Standards & Workflow Changelog

This changelog tracks user-facing changes to standards guidance, ontology workflow docs, and FSAR/SPSR integration paths.

Canonical Active Guidance

Entry template

Use this structure for each changelog item:

• Date: YYYY-MM-DD
• Area: ontology / salmon data package / FSAR workflow / SPSR intake / publishing
• Change: what changed
• Reason: why it changed
• Impact: who should care and what to do next
• Links: PR/issue/pages

2026-03

2026-03-17 — package-first SPSR route + cookbook surfacing

• Area: salmon data package + SPSR intake + cookbook
• Change: updated active standards and workflow pages to use the canonical metadata/ + data/ package layout, clarified that wizard and bulk uploads converge on the same package-first SPSR route, made minimum route-scoped support explicit for CU/composite, SMU, and Population, and surfaced a focused CU/composite escapement cookbook recipe.
• Reason: keep public guidance aligned with the current SPSR / SDP direction and reduce duplicate instructions spread across overview pages.
• Impact: contributors should build one salmon data package first, then derive the route-scoped SPSR upload from that package; escapement contributors should start with the focused cookbook recipe when they want the shortest path.
• Links:
  • Salmon data package + SPSR intake path
  • FSAR Data Standardization Workflow
  • CU/composite escapement estimates for package-first SPSR intake
  • Salmon data package specification

2026-02

2026-02-25 — terminology normalization + FSAR workflow refresh

• Area: salmon data package + FSAR workflow + SPSR intake
• Change: replaced user-facing SDEP wording with “salmon data package” / “SDP”; added canonical markdown spec links to smn-data-pkg; updated FSAR workflow guidance to reflect the then-current CU-year template alignment and template-first upload preparation.
• Reason: keep terminology aligned with current naming and reduce confusion between overview pages and canonical spec sources.
• Impact: contributors should use “salmon data package” wording in docs and rely on the SPSR template endpoint + canonical GitHub specification for field-level implementation details.
• Links:
  • FSAR Data Standardization Workflow
  • Salmon data package specification
  • https://github.com/dfo-pacific-science/smn-data-pkg/blob/main/SPECIFICATION.md
  • https://github.com/dfo-pacific-science/salmon-population-summary-repository/blob/master/docs/plans/2026-02-18-spsr-production-ready-unified-execplan.md

2026-02-20 — ontology docs consolidation + FSAR/SPSR alignment

• Area: ontology + standards hub + workflows
• Change: integrated ontology conventions guidebook into DSU docs; retired duplicate term explorer path; rewired standards pages around canonical ontology docs + salmon data package + SPSR intake.
• Reason: reduce duplication and keep one formal source of truth.
• Impact: contributors should use WIDOCO + conventions guidebook for term semantics and use updated FSAR/SPSR workflow pages for intake.
• Links:
  • PR #151
  • GC DFO Salmon Ontology
  • Salmon data package + SPSR intake path

2026-02-20 — data integration system entry path made explicit

• Area: standardize/publish workflow pages
• Change: made DFO Ontology → salmon data package → metasalmon → Salmon Data GPT → SPSR path prominent at the top of key workflow pages.
• Reason: make the intended system flow obvious during standardization and publishing.
• Impact: data producers should follow the explicit entry path before upload or external release.
• Links:
  • Standardize Your Data
  • Publish Your Data
  • The Semantic Salmon Data Ecosystem

2026-02-20 — branded semantic start page added

• Area: standards IA + homepage/navigation
• Change: added a branded front-door page for the full path, with one primary CTA: Start my FSAR intake path.
• Reason: provide a single obvious entry point before users branch into detailed pages.
• Impact: new users can start from one page and follow the canonical sequence without guessing navigation order.
• Links:
  • Salmon Data Integration System — Start Here
  • FSAR to SPSR: End-to-End Example
  • Salmon Data Standards Hub

Quality checks (CI)

Automated checks are configured to catch:

• legacy namespace/content patterns in active docs
• broken internal local links in active .qmd pages

CI workflow file: .github/workflows/docs-quality.yml