Blog posts in "e-Branch"

Summer Reading 2009 Materials

eric.hildreth — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:36:40 -0700

Each year, the Collaborative Summer Library Program provides us with materials to use in our Summer Reading programs. As a participant in this program, we have access to these items for a predefined time period and that time has passed for 2009. All Be Creative @ Your Library and Express Yourself @ Your Library imagery or promotional videos that you used from the CSLP program should be removed from your websites.

If you are an e-Branch in a Box participating website, the Summer Reading GrandCentral Theme Skins have been automatically removed from your sites. You shouldn't need to reconfigure, or reset anything as far as the look and feel of your site goes, but please double check your summer reading pages. If you have any questions, or need any further clarification on this, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and we will try to assist you further.

Additional GrandCentral Skins Added

eric.hildreth — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:08:54 -0600

Two new Skins are now available (part of the GrandCentral theme) to all e-Branch in a Box participating sites:

If you would like to use these Skins on your site, do the following (these steps are also available with screenshots at http://libraries.idaho.gov/page/changing-skin-entire-site):

Log in
Navigate to Administer >> Site Building >> Themes
Make sure that the GrandCentral theme is Enabled (i.e. the check box is checked) and it is the Default theme (i.e. the Default radio button is selected)
Click on the Configure Tab
Make sure that you are in the GrandCentral settings area (i.e. GrandCentral is underlined underneath the configure tab)
Scroll down to the theme specific settings area
Choose the skin you want to use from the drop down list

As with previous versions of the GrandCentral theme, you can set different skins to appear on different pages. These can be set in the Alternative Skin Settings areas on the same page as where you set the main skin.

e-Branch Project Roadmap

michael.samuelson — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:03:12 -0700

We have set a tentative target of ~~June~~ May for the next major upgrade of the Drupal software behind our e-Branch web site hosting project for Idaho libraries.

The primary reason for this upgrade is to remain in step with the Drupal project which will soon drop support for the version we now use. By staying current we benefit from the security updates released by Drupal, the user experience enhancements available in new versions, and new capabilities of the software that our staff can leverage as designers and developers.

Planned Changes

Removal of all themes except for Garland and the addition of a new multi-skin theme we've created called GrandCentral. GrandCentral will allow users to build their own themes by selecting from predesigned skins (many based on removed themes) or picking their own colors and choosing if they want to use their logo as an icon or center it like a banner. As part of the upgrade process, sites now using the to-be-removed themes will be switched to GrandCentral and tweaked to resemble their previous look. Some additional tweaking may be necessary on the part of participants, though we hope this will be minimal.
We will drop support for Drupal-managed library card application forms and summer reading registration forms. These forms take a long time to set up, require special care during upgrades, and provide minimal features to users. In their place we point the small number of participants with this feature to services such as http://docs.google.com which allow users to create web-based forms and then embed them into web sites. Additionally, services such as http://www.eventbrite.com allow users to create online event registration forms and then link to them.
We will drop support for specially set-up book recommendations/reviews features in sites. Many participants know these as "Awesome Reads." In their stead, we suggest users consider leveraging services such as http://www.librarything.com/, http://www.shelfari.com/, or http://www.goodreads.com/. Some e-Branch sites already use these services, which provide embeddable widgets one can insert in a site to display book recommendations. These services represent an opportunity for libraries to engage in web 2.0-style social networking and provide a number of impressive and helpful features.
WYSIWYG content editing (a common trouble spot for most of our users) will stay pretty much the same. While there are opportunities for us to try other editors, a better integrated editor is planned for one of the following releases of Drupal. Rather than tackle learning the quirks of a new editor only to turn around and change once again with the next upgrade, it seems best to hold out with the current editor which is not perfect, but which most of us have learned to work with.

We know it's difficult when features are dropped; however we hope that by more strictly adhering to the project's mission and scope statements and testing these decisions against our change management process we may better focus our efforts within the project and spend more time on features and improvements that will benefit the majority of participants rather than spending time working out exception cases that benefit only a few.

Feedback

We value your feedback in this process and strongly request that you submit all comments, inquiries and suggestions regarding this roadmap on this page. This is a multi-participant project, so we feel strongly that discussion on these matters should be open. We want to hear your ideas!

