I'm creating an exhibit for horseshoes, and the standard dublin core just doesn't map on to the farrier's needs (securing hardware, for example). So I modified the physical object item type to have the relevant elements. However there doesn't seem to be a way to add a description to items using the item type elements. There is no description field that I can see.
Is it really true that items described using item type metadata can't have descriptions that appear in the exhibit?
Thanks!
Nick
If I understand you correctly, you want to create a "Description" field to one of the item types? To do that through the admin interface (in Omeka 2.0+) click on the "Item Types" link on the left-hand sidebar. Click on "edit" for the item type you want to add the description to. Scroll down to the "Add Elements" box. Select "New" and then click "Add Element." In the little box that pops up, write "Description" in the "Element Name" field and save your changes. Then you should have a description field for that item type metadata.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the response.
I want to create a description that will display when users browse items in the public view. Your method certainly does work to create a field that viewers can see when they look at all the metadata, but having a description display up front is pretty important.
Ahhh okay, I understand now. After poking around for a while I think (and hope) I've figured out a way to do what you want to do.
I am positive that what you want to do CAN be done by editing the items/browse.php file (I found that here: http://omeka.org/forums/topic/adding-new-dc-element-to-display ), and that's probably the more efficient way of doing this, but unfortunately I don't actually know how to do that.
So here's another way to do it, which doesn't require working with the code at all.
After writing your description in the Item Type description field, copy it into the Dublin Core description field. Install the "Hide Elements" Plugin (here: http://omeka.org/add-ons/plugins/hide-elements/ for Omeka version 2.0+ only). Hide the Dublin Core description element through this plugin. That way, it will still show up in the browse view, but it won't show up in the item view, and you can still have the same description in the Item Type metadata section in the item view.
This is a bit cumbersome because if you want to edit your description, you'll need to edit it in both places... but at least it works, and I hope it helps you.
If anyone else knows how to edit the code to go about this in a more efficient way, I would like to know the answer as well!
Hi again,
I figured out how to make the Item Type description field display in the browse page rather than the Dublin Core description field, in a more efficient way than my previous post.
You need to edit the file:
application >> views >> scripts >> items >> browse.php
Find where it says:
<?php if ($description = metadata('item', array('Dublin Core', 'Description'), array('snippet'=>250))): ?>
<div class="item-description">
<?php echo $description; ?>
Just change where it says "Dublin Core" to "Item Type Metadata", assuming your Item Type Metadata description field is also named "Description." So your new code will read:
<?php if ($description = metadata('item', array('Item Type Metadata', 'Description'), array('snippet'=>250))): ?>
<div class="item-description">
<?php echo $description; ?>
Then it will display the Item Type Metadata description field rather than the Dublin Core description field.
Please let me know if this works for you! It worked for me.