UI Changes to Modeling

Written by glenn mcdonald Wednesday, 18 May 2011 19:15

This week's update of needlebase.com introduces some changes to how you build and edit the data models behind your Needle databases.

The first and most obvious change is that when you start a new database we now take you directly to the source list so you can just begin by tagging your first source. At the bottom of the tag list you will now see a "new tag..." link. This lets you create new tags as you need them, rather than having to build your whole model before you tag. You can also click the "+" next to any tag to expand it and add tags in a tree structure. For many simple datasets this may be all the "data modeling" you'll ever need to think about.

The second change is that for cases where you do need to think more about your data model than just adding tags, we've completely replaced the user interface for editing models. Click "model" at the top of the page to see it. We've tried to improve the terminology and flow so that you'll better understand what you're doing, and so that the most useful and likely modeling decisions are the most straightforward.

So see what you think, the next time you create a database or need to change an existing model. If you have reactions or comments or questions, please click "support" and let us know!