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Custom web experiences

When GC Explorer and Superset are not enough, Guardian Connector can host additional apps from the data lake — a fully custom static site via GC HTTP Server, or a camera-trap media explorer via GC Wildlife Viewer.

Technical workflow

These steps are for technical users (typically a Technical Support Provider or an Organizational Power User working with them). They involve CapRover deployment, environment variables, and data-lake folder layout — not day-to-day Explorer or Superset use.

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You may need help from a Technical Support Provider (TSP) or Guardian Connector system administrator to deploy or configure these apps. See Custom Applications for the product overview.

Optionally add a card on the GC Landing Page (Custom Apps, Administrator) so the experience appears alongside Explorer and Superset.

GC HTTP Server — custom static sites​

The server exposes a folder from the Guardian Connector data lake over HTTPS. Build whatever static HTML/JS experience you need (Leaflet, Mapbox GL JS, OpenLayers, plain HTML, and so on); both the app and its data can live in the data lake under community control.

Possible use cases​

  • Custom dashboards tailored to one audience or meeting — layout, language, and KPIs that Superset’s chart grid does not fit (for example a single-screen briefing view for a council session).
  • Data experiences / storytelling — scrollable or chaptered pages that combine maps, photos, audio, and narrative text about territory monitoring, not just tables and charts.
  • Interactive maps beyond Explorer — custom styling, multi-layer control, drawing/measure tools, clustered or time-animated layers, or UI in a local language when Explorer’s Map / Gallery / Alerts views are too constrained.
  • Public or partner-facing microsites — a focused URL for a funder, government counterpart, or community event, optionally behind CapRover auth, without exposing the full Guardian Connector toolkit.
  • Lightweight tools around lake files — small apps that read GeoJSON, CSVs, or media already stored via File Browser (for example a photo browser or printable field brief generator).

Prefer Explorer or Superset when a standard map, gallery, alerts dashboard, or chart dashboard is enough — see Dashboards for stakeholders. Reach for GC HTTP Server when the product shape itself needs to be custom.

Tools involved:

  • GC Scripts Hub — ingest field or third-party data into the warehouse / data lake
  • File Browser — upload the built site (and optional data) into persistent storage
  • GC HTTP Server — serve those folders over HTTP

Steps​

  1. Ingest data with GC Scripts Hub so datasets and any static GeoJSON/media sit in the data lake.
  2. Build a frontend as a static app that loads files you control on the instance.
  3. Upload the app folder (and any data folder it needs) into the data lake via File Browser.
  4. Deploy GC HTTP Server and point it at that folder — follow the gc-http-server README for CapRover setup, DIRECTORY / DATA_DIRECTORY, and troubleshooting.

GC Wildlife Viewer — camera trap media on a map​

Use this when the team has annotated camera trap media in Timelapse and wants an interactive map with filters — without opening Timelapse for every review session. Typical use cases: reviewing a favorite or species-tagged selection with partners, checking which cameras produced media, and browsing images/videos by location and attributes in the browser.

Tools involved:

Steps​

  1. Export the Timelapse selection and deployment metadata the app expects — see the gc-wildlife-viewer README for required files and columns.
  2. Upload those files into the data lake via File Browser (layout is documented in the README).
  3. Deploy GC Wildlife Viewer following the same README for CapRover, volumes, and ports.

For the broader Timelapse project workflow, see the Timelapse guide.