The amazing, multilingual LibraryH3lp chat widget

<p>Did you know that the LibraryH3lp chat widget is <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/4-Chat-widgets-for-patrons#topic_26" target="_blank">available in 12 different languages</a>? All of these translations were graciously provided by librarians for librarians. Our widgets auto-detect the patron's browser settings and display the appropriate translation, if available.<br /><br />But what if you have a web page written in a specific language or other need for a specific translation? LibraryH3lp makes it easy to override the chat widget's auto-detect and specify your desired language.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The short version</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/01/did-you-know-that-your-libraryh3lp.html">Every LibraryH3lp chat widget has its own URL</a>, which accepts a <i>lang</i> argument:</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: start;">https://libraryh3lp.com/chat/my-queue@chat.libraryh3lp.com?skin=20328&sounds=true&<b>lang=fr-ca</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPqhvLdFVCn07h2oUT633RTCxeQw7LgUlfiZo9mdSHfm5FGOYWiXRgY5Depl_TS4YMS_xn9btLiJTl2jEL6gLD-G6ZfDti46jn-dUzQrn-xuDEZsq93HCQ1ZgDzXwg_0ldq9qoQO6ajI/s1600/gradient.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPqhvLdFVCn07h2oUT633RTCxeQw7LgUlfiZo9mdSHfm5FGOYWiXRgY5Depl_TS4YMS_xn9btLiJTl2jEL6gLD-G6ZfDti46jn-dUzQrn-xuDEZsq93HCQ1ZgDzXwg_0ldq9qoQO6ajI/s200/gradient.png" width="166" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Widget showing Canadian French translation and<br />simpletext, the default English language presence theme.<br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br />If you've deployed <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/14-Installation-types#topic_86" target="_blank">iframe widgets</a> or <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/14-Installation-types#topic_88" target="_blank">DIY code</a>, you'll see where the <i>lang</i> argument goes since <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/4-Chat-widgets-for-patrons#topic_22">your widget URLs</a> are plainly visible. Or if you're using code snippets from the <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/07/today-we-released-major-overhaul-of-our.html">Services designer</a>, we'll walk you through a small tweak needed to override the widget language later in this post. <br /><br /><br /><b>Translating presence themes</b><br /><br />Now, how about changing that English presence theme in the top left corner, too?  If you wanted a text-based theme (like simpletext, shown above) and nothing was available for your desired language, <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/5-Advanced-widgetry#topic_32">we will work with you to create one</a>. Or you could opt for a <a href="http://libraryh3lp.com/presence/themes" target="_blank">language-neutral theme</a>. And of course widgets can be dressed up with <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/5-Advanced-widgetry#topic_31" target="_blank">background images</a>, colors, or other custom CSS to compliment your website and branding.<br /><br />Take a look at the custom presence theme provided by the Austrian National Library!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7sJLmsVB8QrA9enNJz488Km22LeJrddVqhw6lmQxpFBODy9daZKLJ_f-v105HGWr6PaLEyu16oo_Gs_jJjAyuJvQCCbB-DABgfUJ61tp9NVs2le_7yEKJjg5l4_C_K5RXhHkLt2x9l8/s1600/austrian-theme.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7sJLmsVB8QrA9enNJz488Km22LeJrddVqhw6lmQxpFBODy9daZKLJ_f-v105HGWr6PaLEyu16oo_Gs_jJjAyuJvQCCbB-DABgfUJ61tp9NVs2le_7yEKJjg5l4_C_K5RXhHkLt2x9l8/s640/austrian-theme.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austrian National Library custom presence theme designed by Michaela Mayr.  Widget shown in German language.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><b><br /></b><b>Updated Services Designer</b><br /><br />Specifying a language for your chat widget using the <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/07/today-we-released-major-overhaul-of-our.html">updated Services Designer</a> is straight-forward. To provide that language override, you need to made one Advanced Code Edit in your Service code snippet.  So head over to the admin site and go to the Services tab to find/add your service.<br /><br />First, you'll want to make sure that you are using the correct widget skin. In the edit page for your service, select the desired widget skin by clicking the chat widget thumbnail. <br /><br />Next, you'll need to make that advanced code edit we mentioned earlier. See that code edit icon just to the left of the widget thumbnail? Click that to enter the advanced service level code editor.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri4w_oqrcfBYBzFhyBYyCNJAueQ0tYC2DUGuGe-wHfkXsGL97Gb_7YqgaavbqOjF1cAn5-LTfrutHUJJN8sS546VHbDo3tp82aZ-QpE0nr5FEhxY_MRUjiwFy-xjJth2gTrB5NBRN-Ro/s1600/advanced-code-edit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri4w_oqrcfBYBzFhyBYyCNJAueQ0tYC2DUGuGe-wHfkXsGL97Gb_7YqgaavbqOjF1cAn5-LTfrutHUJJN8sS546VHbDo3tp82aZ-QpE0nr5FEhxY_MRUjiwFy-xjJth2gTrB5NBRN-Ro/s320/advanced-code-edit.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advanced code edit option</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Once you're in the advanced service level code editor, look for your widget URL, and place the <i>lang </i>variable (for example, lang=de) at the end, after an &. Then save your changes.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlg9qyDvtVjkW1bifnAuDeMdoZH39lKaXkmcc7ZKPZZBB5q22N72PGzKAFwQJMkQJoJnj0RfNpG105KiKTGks6Wqslq71TCY9f1xG_n_hgGdkYl6YLuSdfY8GAAjzZyZGS61quNtR_eTE/s1600/advanced-lang.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlg9qyDvtVjkW1bifnAuDeMdoZH39lKaXkmcc7ZKPZZBB5q22N72PGzKAFwQJMkQJoJnj0RfNpG105KiKTGks6Wqslq71TCY9f1xG_n_hgGdkYl6YLuSdfY8GAAjzZyZGS61quNtR_eTE/s640/advanced-lang.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting the lang variable (lang=de for German) at the end of the widget URL.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />If the code snippet for your service is already deployed on your web page, your updates will <i>automatically</i> take effect! If you've created a new service, don't forget to install the code snippet for your service on your web page.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div></p>

Did you know that the LibraryH3lp chat widget is  available in 12 different languages ? All of these translations were graciously provided b...

