BCH on BCH Forum

Dear Forum Participants,

The migration of the BCH to its new platform is ongoing. There are still tons of things to do and we, at the Secretariat, are trying our best to keep up with the chronogram (see BCH home page at http://bch.cbd.int).

In this respect, we are now starting the testing of the new platform which we are hoping to do in several phases – starting from now until, approximately, the end of May. The plan is to start testing the DEVELOPMENT SITE of the new BCH platform and the record types that become more or less ready as we move ahead.

The PURPOSE OF THIS MESSAGE is to invite you to the First phase of the testing of the new platform. Please see details below.

DETAILS and IMPORTANT POINTS:

1. DEVELOPMENT (TEST) WEBSITE ADDRESS. The address of the development test site is: https://bch.cbddev.xyz/. Please note:

    • It is a development site in a very rough state, which changes on a daily basis depending on the work done by our IT colleagues.

    • It contains REAL DATA and records, as well as TEST DATA.

    • The site is only available in English.

    • Any records you create and publish will NOT affect the current BCH. Do not be afraid to create/edit/delete records. This site is for testing purposes only!!! Please continue to use the current BCH site (http://bch.cbd.int) for publishing and maintaining your countries’ actual/real records. The current BCH is and will continue to be operational all the way until the migration process is complete.

2. LOG-IN. The log-in process to the development site is the same as to the current BCH. Note that NO log-in is required if you want to browse and perform the search. Log-in with registered BCH user account is required only if you need to submit and publish records.

Those of you who are focal points and NAUs, you have the same type of roles for the development test site as for the real BCH.

• If you are a Cartagena Protocol Focal Point - you can enter information online, save it, request to publish it but you cannot publish it yourself. Request for publishing will be sent to the BCH focal point.
• National Authorized Users (NAUs) - you can enter information online, save it, request to publish it but you cannot publish it yourself. Request for publishing will be sent to the BCH focal point.
• BCH Focal Point -  you can enter the information online and publish it.

If any of you would like to have specific roles for testing purposes, please let us know and we will assign them to you accordingly.

3. TABS: Not all tabs on the development site are ready.  The ones that need to be tested, especially, are the SUBMIT tab (new interface for submitting and publishing records) and SEARCH (new interface for searching).

4. HELP MATERIALS: there are no help materials yet, of course, BUT:

        •    SUBMIT (submission and publication of records) section: the process is different from the current BCH. However, it is the same as the one you followed to submit the Fourth National Reports online. You may wish to consult the FAQs at:  https://bch.cbddev.xyz/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f (see Question 3). The FAQs contain detailed explanation on how to submit a national report online. But this SUBMIT process applies (is the same for) to all types of records.

        •      New feature: There is a (?) - question mark - at the bottom right corner which is a new feature and is functioning already, sort of like an instant chat.

• SEARCH tab/section: completely new interface. Have a look. If any questions, please write to us.

5. TYPES OF RECORDS TO TEST IN THIS PHASE: Records ready to be tested in the SUBMIT section (where you submit and publish records) and SEARCH of the first phase are:

       •  CNAs (Competent National Authorities)
       •  SPCAs (Supplementary Protocol Competent Authorities)
       •  Website and Databases
       •  Contacts

Those are the simplest record types that are more or less ready.

6.  DEADLINE for the first round of testing – from today until 25 March.

7.  WHERE TO SEND FEEDBACK: Please send your comments to this forum or to bch@cbd.int. You can write in any of the 6 official languages of the UN.

Please send us your impressions and feedback.

Thank you for all your support.

Kind regards.
 
Anastasia Beliaeva (Ms.)
Programme Management Assistant (Biosafety Clearing-House - BCH)
Biosafety Unit
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
World Trade Center
413 St. Jacques Str. Office 800
Montreal, QC H2Y 1N9
Canada
Tel.: +1 514 287 8713
Fax: +1 514 288 6588
E-mail: anastasia.beliaeva@cbd.int
Website: http://www.cbd.int/

Dear All,

The new BCH platform has been tested (as a BCH NFP) and observations were made.
During the publishing of a record on a Competent National Authority (CNA), the following were observed
1. The meaning of the icons (۷, +, Ξ) in front of CNA were not coming up when pointed at. The meanings should show before they are clicked to enable the Focal Point determine what next to do.
2. When ‘ N ‘ was typed to select  Nigeria ( that is after  filling CNA address), countries  starting with N did not appear immediately on the drop down. These should appear for fast and easy selection. The same was observed while creating a new contact person.
3. Linked records for legal, administrative or policy basis for CNA did not show upon publishing
4. There was difficulty in opening published record in a new tab
5. Deleting of published record was not possible.
6. Continuation of record creation for ‘New Contact Person’ after saving as a draft was easy. It did not take the work back to finding a draft record.
7. Offline format for gathering  information works fine
8. Record editing works fine
9. Changes in edited record appeared when re-published
10. The new SEARCH works fine.
Further experiences with the testing will be communicated. Thank you all for your contributions.

Aligwekwe Blessing Ulunma
BCH NFP Nigeria