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Documentation on SOEP v31 available in a test version on data.soep.de

Report of October 17, 2016

We are currently fundamentally revising our documentation system paneldata.org. By the end of the year, we will have increased the user-friendliness of the system and made it possible to offer data from other studies. The software on which the system is based, DDI on Rails, is also being completely redeveloped (DDI on Rails 2). The first phase of our work focused on the technical implementation of the database, the search engine, and the import algorithms. Although these features are invisible to normal users, it was important to us to revise them in order to be able to update the system faster.

In the next phase of our work, we will be expanding the functionality of the system. We want to improve the search options and expand the personal workspace with the basket and script generator that are available after registering or logging in. In the metadata area, we also want to provide further documentation: first we want to include the questionnaires for all of our SOEP-Core studies and then integrate further studies into the system.

The development of DDI on Rails 2 is currently in the beta stage, that is, a test phase. To be able to provide the documentation on v31 of our SOEP-Core data, an initial public server was set up with the new version of the software and is available under https://data.soep.de. You can also continue using the existing system under https://paneldata.org, but only with documentation on v30.

Since paneldata.org was launched, we have received numerous valuable suggestions from our users. We are grateful to everyone who has provided feedback. We have already been able to act on many of these suggestions and plan to make further modifications in the coming months. If you notice anything in the meantime, we would be grateful if you would let us know. The easiest way is to send an e-mail to Marcel Hebing (mhebing@diw.de).

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