See: ​Dilbert's "Delivery Schedule", and ​Never Enough Funding:)

Version 3 - new dataset structure and more

Version 3 was initially defined as an admin backend data release and basic view app conversion to the new structure with latest dependent code libraries. This code was running and ready for acceptance testing mid 2017. Due to limited testing availability and then COVID-19 version 3.0 was never released. Development continued during that time and now includes the following new features (version 3.0 would really be numbered version 3.6 based on all the new features added):

• New simplified community Health Profile report that requires little or no control files.
• Better, more integrated content management and publishing with cleaner options for splitting and managing static and published content.
• User experience and interface which includes:
  • Simplified site navigation with cleaner and simpler web site layout.
  • Better site usability (user experience). All page types have been reviewed and many updated to increase usability.
  • Cleaned up consistent titles with less jargon.
  • Easier to read text blocks with more white space.
  • Icons are now implemented using fonts and SVG. This allows for easy color changes and resizing/scaling via CSS.
• Restful API calls to access IBIS visualizations and content blocks.
• Multiple Indicator Report indexes with filtering.
• New Interactive Summary Indicator Reports.
• Enhanced options for indicator profile views and presentation layouts.
• More visually engaging Health Topic pages.
• More integrated indicator to topic associations.
• More help popups/content for admin and view pages.
• Code updated to the current java, web application server standards, along with up to date code libraries.
• Clean up and standardization of data.

See 3.0 Design Goals for information about what the version 3 is trying to accomplish (See Current Design Thoughts for current ideas).

Future Versions ?

• More mapping options with Chloropleths, weighted heat maps, other thematic maps and EPHT side by side maps. This could also include multiple simpler, smaller, lighter maps as well as integration with ESRI mapping etc.
• Creation of story/advanced Visualization dashboards. This could include:
  • Integrated data table/chart/maps (similar current interactive indicator views but with inclusion of the mapping and other display control options like playing a slider or walking a chart/map through a set of years).
  • Health topic or indicator story boards,
  • Side by side comparisons,
  • Inclusion of various datasets,
  • Demographic widgets.
• IBISQ to IP dataset Integration. This includes referencing a dataset query and displaying the result data alongside/with related indicator dataset data. This also includes importing of query data into an indicator dataset.
• Merge the query builder and results interface (especially considering query data analysis and possibility of using "R").
• Update the IBIS query builder interface from "steps" to a "onboarding"/"walk the user through" wizard type interface or other options.
• Query interface could be built with reduced entry of year dimensions and steps. This could be done if the default query returns all year/period values. Other dimensions would simply use all associated dimensions defined within that module configuration. The existing code would still exist for those situations that require explicit control.
• Query interface could be enhanced to provide associations of queryable datasets to other related datasets, indicators, to topics, to meta data, and other links. This could also be used to allow indicator profile reports to access associated datasets for deeper user data options.
• Replace/rework the queryable dataset selection process. This could be done using a published query module mechanism that captures the core selections and presents those selections via an enhanced filter or drill down interface.
• Query result caching.
• More user control options (like exporting, map groupings etc.).
• User experience updates. Navigation, responsive layouts, more white space with appropriate graphics etc.
• State UI and ADA standards updates
• Better utilization of social media to help drive usage and users to the site
• Ongoing software security patches and dependency updates
• Trending and user defined comparisons
• Ability to edit and save user defined dataset comparisons along with improved saved data queries UX/UI etc.
• Better searching. The current search uses Google and presents a list of pages that it thinks is most applicable to the search criteria. The google result page is hosted by google which causes the user to leave the IBIS site. It also does not provide any filtering or other discovery type options that would be available with a custom search engine. For example a user might want to find a query dataset that has the CDC as its datasource with demographic dimensions.
• Finish scrutinizing and cleaning up the query modules. This effort includes reviewing hard to maintain configurations. Newer techniques are available to allow sharing and conditional importing of xml files. This effort was started with core v3.
• Do in depth analysis to determine if there are better techniques and processes to present rolled up record level data. This could include putting data into a relational database, processing with "R" , and utilizing R's web API to query data.
• Replace the admin app with a modern front end. This would use current technology which would provide better data validation, deletion capabilities, consistent editing and publishing of all content including query modules, html content, indicator datasets, etc. This could also be implemented by doing away with the admin app and creating an "edit" feature within the view app that allows inline editing and management of content.
• Data interfaces with external sites. This includes pushing IBIS data to other apps like Socrata as well as query interface with allows users to retrieve and display outside data inside their IBIS site (CDC api etc).
• Migration of the view app to use current industry UI/UX standards. This includes using standard css frameworks and other libraries/tools).