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Customizing DSpace

On this page, you'll find examples of web-customization and tweaks for DSpace (XMLUI).

Send questions and comments to: tzoce@miamioh.edu
Page last update: October 15, 2015

 A first mobile interface for DSpace

DSpace mobile theme In the summer of 2012, we developed the "first" mobile theme for DSpace. For anyone interested in installing -and further customizing- the DSpace mobile theme, check the link below for a zip file. Also, a working copy is available on the DSpace site on GitHub as it is being added to the upcoming DSpace 3.0 release scheduled for late 2012.

Download mobile theme   |   View it in action!   |   Copy on DSpace-GitHub

In the zip file, check for the readme.txt file, which contains instructions (7 steps) about how to install the mobile theme for your DSpace repository.


 Value Pairs (XML) for Input Forms

item-submission A PHP script that generates a simple XML text for populating multi-value elements (e.g. drop-menus) in input forms. A text file with all the values is required, each value must go in separate lines.

View an example   |   Try it yourself!   |   View source

If you're creating an element with 3-5 values, you may just type everything ... but if you're creating an element with more than 100 values (e.g. list of all majors and minors), then, you may find this page useful.


 A Newspaper Theme for DSpace

image003 In the summer of 2010, we completed a migration "test" of a large newspaper collection from CONTENTdm to DSpace. The project was possible thanks to an IMLS/LSTA grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio, the Office for the Advancement of Research and Scholarship at Miami University and the Miami University Libraries. The purpose of the project was to provide enhanced functionality and reliability by migrating the Miami Student Newspaper Digital Archive from a commercial to an open source system.

The workflow included two major steps: a) Data conversion and b) Development of a new DSpace theme. Relevant files in the new theme include:
  • mustudent.xsl -this files includes new XSLT templates for embedding external files and displaying custom metadata fields.
  • style.css -the css file includes some tricks for "hiding" certain DSpace elements (e.g. item-view-toggle).
  • mustudent.php -the PHP script for loading/displaying jp2 files (using OpenZoom, a front end of the IIPImage server).
  • ipad-djvu.php -the PHP script for converting multi-page DjVu files into single JPG images for devices that don't support flash (e.g. iPad).
The actual site is available at: http://digital.lib.muohio.edu/msnda/.
Detailed documentation will be available soon!


Gallery Theme for DSpace

image001 As we continue to migrate non-text digital collections to the DRC-OhioLINK system, we need to develop new themes for DSpace. On this page, we aim to document and share with others a list of themes and web customization that have worked for us. Selected examples of tweaks/features include:
  • OpenZoom, a dynamic (external) image viewer with zoom and full-screen options; it works great for multi-page files.
  • TJPzoom, an image viewer with a magnifier feature; this work was based on the gallery theme originally developed by NITLE.
  • Linkable metadata terms, a feature to help users discover new/related items with just one-click.
  • New metadata labels, a useful method for creating localized labels for metadata fields.
Examples:  Image collection   |   Video collection   |   Newspaper collection


 Calendar View

image002 A PHP script that generates a 12 months calendar view for browsing records by date. A tab delimited file is required as source and it must contain two metadata fields:
  • Date, a date in the ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD) which is used to generate the two drop-down menus and to populate the calendar boxes.
  • URL, a permanent web address that links back to the corresponding record
For collections with many entries (records) for a given month, the display and layout should be modified in the PHP and CSS files.

View an example   |   Try it yourself!   |   View source

This (calendar) browsing feature has been originally implemented in DSpace 1.6, but it could be easily modified for any Digital Management System.