Sector(s)

Team Members

mrshowerman, martinalewis

Visit the site

Visit the site

Organizations Involved

Community contributions

We are delighted to be involved in such a lively project - in collaboration with various partners - and to be able to contribute our expertise. 

KultinO is an innovative digital cultural portal focusing exclusively on the diverse cultural scene in East Frisia. Unlike other event calendars, which often only offer a general overview, it provides a comprehensive cultural calendar that includes cultural events from the entire region. Where relevant, there is also a direct link to ticketing.

The centrepiece of KultinO is the extensive cultural atlas, which acts as an interactive guide to cultural venues and figures in East Frisia. Users can search specifically for museums, theatres, galleries, and other cultural venues, and access detailed information on their respective offerings and activities.

KultinO also offers cultural operators a presentation platform specially tailored to their needs and those of cultural events. Networking all entries enables cultural players and venues to interact and co-operate with each other. The platform thrives on user-generated content, enabling and encouraging active participation.

KultinO's informative magazine will feature exciting, well-researched articles on a variety of cultural topics, shedding light on the region's cultural heritage and current developments. Interviews, features, and background reports will breathe life into cultural life in East Frisia. Another advantage of KultinO is that it is free, making it accessible to all and promoting cultural participation in East Frisia.

KultinO is a user-friendly, free portal that combines a calendar of events, a cultural atlas and a magazine, highlighting the cultural diversity of East Frisia and making it accessible to a wide audience. The creation of content and event searches are both designed to be intuitive and functional, enabling users to quickly and easily find the information they need. The basic functions can be used without registration. With a KultinO account, users can save watch lists, subscribe to their favourite categories and create public content.

About the project

Particular attention was paid to the user-friendliness and independence of the KultinO platform during its development. At the same time, the aim was to create a stringent UI/UX and an open design for presenting the content. To fulfil these requirements, we had to deviate significantly from the basic OpenCulturas front-end theme. The challenge was to ensure that, in the long term, KultinO remained as close as possible to the basic installation so that we could benefit from extensions and new features without the need for significant customisation. Consequently, we built on the basic theme and customised it where necessary. To avoid compromising the portal's design, we tested and modelled different setups so that the content, imported via two interfaces, would fit seamlessly into the website.

In addition to customising the UI, developing the two interfaces for Reservix and Ostfriesland Tourismus GmbH (OTG) presented the greatest challenge. The Reservix interface was prepared by the Cowain agency, while OTG was rewritten by BRANDCODE. The challenge lay in integrating the two very different data models into the KultinO (or OpenCulturas) data architecture and developing solutions for unstructured data to make it usable.

One component currently under development is the export of data to contractual partners. This feature is intended to provide a service, make life easier for cultural professionals, and eliminate the need to maintain data twice. Other features we have implemented include connecting to the VBN timetable planner to plan public transport journeys by entering the destination.

We have also further developed the navigation function already implemented in the OpenCulturas front end so that it now works on Android, iOS and desktop, and can be used with various map providers. Additionally, we have expanded the map-based hit view by integrating coloured event categories within set markers.

We are currently developing a personalised newsfeed to inform registered users about entries that might interest them. This newsfeed can be personalised in terms of both content and location. Users can specify the event data they are interested in and how they would like to be informed. They are asked to specify the event category/genre, event location and artists. They can also specify the radius within which they would like to be informed about relevant entries, starting from a freely definable location.

Why Drupal was chosen

The cultural portal 'KultinO' is being implemented as part of a federally funded transfer project within the 'Heimat 2.0' programme. The aim of the project is to implement the existing distribution 'OpenCulturas' and to adapt it to the specific needs of the region. This will be done by adapting and optimising the existing software and by developing and implementing additional functionalities. These modifications and extensions will be developed generically so that they can be used in other contexts. They will also be documented in an understandable way to facilitate further development at a later stage. All adaptations and extensions will be made available for reuse in the 'OpenCulturas' distribution.

Another important goal is the accessibility of the portal, which is a basic requirement for us during development. However, accessibility depends not only on the technical implementation, but also on the design and editorial work, which is a challenge for a portal whose content is 95% user-generated.

KultinO Platform

Technical Specifications

Drupal version:

Why these modules/theme/distribution were chosen

In recent years, we have actively worked on patches for the Core and Contrib modules and developed several of our own modules for our distribution and projects. Our goal is to create innovative solutions and continuously improve the platform. The most important modules that we have developed for the KultinO project are listed below.

Core/Contrib

  • Leaflet, Geofield, Geocoder, Color Field
  • Address
  • Smart Date, Add to calendar Date Augmenter
  • Attribution & Licensing
  • Image Widget Crop, Svg Image
  • Matomo
  • Display Suite, Display Field Copy, Extra Field

Custom

  • OpenCulturas Address Links (Output of addresses as links to public transport or navigation providers)
  • Migrate eT4 (Connection to the eT4 interface of Ostfriesland Tourismus GmbH)
  • Text Formatters (Collection of field formatters for styling fields in the frontend)
  • SVG Favicon (Support for Dark & Light Mode for Favicon)
  • Menu Class (Configure CSS classes in menus)

Contributions to Issues

KultinO Locations
KultinO Profile
KultinO Events
KultinO Dashboard