Wiki for the Ref Desk

I've been fiddling around with trying to solve a problem that the reference
librarians have with sharing information about sources and class assignments,
etc. We played around with the idea of a blog, but that isn't really what we
need. I think a Wiki would be a good tool to use. There are some Windows-based wiki software programs. I've taken a look at some and am favoring one called Flexwiki

http://www.flexwiki.com/default.aspx

Live Chat link on the navigation bar

Red fielded a complaint about the color contrast of the Live Chat link on the home page navigation bar. He asked if I could change it.

>Red Wassenich  said:
>
> > A faculty member said we should not have the link to chat on the home
> > page not be in red letters. He said it was hard to see due to lack of
> > contrast. I agree.

I informed the Web Cmte and asked for suggestions:

>Shall I make it cyan?  Julie likes the current color but really just wants it
>to stand out.  I use cyan on the second catalog pages if you want to look at
>what it might look like.  Then I'll run it by the Web Cmte before making the
>change.
>
>As an aside, I wanted to make it different, but didn't want to make it so
>different from the ACC homepage so I chose a color that stood out just a
>little from the other nav links.  This is the first adverse comment we have
>got on it.

...... Committee replies .......
> I would make it the yellow color that appears when you mouse over it. The mouseover color could be white. The
> professor is right about the contrast. --Teresa

> Maybe bright yellow words? If not that, maybe we could change the background behind that part of the bar?
> Don't know if we want to go there. We could also detach it from that bar in some way, although I'm not sure
> where it would go. --Steve

> I think the yellow color that appears on mouse overs would be more readable. --Jon

There are some issues that govern why we might not follow these suggestions. My reply to these suggestions:

> The mouseover color is one determined by the ACC stylesheet. That is -- the style sheet determines what
> the color is for the mouseover on all the items on the nav bar. If we made the item that color, it would look
> like the mouse is over it all the time. I agree that it is a nice color, but we will have to use something else.
> --mp

I experimented with several colors, trying to balance the look but make the link distinctive while keeping the look of an ACC second tier page. And sent an example to the Cmte.
http://library.austincc.edu/libhome-chatover.htm


With some amusement, I read the following two replies:

> I find this more difficult to see than the current red lettering. - Red

> It's a lot more visible and doesn't clash with the graphic above it. --Teresa