Improving a web site

Melinda sent this link. It has interesting information. Fortunately, we do most of the things which are pertinent to us on the list.

25 Ways To Improve Your Site In 5 Minutes

http://fadtastic.net/2008/02/12/25-ways-to-improve-your-site-in-5-minutes/

Web Opac "Spellcheck" problems

Update:
email from iii tech help summarized....

The first issue listed below has been reported to the software engineers as a legitimate problem.

In regards to the second issue: spellcheck works only with the advanced search protocol
<form action="/search/X" method="get">
and will not work with the quick or simple search protocol which is what I had on opacmenu, mainmenu, and Quick Search. So, the protocol was changed on opacmenu and mainmenu.

Spellcheck is working now within the parameters listed above. mp (4/17/08)

Advanced Keyword Search (srchhelp_X)

-- It works OK in Firefox but has a problem in IE7. Here is the issue:

• If one uses the boxes and enters a misspelling in one of the boxes say "brhk" in one and "microbiology" in the other -- or a misspelling in both (doesn't matter).
• Spellcheck correctly asks "Did you mean born and microbiology? more » "
• If you choose "more," you are presented with options.
• However, if you choose not to use any of those options, but instead, enter correct terms in the boxes, and submit -- it will not search those terms.

NOTE: The same search sequence does work correctly in Firefox.
NOTE2: The simple keyword search (srchhelp_Y) does work correctly in both Firefox and IE7.

Mainmenu / Opacmenu / Simple [Quick] Keyword Search (srchhelp_Y)

-- On our server, these three files are exactly the same, but named differently as indicated above.

• Now, when you open the catalog in Staging (http://alicat.austincc.edu:2082/), the opening and Start Over screens do not display properly since I've added the spellcheck token.
• However, if you actually type in the whole url (e.g., http://alicat.austincc.edu:2082/screens/opacmenu.html), the screen will display and work properly. And, if you click on the link to the Quick Keyword Search from the Advanced Keyword Search screen, that page (srchhelp_Y) will display and work correctly.

NOTE: This problem occurs in both Firefox and in IE7.

More changes to the Opac

Enabling display of the 245|p

Eureka! changing a token in the briefcit.html worked even if changing the wwwoption didn't. I changed the line from
<!--{linkfieldspec:Vbt245ab}--> to <!--{linkfieldspec:Vbt245abp}-->

Check how it looks in the regular catalog now 'cause I'm changing this tonight (2/20/08). Do a keyword search for "atlas of the newborn" or "taking sides" or "click it" then see how it looks in the staging directory.
You can test in staging. ( http://alicat.austincc.edu:2082/ )

For the benefit of the Web Cmte:
Due to a sheer fluke, I discovered that we were not displaying a title subfield (p) for some items. Since only 790 items have this subfield, it wasn't that apparent normally. It took a while to figure out how to make it display but I'll change the file tonight so that tomorrow, we'll have better display records for these.


Adding the physical description to the body of the bib record display

The bib_display.html normally contains these tokens to display information about the item above the tabs:

<!--{recordinfo:!}--> [Note: displays author, title, publisher info]
<!--{linkeddocs}-->
<!--{URLS}-->
<!--{holdingslink}-->
<!--{bloblinks}-->
<!--{imagelinks}-->
<!--{artthumb}-->
earlier I added to this list the permanent record link token
<!--{recordlink}-->

Today I'm changing the first token to read
<!--{recordinfo:atpr}--> [Note: displays author, title, publisher info, physical descrip]

Note: Also made the Copy Status (Location) tab the default again and changed the color of the link on the "Find Similar Items" to red.

Converting the Spanish Opac

Although this portion of the catalog gets very little use, Library Services is committed to maintaining it. The Dean strongly suggested that we continue this service.

Working in the staging directory. Can get to them via this url:
http://aliat.austincc.edu:2082/screens/opacmenu_spi.html

Because of the limited use, I decided that we should use many of the former search pages as is -- or "as is" as much as possible -- even if there is a different look. These pages are:

• opacmenu_spi
• mainmenu_spi
• toplogo_spi
• botlogo_spi
• and the specific search pages like srchhelp_a_spi (author search)

The graphics are all still useful, but we will need some new ones to match the new images that webpac pro uses. Some I've identified:

• View Saved
• Remove Marked Items From List
• See ICON_UPDATELIST in wwwoptions
• Limit available (not sure about this)
• Remove from Bookcart

We definitely need to recreate the verification files:

• patroninfo (pverifyweb_spi)
• request items (pverifyweb3_spi)
• reserves (pverifyweb6_spi)

We will need to check on the new files like briefcit.html and bib_display.html to see if we need to accomodate _spi.

There are anomalies that will need to be resolved. Some things just work differently and aren't readily apparent.

I know that we need to take a look at the "add to bookcart" button that appears in the browse screen. There is a wwwoption that governs whether the button appears or simply a checkbox as we have on the English language screen. I think it is the BUT_Bookcart option but I am not sure. Need to check this.