Understanding a CLIO Activity Configuration File

This section contains CLIO documentation.

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Overview

When CLIO loads a Program, it will retrieve a list of files contained within that Program's '@Activities' folder. Each JSON file within this folder represents the unique identification name CLIO will use to refer to that Activity. We highly recommend avoiding spaces in this name. For example, the "Activity Types' activity within the "Getting Started" Program is stored as "types.json" and "types" is the unique name that CLIO uses to refer to this Activity in URLs and program functions.

An example URL for the "Activity Types" activity within the "Getting Started" program would be:

https://cliomuseums.org/clio/exhibit/?program=Default&activity=types

Each Activity’s JSON configuration file follows the same format, allowing the CLIO web application to identify the appropriate activity type and correctly load content.  When opened in a JSON editor, you can see that every activity contains the same two objects; ‘Activity’ and ‘Content’.

The ‘Activity’ object contains the information about how to describe the activity.  This includes which activity type it is, how it should be organized, and general configuration options, such as title or description.  The ‘Content’ object contains data that is specific to the chosen activity type. This information is what the CLIO web application uses to generate everything related to this activity. 

Activity Configuration Options

Basic Options

Key	Description	Expected Parameters
Type	This tells the CLIO web application which kind of activity type it is trying to load.  This is very important as it will allow the interface to correctly utilize all of the data stored in the ‘Content’ object.	This field expects the unique identifier ‘RenderObject’, not the friendly name ‘3D Render’.
Audience	This tells the CLIO interface which audience demographic this activity is a part of.  These different audiences are configured using the @Audience.json file.  This field expects the unique identifier, not the friendly name; e.g. ‘newbie’ and not ‘New to Tech’.	This field expects the unique identifier such as ‘techie’, not the friendly name ‘Tech Enthusiast’.

Grouping Options

Key	Description	Expected Parameters
Section	This value can be anything you want it to be and is provided as a way to help organize your Activities.	String
Exhibit	This value can be anything you want it to be and is provided as a way to help organize your Activities.	String

Configuration Options

Key	Description	Expected Parameters
Hidden	This value can be set to ’true’ to hide the Activity from being visible in the Activities menu.   This setting is useful if you are looking to make Meta activities that contain Activities you don’t want displayed in the Facilitator Mode menu.	'true' or 'false'
Theme	This is the theme that the interface will use while this Activity is opened.   Themes are stored within the CLIO web application ‘css’ directory, in the ‘themes’ subfolder.   Themes require the prefix of ‘theme_’ for the CSS file.  For example, setting the theme to ‘default’ will load the ’theme_default.css’ file.	Theme name, omitting the 'theme_' prefix.
Title	This is the title of the activity. We recommended that this title be less than 15 characters long.	Plain Text
Description	This is the description to use for the activity and is used to contextualize it.	Plain Text

Documentation
Installation	Look and Feel
Interaction Modes	Developing Activity Types
Creating an Interactive	Framework
Integrating CLIO	Contribute