Feature Release: Change Proposals

Introducing change proposals, a way to propose changes to any field of the item editor!

What are change proposals?

Previously, changes to only a metadata item’s name and definition could be proposed via an issue. Change proposals can be found from the same ‘Issues’ tab of any metadata item, where the ‘New Issue’ button is now a dropdown, and contains the new ‘Propose Change’ option.

Selecting ‘Propose Change’ will open an interface that mimics the full item editor accessible to Admins, allowing non-Admin users to suggest changes to any field of the metadata item by adjusting it as if they were editing it themselves!

Once you save your changes, an issue will be created in the ‘Issues’ tab, named after the actual changes you have proposed.

Selecting this issue will allow you to edit its name, as well as give it a description via the ‘Edit issue name’ button.

Selecting the dropdown inside the issue will show the new, proposed state of every field of the item editor in the ‘New Content’ tab. The ‘Differences’ tab shows a more specific view of precisely what content was removed from or added to each field of the change proposal editor.

If a user has the appropriate permissions within the workgroup that the item belongs to, they can accept changes from either of these tabs and close the issue by selecting ‘Accept Changes & Close’.

Once the issue is accepted and closed, the changes it contained will be applied to the item!

How do change proposals benefit users?

Change proposals were developed to allow users to propose changes to every aspect of a metadata item, not just those previously included in issues (Name and Definition).

This means users can directly propose changes to any and all relevant fields of a metadata item, rather than having to request that one of these fields be changed by an Admin. Admins, consequently, no longer have to read a non-Admin user’s proposals, then apply them themselves in order to approve them. They can simply review and apply the changes proposed directly by non-Admin users straight from the issue.

Overall this makes for a more intuitive review process, allowing for deeper customisation whilst saving time for all involved users!

Your feedback matters

Your feedback is invaluable as we continue to innovate and improve the Aristotle Metadata Registry. We’ve designed this feature with your metadata management needs in mind, and we want to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with suggestions, ideas, or questions.

1 Like

This is a great feature that I’ve already been making use of.
One suggestion (very minor & not at all a priority), would it be possible to add a filter to the issues page to only view issues, or proposed changes?
Cheers!

Hey @A_Gore! Actually, they’re the same thing!

If you select ‘New Issue’, then ‘New Issue’ again to create an issue, you get to choose the issue name and describe it, then optionally propose changes within that issue later (via the ‘Edit Proposed Changes’ button).

If you select ‘New Issue’ then ‘Propose Change’ to create an issue, you do it in the reverse order; you propose changes to the item first (using the item editor), then you can optionally add a title and description to the issue afterwards using the ‘Edit issue name’ button!

So changes actually exist within issues! The two options under the ‘New Issue’ dropdown are just for creating a simple issue that does not necessarily propose any changes, vs creating an issue where the whole point of it is to propose/review the changes it proposes.

Hope that helps! Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.