Universal Viewer (module for Omeka S)

Universal Viewer is a module for Omeka S that integrates UniversalViewer, a unified online player for any files, so it can display books, images, maps, audio, movies, pdf, 3D, and anything else as long as the appropriate extension is installed. Rotation, zoom, inside search, etc. may be managed too.

It uses the resources of any IIIF compliant server. The full specification of the "International Image Interoperability Framework" standard is supported (level 2). If you don’t have an IIPImage server, Omeka S can be one! Just install the module IIIF Server.

It’s an alternative to the [Mirador Viewer] or the lighter [Diva Viewer].

The Universal Viewer was firstly developed by Digirati for the Wellcome Library of the British Library and the National Library of Wales, then open sourced (unlike the viewer of Gallica, the public digital library built by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which is sold to its partners).

This Omeka S module is a rewrite of the Universal Viewer plugin for Omeka by BibLibre with the same features as the original plugin, but separated into two modules (the IIIF server and the widget Universal Viewer).

See a demo on the Bibliothèque patrimoniale of Mines ParisTech, or you can set the url "https://patrimoine.mines-paristech.fr/iiif/collection/7" in the official example server, because this is fully interoperable.

Installation

The module uses an external library UniversalViewer, so use the release zip to install it, or use and init the source.

From the zip

Download the last release UniversalViewer.zip from the list of releases (the master does not contain the dependency), and uncompress it in the modules directory.

From the source and for development:

If the module was installed from the source, rename the name of the folder of the module to UniversalViewer, and go to the root module, and run:

    composer install

The next times:

    composer update

Configuration

Then install it like any other Omeka module.

If you don’t have an IIIF Server, install the module IIIF Server.

If you need to display big images (bigger than 1 to 10 MB according to your server and your network), use an external image server, or create tiles with IIIF Server. The tiling means that big images like maps and deep paintings, and any other images, are converted into tiles in order to load and zoom them instantly.

Only one option can be set in the main config (the manifest property, if any). The other ones can be set differently for each site via the theme:

in the json file "config.json" of UniversalViewer for the player itself: copy and update it in a folder named "universal-viewer" inside the folder "asset" of the theme;
via the helper: to use an alternative config for some items, add an option config with its url in the array of arguments passed to the viewer (see below), or use a metadata in the field set in the IIIF server config form.

See below the notes for more info.

Usage

If the IIIF Server is installed, all resources of Omeka S are automatically available by the Universal Viewer.

The viewer is always available at http://www.example.com/item-set/{item-set id}/play and http://www.example.com/item/{item id}/play. Furthermore, it is automatically embedded in "item-set/{id}" and "item/{id}" show and/or browse pages. This can be disabled in the settings of the site. Finally, a block layout is available to add the viewer in any standard page.

To embed the Universal Viewer somewhere else, just use the helper:

    // Display the viewer with the specified item set.
    echo $this->universalViewer($itemSet);

    // Display the viewer with the specified item and specified options.
    // The options for UV are directly passed to the partial, so they are
    // available in the theme and set for the viewer.
    echo $this->universalViewer($item, $options);

    // Display multiple resources (items and/or item sets).
    echo $this->universalViewer($resources);

Notes

If an item has no file, the viewer is not able to display it, so a check is automatically done.
Media: Currently, no image should be available in the same item.
Audio/Video: the format should be supported by the browser of the user. In fact, only open, free and/or common codecs are really supported: "mp3" and "ogg" for audio and "webm" and "ogv" for video. They can be modified in the file "routes.ini".
The Universal Viewer cannot display empty item sets, so an empty view may appear when multiple resources are displayed.
The display of 3D models is fully supported by the widget and natively managed since the release 2.3. 3D models are managed via the threejs library. Nevertheless, see the readme of the module IIIF Server for some possible additional requirements.

Bugs

When an item set contains non image items, the left panel with the index is displayed only when the first item contains an image.

Warning

Use it at your own risk.

It’s always recommended to backup your files and your databases and to check your archives regularly so you can roll back if needed.

Troubleshooting

See online issues on the module issues page on GitHub.

License

This module is published under the CeCILL v2.1 licence, compatible with GNU/GPL and approved by FSF and OSI.

In consideration of access to the source code and the rights to copy, modify and redistribute granted by the license, users are provided only with a limited warranty and the software’s author, the holder of the economic rights, and the successive licensors only have limited liability.

In this respect, the risks associated with loading, using, modifying and/or developing or reproducing the software by the user are brought to the user’s attention, given its Free Software status, which may make it complicated to use, with the result that its use is reserved for developers and experienced professionals having in-depth computer knowledge. Users are therefore encouraged to load and test the suitability of the software as regards their requirements in conditions enabling the security of their systems and/or data to be ensured and, more generally, to use and operate it in the same conditions of security. This Agreement may be freely reproduced and published, provided it is not altered, and that no provisions are either added or removed herefrom.

The UniversalViewer is published under the MIT licence.

Contact

See documentation on the UniversalViewer and the IIIF on their respective site.

Current maintainers of the module:

Daniel Berthereau (see Daniel-KM)

First version of this module was built for Mines ParisTech.

Copyright

Widget UniversalViewer:

Module Universal Viewer for Omeka S:

MADStudioNU/Omeka-S-module-UniversalViewer-Picpus