicia Joomla component
• Configuring a data entry wizard using the Indicia Joomla component