Webpack optimization

.gitignore

@@ -63,4 +63,7 @@ server/preprocessing/other-scripts/renv
 /nbproject/private/
 /server/nbproject/private/
 .pytest_cache
-*__pycache__*
+*__pycache__*
+
+.venv
+.DS_Store

README.md

@@ -9,7 +9,32 @@ Head Start is a web-based knowledge mapping software intended to give researcher
 ### Client
 To get started, clone this repository. Next, duplicate the file `config.example.js` in the root folder and rename it to `config.js`.
 
-Set the `skin` property in the config to one of the following values to use the
+Make sure to have installed `node` version >= 14.18.1 and `npm` version >=8.1.1 (best way to install is with [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm), `nvm install 14.18.1`) and run the following command to install the Headstart dependencies:
+
+    npm install
+
+We use [webpack](https://webpack.github.io/) to build our client-side application. The development server is based on the `webpack serve` utility, which means that changes to files are tracked and the page is reloaded automatically. Run the local BASE example with the following command:
+
+	npm run example:base
+
+The browser will automatically open a new window with the example.
+
+You can run also different examples
+
+- `npm run example:pubmed` will run the PubMed example
+- `npm run example:triple` will run the GoTriple example
+- `npm run example:viper` will run the Viper example
+- `npm run example:covis` will run the CoVis example
+
+If everything has worked out, you should see the example visualization.
+
+To run Headstart on a different server (e.g. Apache), you need to set the publicPath in `config.js` to the URL of the `dist` directory:
+* Dev: specify the full path including protocol, e.g. `http://localhost/headstart/dist`
+* Production: specify the full path excluding protocol, e.g. `//example.org/headstart/dist`
+
+Then build it with the command `npm run prod`. The build will appear in the _dist/_ folder in the root directory.
+
+You can also set the `skin` property in the config to one of the following values to use the
 particular data integration skin:
 
 - `"covis"`
@@ -18,6 +43,14 @@ particular data integration skin:
 
 or leave it empty (`""`) for the default project website skin.
 
+See [client configuration](doc/README.md) for details on adapting the client.
+
+ Also see visualization [options](doc/README.md#visualisation-settings).
+
+### Server
+
+See [Installing and configuring the server](doc/server_config.md) for instructions on how to install and configure the server. Also, see [HOWTO: Get the search repos example to work](doc/howto_search_repos.md).
+
 Make sure to have installed `node` version >= 14.18.1 and `npm` version >=8.1.1 (best way to install is with [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm), `nvm install 14.18.1`) and run the following two commands to build the Headstart client:
 
     npm install