nitrc:NITRC FAQ

If you don't find your question on this page, please use our feedback form or send mail to [email protected].

User Accounts

My account has been suspended. What should I do?

In an effort to control increased spam on NITRC, we are now flagging suspect accounts. If your account has been suspended, please send mail to [email protected] to request reactivation.

Registering a Tool or Resource

What Tools & Resources?

The initial contracted scope of NITRC was "fMRI and related structural imaging" tools and resources, but NITRC expanded its scope to include other tools for functional and structural neuroimaging. In particular:

• Diffusion is currently considered a 'related structural' procedure
• MR perfusion is considered a closely related and necessary co-resource for fMRI
• Other functional techniques for application in humans, such as MEG, EEG, and PET, are now within the scope of NITRC

It should be noted that the initial extra assistance and site promotion from the NITRC staff, however, will be directed principally to the core fMRI resources to assure effective serving of this community.

What is expected of a registered Tool or Resource?

NITRC's goal is to promote software best-practices amongst tool and resource developers and users. We will strive for complete utilization of the NITRC functionality for each listed Project, that includes use of resource categorization, forums, mailing lists, wiki, download file management, bug and feature request tracking, documentation, news, user feedback and ratings, etc. Minimal compliance with NITRC includes use of project attribute classification, and accessibility of downloads (indicating release version and date) and documentation.

What's a "Tool/Resource Unix Name"?

This is nothing more than a unique identifier for your project at NITRC; it can't be changed once it has been set. The unix name appears in the URL of your project's NITRC home page (www.nitrc.org/projects/unixname/) and in the CVS or SVN path. Other references to your project on NITRC use your project's "Tool/Resource full name" (or "Descriptive Group Name"), which may contain arbitrary characters and may be changed.

Why so many restrictions on the unix name?

You caught me: the unix name is more than just a unique identifier for your project at NITRC. It's also a used as a unique identifier on the system underlying NITRC, and is used as a Linux user name and Linux group name, used in e-mail addresses, and used as part of a DNS domain. Each of these uses has its own restrictions, which together make for a fairly long list of things you can't do with the unix name.

I'm a developer on a NITRC project I submitted, but I'm listed as an "Admin." What should I do?

The short answer is: nothing. Users can only have one role on a project, and trying to add yourself to the project as a "Developer" will remove you as an "Admin," leaving you with a restricted set of permissions for modifying your NITRC project. An Admin can do everything a Developer can (and more), so it's best to leave yourself as an Admin.

Project Menus

Does a project have to have all these menu items?

No, the project administrator can selectively enable or disable all menu items for the project, as is most appropriate for that resource.

How are menu items controlled?

The project administrator needs to go to the project page, then to the Admin section, then "Edit Public Info." There you will see a set of check boxes that will control the presence of each of the menu items. Updates take effect as soon as the "Update" selection is made. You can even set 'custom' menu items to point out to your own other URL's external or internal to NITRC; see below.

I don't want to use NITRC's forums, downloads, document manager or some other functionality. Can I arrange that a menu item forwards a user to an external site?

Yes! First disable the NITRC menu item as described above. Then select "Admin" and follow the "Custom Tool Menu Entries" link. There you can add menu items that will forward to external sites. The item will appear with the label given in the "Link Name" field; the "Link URL" points to the destination URL. Select "Display With NITRC Menu" to open the link in an IFRAME to keep the NITRC site header and menu when the item is selected.

For consistency's sake, we ask that you try to keep NITRC terminology for custom menu items when possible, by using "Docs" for links to documentation, "Files" for links to downloads, and so on.

Attribute List (i.e. NITRC Software Map or Tools/Resources Tree or Trove Categorization)

What is the "Attribute List"?

The Attribute List represents a comprehensive classification of all projects by Category, Development Status, Intended Audience, Programming Language, etc. These descriptors set up the keywords that describe the tool or resources, so they are findable by these functional descriptions.

Should I use this feature of NITRC?

Absolutely; this is essential to the findability of the resources that are listed.

How do I enter this information?

To enter the 'Attribute List Classification', have the resource administrator log onto the site, go to the specific tool/resource group, and then navigate to the "Admin" section for that tool or resource. Then, in the lower part of the "Misc. Tool/Resource Information" section, there is a "Attribute List Classification" option. If you select that, you can then pick the appropriate keywords.

As a "user" as opposed to an "administrator," do I care about this trove map thing?

Yes, you care, as it is what helps you find specific types of tools. However, the terminology of "trove map," which is a GForge-ism, should itself not be a term you need to be concerned about. This content is what is used in the "Attribute List" and searching functions that you may use. But hopefully, you will not run into the "trove" term at all.

Searching in NITRC

How do I find particular information within tools and resources?

You can perform simple searches or more advanced searches for each tool and resource in NITRC. Once you have selected a tool or resource, the search drop down box in the banner will contain the following as appropriate for the selected tool/resource:

• Search within the tool/resource
• This tool’s/resource’s trackers
• This tool’s/resource’s forums
• This tool’s/resource’s tasks
• This tool’s/resource’s releases
• This tool’s/resource’s documents
• This tool’s/resource’s news

Select one of these search areas, enter the text you are looking for, and click the “Search” button. For example, if you are looking for news about posted surveys, you would select “This tool’s/resource’s news,” enter “survey,” and then click the “Search” button. Refer to the specific section of the User Guide for more information on the fields that are searched and the results that are displayed.

To perform a more advanced search, click the “Advanced Search” tool/resource menu link. This search allows you to select any combination of forums, trackers, tasks, documentation, and news as appropriate for that tool or resource. Enter your search text, select any or all of the available search areas, and click the “Search” button. For example, if you are looking for any place this tool or resource mentions “analysis,” you would enter “analysis,” click “Select all,” and then click the “Submit” button. Refer to the Advanced Search section of the User Guide for more information on advanced searches.

How do I find particular information across all the tools and resources?

You may use a search engine like Google to find specific information across the tools/resources registered with NITRC. In using a search engine like Google, you enter the following in the search field:

site:nitrc.org <search word 1> <search word 2> <etc.>

For example:

• site:nitrc.org segmentation (finds pages that contain the word "segmentation")
• site:nitrc.org NITRC keywords (finds pages that contain the words "NITRC" and "keywords")
• site:nitrc.org "NITRC keywords" (finds pages that contain the string "NITRC keywords")

The search engine will search NITRC pages, and it will find search words in document titles, forum topics and comments, news, tracker summaries and comments, wiki, etc. The actual search algorithm is governed by the particular search engine used, so search results may vary from one search engine to another.

Other Questions

How do I post an announcement to NITRC?

If you are announcing a conference or meeting, please contact [email protected] with your NITRC user name and basic information about the event. Events are posted to the news feed on the Conferences, Workshops and Meetings project.

Other news items may be submitted to the NITRC Community news feed by following the Submit Community News link under the Community menu.

In either case, if the news item is of interest to the broader NITRC community, the item may be posted on NITRC's front page (although this may happen a few days after the initial posting).

Is NITRC an NIH Supported Repository?

Yes, NITRC has met the stringent FAIR data and open access requirements to be listed as a NIH-Supported Scientific Data Repository, a NLM Domain-Specific Repository and a neuroscience repository onScientific Data.