Creating a draft

This article describes the first step in publishing open data on statistics.gov.scot. You can find the whole journey in Publishing open data on statistics.gov.scot.

Introduction

Statistics.gov.scot is the Scottish Government’s open data platform for official statistics about Scotland. The platform holds the data behind our official statistics and allows users to find and re-use this in accessible formats, such as web tables, maps, charts, and CSV downloads. The site also supports more technical audiences, such as app developers, though API (Application Programme Interface) access.

This guidance document outlines the process for updating datasets on to statistics.gov.scot.

Login Details

If you need an account for the Statistics Open Data admin site, please send a request to statistics.opendata@gov.scot.

Please also contact the team at this email address if you have any issues with existing accounts, or issues with the platform itself.

Before Starting a Draft

Before you start your draft, please contact the Open Data team at statistics.opendata@gov.scot. A member of the team can then help make sure you are ready to upload to statistics.gov.scot and can identify any potential issues with your data before creating a draft.

We can also discuss what format would be most appropriate for your dataset, whether that be a 5 star fully linked open dataset, or a 3-star dataset (e.g. csv file).

Creating a Draft

You can create drafts by selecting the ‘Start new draft’ option from the drop-down menu on the black admin bar.

In the draft creation window, provide a title for your draft. We would encourage you to choose a meaningful title to you and to others not so familiar with the draft.

A good rule is to have the name of the dataset and the period the update covers; for example, “Life Expectancy – update 2023-2024”. Or, if you are creating a new dataset it is a good idea to include the word “New” at the beginning of the title. 

Please do not leave the title of your draft as ‘Untitled.’

When you are in a draft, you will see a version of the live site that includes any changes you have made. This means that you can see how changes will look like on the live system, and check that everything works correctly, before publishing. Only you can see the contents of your draft.