In the last article, we explored point clouds and textured 3D models.
Some of the most useful features of WebODM fall under the Administration settings. Here, you have the option of giving full, partial, or selected access to multiple people, the formation of groups, installation, and modification of plugins, preset selection, and much more. Apart from administration settings, WebODM also has a very flexible customization panel to modify the aesthetics of the software. Let’s have a look at all these options:
Accounts
‘Accounts’ is the first panel under administration settings. Here, you can view all the users that have access to your WebODM account. A table of usernames and their status is displayed.
If you are the admin, you can add new users and also modify the level of access each user gets. Firstly, to add a new user select the ‘Add User’ option on the top right.
Here, create a username and password and save the user. To edit this or any existing user’s access, select ‘save and continue editing’ or just click on the user from the account’s panel. This will open an editing window.
Enter the user’s details if necessary and scroll down towards the permissions tab.
As shown above, in the Permissions tab you can assign up to three levels of status to a user:
Active: This renders the user active, thereby the user can view the projects available in the dashboard.
Staff Status: The Staff Status allows a user to access the administration settings and make changes in a project.
Superuser Status: This is the master access which grants all permissions to a user.
Groups are another useful way of limiting access. In case you want the user to only work on a selected project in a particular team. You can add this user to that particular group. This will ensure that this user only has the necessary permissions to work on that project alone. This saves time if you do not want to manually filter out permissions for each user and instead assign them to groups.
If you scroll a little further, you will find the User Permissions option. This is a comprehensive list of all permissions available in WebODM. This allows you to handpick permissions for the user. For example: If you want the user to only view and upload images and not be permitted to delete them, you can choose only those two relevant permissions.
Lastly, there is an Important Dates tab. Here you can view the last login date and time and the user’s date of joining. To delete a user’s profile, select delete on the bottom left. Also, save the changes before exiting this window.
Groups
As previously mentioned, Groups is an easier way of granting pre-determined permission to a user. You can assign a user to a group therefore the user will only have those permissions that the group has.
The Groups panel is similar to the Accounts panel. To create a new group click on Add Group in the top-right corner.
Name the group and select the permissions for the group. Click save and your group has been created. Now, from the Accounts panel, you can choose a group and assign users to it.
Brand
WebODM offers complete customization even in the branding of the software. Under the Brand panel, you can change the software’s name and even the company name to your liking and choose a different theme. This can be useful if a single WebODM account is operated by an organization with multiple users. The organization can personalize and apply its own branding to the software.
Theme
This is another customization option where you can modify the theme of the software. This includes changing button colors, headers, borders, and dialogue boxes. Additionally, you even have the option of inserting your own HTML code.
Plugins
In the Plugins panel, you can view all the plugins installed in WebODM. You have the option to enable or disable them. Also, if you have a custom plugin that you would like to install, you can add it from the top right corner option- Load Plugin.
Application
The Application panel contains settings and logs about images, plugins, presets, and other general settings. Let’s look at a few important ones:
Image Uploads
This tab is basically a database of every image uploaded to WebODM. Here you can view any image, delete images, and add new images. Consider this tab as a media library folder where all the media (images) uploaded by the user is stored.
Presets
The presets tab offers a list of default presets that WebODM uses to create multiple outputs. You can select and modify a preset and even add a custom preset based on the type of output you desire.
To add a new custom preset, select Add Preset in the top right corner. Here you will be provided with some options. Firstly, name your preset, and then you will be required to enter the options that define the preset. Now, these options must be entered in a certain format.
The format of the Options can be found under any task in the dashboard. Select a task in the dashboard and the options used by that task will be displayed. Use the same format to create your own options for the custom preset.
Projects
The Projects tab is another useful option under Application settings. Through the projects tab, you can not only view and add projects, but you can also manage and modify the user’s accessibility to that project. The projects tab gives you the option to selectively determine the number of permissions a user or group receives for that particular project. This feature is greatly useful if you only want to give partial access to a project.
You can add a new project by selecting the option in the top-right corner. To edit a project, select that project from the list.
Here, you can edit the project owner, project name, and description. But more importantly, you can modify the permissions. To do that, head over to the ‘Object Permissions’ option in the top-right corner.
As shown above, there are 4 categories of permissions. A user can add a project, change it, delete it, or view it. Depending upon your need, you can either enable or disable these permissions.
Conclusion
Other tabs such as Tasks are again a database of all the projects and tasks created in WebODM. They can be modified and new tasks can be added. Tabs such as Plugins and Themes revert you back to the Plugins and Themes panel and thus, they have the same settings.
Therefore, WebODM offers a varied range of options to distribute access to a team and offers maximum aesthetic and functional customization. With the above-mentioned administration and customization settings, you can navigate and manage WebODM efficiently.
