Initial setup

Once you have all of the dependencies up and running, you need to begin to design how you want your instance of ARK to work.

There are a number of things to think about before you begin editing the configuration files.

A Name

Every ark instance should have a name, typically this is something like 'Chersonesos ARK' or 'The LP Map Collection'.

What do you want to record?

ARK is designed to be a flexible system, therefore you can pretty much record/store any type of information. However, whilst not essential, it does help to have some idea at the start of the project as to what you want to record. Most archaeological projects will already have paper recording sheets and some idea of how they record in the field. It may be that you already have a computerised database structure that you want to recreate within an ARK instance.

The best way to begin designing your ARK instance is to think in terms of Modules and Fields. An excavation recording system for instance could perhaps have a number of different modules including the Context module and perhaps a Site Photo module, each of which will have a number of fields (SEE AMAZING IMAGE TO EXPLAIN THIS). An Sites and Monuments Record type application on the other hand may have a Monument module with a number of different fields (such as monument_type, etc.).

It may help to sketch out on a piece of paper the initial structure you want and then you can start building it up as you go along. The best thing about ARK is that it can be adapted to suit your recording practices, so if you don;t know exactly what you want to record at the beginning of the project - you can just add more later.