Idaho Commission for Libraries

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.