If somebody wants to submit the  data to the ODP they first of all should answer the question:

"Are you ready to set up ODP Data Provider software at your site?"

This is the most important question. Obviously the answers are "Yes" or "No".  

So, if the answer is "YES" (option a):

 a1. Visit this URL http://www.oceandataportal.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&catid=9  and download the ODP Data Provider package.

 a2. Download the manuals http://www.oceandataportal.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=18&Itemid=99999999%22 and follow them.

 a3. Contact the ODP team in case of any questions and problems.

 a4. Contact the ODP team when ODP Data Provider has been installed and available via Internet - you will be given with unique Data Provider ID, Integration Server URL (the gateway from the user to your data) and some small re-configuration should be fulfilled. Only after your Data Provider will be registered (and uniquely identified!) in the ODP Integration Server you should start data submission. Of course, you can play with it without being registered but the metadata you have created and data you have connected won't feed into the ODP. That is the rule.

 a5. Start to submit the data using " Data Provider - Registration and Maintenance of Resources under the Distributed Data Source System" manual.

 a6. Again, contact the ODP team for any reason.

If the answer is "NO" (option b):

Ok, there is a "Light" Data Provider version currently hosted at IOC Project Office for IODE which gives you possibility to contribute the data you are hosting on HTTP, FTP or you can upload the data into the "light" Data Provider using remote web-interface. It is the same software, but center has no possibility to share the data directly from the database (like the usual Data Provider does) or local data file repositories. "Light" Data Provider supports following parsable formats : CVS, TSV, CSV inventory files, ARGO inventory files (GDAC FTP inventory format), OCEANSITES and some more are coming. The unparseable files (satellite images, multimedia, documents or unsupported by ODP formats) also can be provided.

What are the steps to follow:

b1. Contact the ODP team and identify yourself - who are you, from what organization, what kind of data you want to submit.

b2. As we are going to the regional distributed model, there will be a number of "light" Data Providers operating in IOC Project Office, NMDIS (China), AODN (Australia). So depending on the region contact will be provider by URL to access the "light" Data Provider, username and password.

b3. Follow a2, a3, a5-a6.