Transition Support Plan

We plan to support our users through this change process with LibIdaho emails, blog posts, screencasts, updated documentation, and phone and email support.

We will share more information and details as plans for the upgrade progress.

Removal of Summer Reading Media

eric.hildreth — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:44:55 -0600

To comply with the Collaborative Summer Library Program (http://www.cslpreads.org/) guidelines, the 2008 Summer Reading e-Branch in a Box Themes (Metamorphosis @ Your Library and Catch the Reading Bug) have been removed from all the e-Branch participating sites. If you had any pages that tapped into the theme switching capabilities, I have switched them out to your default theme. Any other CSLP materials that you have on your website should be removed as well (e.g. videos, graphics).

Adding Google Calendars to Your Site

eric.hildreth — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:46:38 -0700

One of the biggest requests that we have received in recent months is adding calendar functionality to the e-Branch in a Box system. Through much trial and error on our own site using various modules, we have finally found a solution: Google Calendar (GCal).

What?!? A third-party solution? Yes, indeed! Google's calandering solution is more fleshed out, more robust, and has more support than what we can provide at the Idaho Commission for Libraries – we are a web staff of two after all :-). GCal's interface allows you to quickly add events, schedule repeating events, drag and drop appointments to different days in the date has changed, and much more. To help everybody embed a calendar into their websites, I have put together a screencast to walk you through the process. http://libraries.idaho.gov/page/google-calendar (Requires Flash)

New E-Branch in a Box Handbook

eric.hildreth — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:02:07 -0600

For this fall's e-Branch in a Box training sessions, the print version of the e-Branch in a Box handbook has undergone a significant overhaul. The bulk of the questions about using the system revolved around working with the TinyMCE content editor. With these questions in mind, the new guide addresses how to work with the editor and deemphasizes the initial setup types of tasks. In an attempt to make the handbook as easy to understand as possible, the step by step instructions also include screenshots to help show the material being covered.

e-Branch in a Box User Guide (Revised October 2007 - 2.57MB)

New Training Events

michael.samuelson — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:25:22 -0600

We've announced it in other places, but it obviously is appropriate to announce it here:

There is a new round of training planned for e-branch in October!

You can read more and signup at EVENT SIGNUPS HAVE CLOSED^* . Look for the events with "e-branch" in the name, and note that there are basic and advanced sessions.

* 05/08/08 - Editor's Note: The event signups have closed and the link has been removed.

e-branch at PNLA

michael.samuelson — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:43:26 -0600

Yesterday, 8/09/2007, we did a presentation on e-branch for the PNLA conference in Edmonton.

It went very well, and the participating libraries' sites that we showcased impressed the audience. They represented a lot of hard work by the Idaho libraries involved, and they reflected well on our project and the level of professionalism in Idaho libraries.

Great job folks! Thanks for all your hard work!

e-Branch in a Box Photo Updates

eric.hildreth — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:19:08 -0600

e-Branchers,

In the default setup of the e-Branch in a Box setup we have approximately 36 free images for you to use. However, when this was setup, the "owner" wasn't set correctly for them to show up in the place that mattered most; under your profile! In order to access them, you would have to go into the insert image screen and use the drop down list to tell it to look for all images. Earlier today, I switched out the owner to be the main account's user. Now, when you add images, these extra images should show up on the screen for you to use.

Online Library Card Application

michael.samuelson — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:17:08 -0600

E-branch libraries now have the option of providing online library card applications to their users.

It works like this

Users visit the library card application page on the library's web site and fill out the application form. When they click submit, the form is stored in a private place on the web site and an email notification is sent to the library. The library can then click the link in the email to go directly to the application (they have to login first), or they can visit their site and view the list of all applications on an overview page. The library would then copy the data into their systems and could prepare a card for the applicant to pick up when he or she visited the library and displayed proof of identity and address, etc.

How to get the application on your site

To request a library card application form for your e-branch site, please contact us and provide the following information:

The information you need to gather. ie. what blanks to put on the form.
Any special instructions to display on the application, such as: "Apply for your library card online. When you come to the library you can pick your card up at the desk after you show a proof of address... yadda yadda."