Feature: Data Package-level permissions panel

[csjx]

We currently use a modal dialog for editing metadata and data permissions in the Metadata Editor, accessed through the Share button for each row of the Data Package table, including the metadata folder row:

Feedback from ESS-DIVE scientists and their UX/UI specialist (Sarah) included

1. that it was easy to miss the buttons (i.e. not prominent enough), and
2. they wanted a way to set package-level permissions that would apply to all files in the package

Sarah came up with a mockup that adds a Permissions tab in the Metadata Editor, effectively relocating the modal dialog to a prominent metadata section:

For review: note the entry input is moved above the permissions table compared to the modal dialog, and that the design is slightly different than other list-management in the UI, so consider the consistency vs usability:

For review: should saving buttons be added to the form, separate from the Save Dataset button? See:

To consider: After reviewing the section tab addition, we should decide how it would be used in conjunction with the Share buttons and modal dialog. We also discussed having an app configuration option to disable/hide the sharing column of the data package table for repositories that need to limit that finer level of access, and to enable it for those that need it. This relates to https://github.com/NCEAS/metacatui/issues/1640 and should be considered with the wider permissions management challenges described there.

This ticket is derived from the ESS-DIVE private repo ticket https://github.com/ess-dive/ess-dive-catalog/issues/493

[laijasmine]

Noting that this came up again for a researcher trying to add a collaborator to their dataset. They did not see the Share button and thought access was granted through the people section under creators. RT ticket for reference.

[laijasmine]

This came up again today for this RT ticket. The file by file control makes sense for datasets with >5 files an maybe only adding 1 -2 people but gets quite cumbersome if there is anything more than that.

[amoeba]

Hey @laijasmine, thanks for taking the time to find and add your notes (and RT tickets) to this issue. It's appreciated. Your two comments contain pretty valuable feedback IMO.

They did not see the Share button and thought access was granted through the people section under creators.

We've talked about making the Share button much more prominent (as mentioned in the OP) so this may be more evidence that's a good idea.

The file by file control makes sense for datasets with >5 files an maybe only adding 1 -2 people but gets quite cumbersome if there is anything more than that.

Makes sense. The latest plan was to, in the next version of this UI, allow selection of multiple package members and support updating permissions for the selected members in one go.

[laijasmine]

That all sounds awesome! Thanks for the update Bryce.

[amoeba]

Just adding another note here about feedback item one in the OP:

1. that it was easy to miss the buttons (i.e. not prominent enough), and

@jeanetteclark went looking for this today and it wasn't immediately obvious how to share a dataset and we thought a more prominent button would help. And we also realized that how you share a dataset is quite different from how you share a portal and this might lead to some confusion. For portals, you're accessing a Settings panel which embeds the access policy editor. Would it make any sense to have a settings panel for datasets?

[laurenwalker]

The original design for sharing portals was actually to mimic how the Share buttons look on the dataset page (a Share button with modal popup). But after some UX reviews, everyone seemed to agree to move it to the Settings panel instead.

I think keeping the Share buttons inside the table in the editor works well for our future plans to have bulk Sharing editing (possibly using checkboxes down a column of data files) and works well now for having file-level permission editing. ESS-DIVE is moving their Sharing panel to another section of the editor to help solve this issue. But they will not be supporting file-level permission editing.

We've discussed before needing to make mockups of the next iteration of the permissions panel once this data-package level editing is supported. I haven't gotten around to that. If you have an idea of how this UI could work better, feel free to mock something up for everyone to review.

[iannesbitt]

This came up in a support ticket for CIB on Friday. Based on feedback from CIB, Smithsonian, and DRP, I think this is one of the most confusing and frustrating parts of the UX for researchers who work with permissions and who rely exclusively on the UI editor for data package creation.