The Specify Project is pleased to announce updates to the Specify 6 & Specify 7 collection management platforms. Several months in the making, these releases address numerous issues and new capabilities. The Specify 6 download page has release information, the Release Notes file contains details on Specify 6 enhancements. Specify 7 uses the same database schema as Specify 6, for schema changes affecting both platforms see “Database Schema Changes” in the Specify 6.6 Release Notes. A list of issues fixed in Specify 7 is available here. See the “New in Specify 7.3″ blog post for an overview. Specify 7.3 source code is obtainable from the Specify Project GitHub site. The Specify Project is enthused to deliver these new releases that resulted from collaborations with the Global Genome Biodiversity Network and the University of Texas.
Institutions using Specify 6 and Specify 7 simultaneously will need to update both platforms to continue providing database access.
If we can help you evaluate Specify for your collection, please contact us. We would be happy to advise on that or other Specify issues.
I am a graduate student at University of Melbourne, Australia. I had a look at the web browser version and liked it. I have been searching for something like this for a couple of years now. I am still stuck with MS Access and most of the colleagues are using excel. If you could speak to me like I am a 9yo, what are the steps to start using Specify 7.3?
Many thanks, Eddie
It is great to hear that you are interested in using Specify for your collection. I’ll try to further explain all the steps involved in setting up Specify 7.
Specify 7 publishes your database online and makes it available for anyone with login permissions to access it via any internet browser. So, if you have the correct username and password, you can login from anywhere that has internet connection. You can add, delete, modify, and search for records in your database.
Prior to publishing your data, you must first create your Specify database through Specify 6. This requires you to install an instance of Specify 6 on an outward facing server. You will need someone familiar with servers and programming to get it set up. We have instructions available here: https://github.com/specify/specify7.
If you do not have access to a server or IT support, you can install Specify 6 on your computer. You will need to install Specify, MySQL, and Java on your computer. They are all open source programs that are available for free. We have instructions on how to set up MySQL available on our website at https://www.sustain.specifysoftware.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Installing-MySQL-5.7-on-Windows-for-Specify.pdf. Specify 6 is available at https://www.sustain.specifysoftware.org/join/download/. Java is almost always on your computer already, but if you need to download it, you can go to the Java website to download it.
Once the database is installed, you can import your data via our Specify 6 Workbench tool. The Workbench is a spreadsheet-based application that allows you to import data from a spreadsheet directly into the database. You match the columns in the spreadsheet to the appropriate fields in Specify. We can help you figure out the mapping. Once the mapping is complete, you can view your data from within Specify using the default forms. If your data utilizes fields not present on the forms we can we help you to customize both the forms and reports in Specify.
Again, thank you for your inquiry, if you require more assistance please feel free to email us – we have some super-users in Australia who may be able to assist you!
Does Specify 7 now include all the functionality of Specify 6? Or is the installation of Specify 6 still required? Thanks!
Hi Jim,
The installation of Specify 6 is still required to take advantage of all the features in Specify 6 as well as utilize customized resources.
Thanks,
– Norine