Data Catalog Resources at BRIGHT

1. Description

This repository builds a static website containing Data Catalog user guides and relevant resources created at BRIGHT.

The website is built using Sphinx with the Wagtail Theme and deployed via GitHub Pages.

🌐 Visit the live site: https://biosustain.github.io/data-catalog-resources/

Versions

• Latest - Documentation from main branch
• Stable - Latest release documentation
• Specific versions available at /v{version}/ (e.g., /v1.0.0/)

The website automatically generates versioned documentation for each GitHub release.

2. Repository Structure

data-catalog-resources/
├── _static/                   # Static assets (CSS, JS, images, files)
│   ├── css/custom.css         # Custom styling
│   ├── js/mobile-toc.js       # Mobile navigation & theme toggle
│   └── images/                # Image assets
├── _templates/                # Custom HTML templates
├── docs/                      # Main resource content
├── Contact.md                 # Contact/ Report Issues
├── Dataset                    # Dataset content
│   ├── Add_Dataset.md         # Dataset Creation / Access Rights / Dataset Lineage
│   ├── Exploring_Datasets.md  # Overview of Dataset List / Dataset Home page
│   ├── Files.md               # Upload / Managage Files
│   ├── index.md               # Dataset section overview
│   └── Manage_Datasets.md     # Manage Datasets / User Permissions
├── Login.md                   # Log in
├── Project                    # Project content
│   ├── Create_Project.md      # Project Creation / Access Rights / Link Dataset to Project
│   ├── DMP.md                 # Data Management Plan content (DMP)
│   ├── Exploring_Projects.md  # Overview of Project List / Project Home page
│   ├── index.md               # Project section overview
│   └── Manage_Projects.md     # Manage Projects / User Permissions
└── Search.md                  # Basic / Advanced Search
├── index.md                   # Homepage content
├── conf.py                    # Sphinx configuration
├── requirements.txt           # Python dependencies
└── README.md                  # This file

3. Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please:

1. Follow the branching workflow described below
2. Write clear commit messages
3. Test your changes locally before pushing
4. Request reviews from relevant team members
5. Use MyST Markdown syntax for enhanced formatting

4. Add or Edit Resources

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code
• Git

4.1 Create and work on your branch locally

Clone and Setup

git clone https://github.com/biosustain/data-catalog-resources.git
cd data-catalog-resources
code .  # Opens VS Code

Create New Branch

In VS Code Terminal (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + `` ``):

git checkout -b your-working-branch

Or using VS Code Git Interface:

1. Click Source Control icon (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + G)
2. Click branch name at bottom-left → Create new branch from... → main
3. Enter your branch name

Edit Content

• Navigate files: Explorer panel (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + E)
• Edit content: Click on any .md file to open
• Save changes: Ctrl/Cmd + S
• Preview Markdown: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V

Content Guidelines

• Add articles in docs/ folder (markdown format)
• Update index.md for homepage content
• Add images to _static/images/ directory
• Add downloadable files to _static/files/ directory

4.2 Build and Test Locally

Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Build Website

sphinx-build -b html . _build

Preview Locally

python -m http.server 8000 --directory _build

Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser.

4.3 Update your branch to GitHub

Stage and Commit Changes

Using VS Code Git Interface:

1. Open Source Control panel (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + G)
2. Click + next to changed files to stage
3. Enter commit message and click Commit
4. Click Publish Branch or Sync

Using Terminal:

git add .
git commit -m "Add new data catalog documentation"
git push origin your-working-branch

Create Pull Request

VS Code Extension (Recommended):

1. Install "GitHub Pull Requests and Issues" extension
2. Click Create Pull Request in Source Control panel
3. Fill in title/description and create

Web Interface:

1. Visit https://github.com/biosustain/data-catalog-resources
2. Click "Compare & pull request" for your branch
3. Fill in details and click "Create pull request"

Note: Pull requests automatically generate preview pages. Check the PR comments for the preview URL after the workflow completes.

PR Preview Page Cleanup

A workflow is provided for manual cleanup of old PR preview directories that accumulate over time on the gh-pages branch, in case the automatic cleanup processes were not triggered properly when the pr was merged/closed.

How to trigger

1. Go to GitHub Actions
2. Select "Cleanup PR Previews" workflow
3. Click the "Run workflow" button and select the desired branch, if needed
4. Configure options:
   • max_age_days: How old directories should be to get deleted (default: 30 days)
   • dry_run: Set to true to preview what would be deleted without actually deleting

What it cleans

• Removes PR preview directories older than the specified age

5. Technical Details

• Built with: Sphinx 7.4.7+ with MyST-NB extension
• Theme: Sphinx Wagtail Theme v6.4.0+ with custom modifications
• Deployment: GitHub Actions → GitHub Pages
• Python: 3.9+ required

6. Support

For questions or issues:

1. Check existing Issues
2. Create a new issue with detailed description
3. Contact the Research Data Management team or Ding He at BRIGHT

7. License

Copyright (C) 2026 [BRIGHT, Technical University of Denmark]

This documentation is free: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See LICENSE file in this repository for more details.

You should have a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this documentation. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

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Research Data Management Team
BRIGHT Technical University of Denmark