FHIR Implementation Guide Publishing Requirements

Basic Requirements

These are for all FHIR implementation guides

SHALL

• declare a `publisher` and `contact` element in the ImplementationGuide instance and expose this information on the home (index) page or an obviously labeled page navigable to from the home page
• implementation guides shall use index.html as the root page, or redirect from there to the actual root
• implementation guides shall have an NPM package file describing the guide (see FHIR NPM Package Spec)
  • more than one for a cross-version IG
• implementation guides shall contain an openAPI file for each CapabilitiesStatement (see FHIR IG Swagger Documentation)
• every page shall clearly state the version
• every page shall specify the IG Version
• every page shall specify the FHIR version

Maybe:

• every page shall include the FHIR flame Icon with trademark symbol
• every page shall include the HL7 Logo with trademark symbol

SHOULD

• implementation guides should include a downloadable version so people can host it locally
• implementation guides should only refer to a single location of FHIR (unless specifically cross version issues are being addressed)
• implementation guides should present information to the user such that by default, nothing is hidden unless there are clearly defined tabs for changing views
• Profiles should at least have the following elements presented:

 ** full metadata
 ** differential view
 ** snapshot view
 ** full description of contents with details

• Value Sets should have the following elements presented:

 ** full metadata
 ** logical definition
 ** at least one expansion (default)

• it should be possible to print pages for review/display

HL7/FHIR Foundation Requirements

These are for all implementation guides published (including balloted) on hl7.org or fhir.org

Note that all IGs published by HL7 or the FHIR Foundation are assigned a canonical URL which is the ongoing home of the implementation guide across multiple versions.

SHALL

• Implementation Guides shall reference [canonical]/history.html as the source of information about other releases of the guide
• implementation guides shall be designed to enable product/standard differentiation as described below
• implementation guides shall present information to the user such that by default, nothing is hidden unless there are clearly defined tabs for changing views
• implementation guides shall not contain any server side active content except that required by redirects for canonical URL management
• it shall be possible to print pages for review/display
• implementation guides shall include a downloadable version so people can host it locally
• implementation guides shall only refer to a single location of FHIR (unless specifically cross version issues are being addressed)

HL7 HTML Standards considerations

When HTML specifications are published on hl7.org, or fhir.org, the content of the pages is divided into 'product' and 'standard'.

Product

This is content that is under the ongoing control of the product manager, and the publication committee. The content may be changed on an ongoing basis for the following reasons: - new subsequent releases of the IG are published, and the status changes - subsequent changes to web infrastructure require new links/styles/content - external content changes require fixes to links / descriptions - restyling decisions require syle updates

Standard

This is controlled content; changes to this content are only ever made as formal technical corrections with careful change control and announcements through HL7/FHIR Foundation formal channels. The only exception to this is to correct external links that are not explicitly visible in the text of the IG.

Differentation

In order to make management simple, all HTML guides are split on the page into header, footer, and content. The header and footer are 'product' and the content is 'standard', as shown on this diagram, where the shaded yellow is the content: