The IATI Technical Team and Data4Development are very pleased to launch the new IATI Validator for a month of testing between 12 November and 11 December.
About the new IATI Validator
The new IATI Validator will replace the existing IATI public validator to offer a more robust service. The tool checks data against all rules and guidance (musts & shoulds) in the IATI Standard. The tool aims to improve the quality of IATI data to ensure it is accessible and useful to anyone working with data on development and humanitarian resources and results.
Access the new IATI Validator now.
Please help test the new IATI Validator
To test the new IATI Validator, please check the quality of IATI data files and provide feedback on your experience. Specifically:
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publishers are requested to check their own data by uploading unpublished IATI files to understand if the content complies with the IATI Standard;
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publishers should also test the Public Data Viewer to check the IATI files that they have already published;
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all data users can test the Public Data Viewer to find information about the quality of any publishers’ IATI data files.
Please provide your feedback by using the Validator Feedback form on the tool or raise issues on Github. Users who are unable to access Github or use the Validator Feedback form are welcome to share their feedback by emailing support@iatistandard.org.
Provide feedback on specific issues
To help the Technical Team and Data4development sort through feedback efficiently, please provide separate comments/issues on:
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Reporting a bug (where something is not working e.g. broken links)
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Requesting a feature/enhancement e.g. improvement in visual design
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Questions/comments on how the rules and guidance are being checked by the new IATI Validator
Support using the new IATI Validator
Users can access the following support to use the new tool:
- Q&A: New IATI Validator (testing phase)
- IATI Standard Guidance documents, signposted to by the IATI Validator
- IATI Technical Team helpdesk support@iatistandard.org.
- Webinar on how to use the IATI Validator - Wednesday 27 November 2019, 3pm UK time (registration details to follow shortly). More webinars will be scheduled to meet demand, if required.
- One-to-one calls with the Technical Team if required
More checks, more errors - but no cause for alarm
The new IATI Validator checks data against all rules of the IATI Standard. We anticipate that by using the new tool, publishers will discover many more errors than were previously picked up with the old tool. Therefore, they may have many corrections to make to their data. These may take some time to address, and it is important to keep in mind that publishers are not expected to correct their data immediately. Using the tool will help publishers understand where there are errors and make appropriate corrections to ensure their data is of the highest quality.
Do contact the IATI Technical Team for help or questions about making corrections to your data.
Tech note: where to find further information on Validator checks?
The new IATI Validator runs checks against version 2 of the Schema and Rulesets of the IATI Standard. Full information about the IATI Schema can be found on IATI’s Reference site. To view the most up-to-date information about IATI’s Rulesets please refer to Data4Developement’s IATI Ruleset repository.
For more technical information, please see Q&A: New IATI Validator (testing phase).
What will happen after the Validator testing phase?
After the testing period is over, the Technical Team will review all feedback and suggestions for changes that were not addressed during the testing phase. The Team will post a summary of responses on IATI Discuss and let users know how they will be addressed in the future, and plans for phasing out the older IATI public validator.
Thanks in advance to IATI’s dedicated community who are able to support the testing phase of the new IATI Validator. For any questions please email: support@iatistandard.org.