Updated Services designer released!

<p>Today we released a major overhaul of our Services designer on our US and My Customer Cloud servers.¹  You can find the updated designer in the admin site, Services tab.<br /><div><br /></div><div>You'll notice right away that the updated Services designer looks very different than the rest of the admin site. We're moving towards a modern look-and-feel and will be updating the rest of the admin site piece by piece.  As with our recent <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme.html" target="_blank">FAQ</a> and <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/06/library-la-carte-resurrected-open.html" target="_blank">Library a la Carte</a> work, we're using Bootstrap.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLTVs3wTpfTkowd5rZrxTtcaKBlhfaqmCvgC0kFFY4dG_VM-Ldhe-3c8ejcpYKZePXL3u0cbfOZmSRWcetZukwA9w9hWeUJ6N4K5e2reBK6J3Mvtaplb-SNCSEJzJGy3_DpyfW5NPR8g/s1600/filter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLTVs3wTpfTkowd5rZrxTtcaKBlhfaqmCvgC0kFFY4dG_VM-Ldhe-3c8ejcpYKZePXL3u0cbfOZmSRWcetZukwA9w9hWeUJ6N4K5e2reBK6J3Mvtaplb-SNCSEJzJGy3_DpyfW5NPR8g/s320/filter.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Services page, filtering a long list</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Noteworthy features include:</b><br /><ul><li>Filter services by keyword, ID number, or even offline content to quickly locate snippets.</li><li>Preview each service (chat routing, widget style, service rollover) and grab its code on the services listing page.</li><li>Easily edit and customize <b>all</b> aspects of your chat service.</li><li>Make advanced customizations by individually editing service levels if desired. </li></ul><br />We have a <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/create-code-services" target="_blank">basic help doc</a> available that covers the updated designer. But we highly recommend using our shiny new integrated "Show me how this works" button!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAoPNcGKwznzuBr0NISTINYIgE287y2iR6Xijcxe8-Jjso8eKtHIoKktWxD8pLm1UnK2C52bnM2y8u_qUAcTT_VTckHYW2yX846xVIiAHsS30X8OaCL3wwpVqjdohU8yNPDXPPQtIYsk/s1600/show-me-button.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAoPNcGKwznzuBr0NISTINYIgE287y2iR6Xijcxe8-Jjso8eKtHIoKktWxD8pLm1UnK2C52bnM2y8u_qUAcTT_VTckHYW2yX846xVIiAHsS30X8OaCL3wwpVqjdohU8yNPDXPPQtIYsk/s1600/show-me-button.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Show me button will give you a tour.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We hope you will enjoy the flexibility of the updated Services designer.  We'll be blogging in the coming days and highlighting the types of powerful service customizations at your fingertips!<br /><br /><hr /><div>¹ Quick reminder: the Services designer is where you create the code snippet that represents your chat service code.  <i>Your chat service code is much more than just your chat widget.</i>  Your service code also lets you direct incoming chats to the desired queue or user, what widget style you'd like (embedded, pop-up, or follow-me), and what you want to display when your chat service is offline. <br /><br />Once you have deployed your code snippet onto your site, you can change all of those chat service details from within the LibraryH3lp Service tab, without editing the code snippet on your own site again.  This is especially handy for cases where the chat administrator does not have the ability to edit the web pages on which the chat service is deployed.</div></div></p>

Today we released a major overhaul of our Services designer on our US and My Customer Cloud servers. 1  You can find the updated designer i...

Library à la Carte resurrected: An open-source CMS for libraries!

<p>Update: As of April 9, 2015 we have discontinued development of Library à la Carte Phoenix Edition.<br /><br />UPDATE: <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/09/library-la-carte-phoenix-edition-is-now.html" target="_blank">Library à la Carte Phoenix Edition source now available</a>!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tl%3Bdr">tl;dr</a> (courtesy Eric): Content management. For librarians. By librarians. Free as in speech.  Free as in beer. Hotness. <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/">See it</a>.<br /><br />With great excitement, we announce the upcoming open source release of Library à la Carte, Phoenix Edition. For those not familiar with <a href="http://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/home" target="_blank">Library à la Carte or its history</a>, it is a free open source content management system developed specifically for libraries by the Oregon State University Library & Press.  Library à la Carte "enables librarians to easily and quickly create dynamic web pages that integrate Web 2.0 features, such as chat and RSS feeds, with traditional library content, such as catalogs and article databases."<br /><br />At the end of last year, Oregon State University Library & Press <a href="http://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/node/25416" target="_blank">announced the end of life for Library à la Carte</a>. We were saddened to see the end of Library à la Carte, especially considering all the hard work and years of development on a free CMS for libraries by librarians.  So a couple weeks ago, we downloaded the source code for Library à la Carte and got to work on resuscitation and modernization.<br /><br />Once we've finalized our first round of updates (and we're very close), we'll release the code under the AGPL licence through GitHub.  It will be free as in speech and free as in beer.  Keep an eye out on this blog for updates. If there is interest, we will also offer a hosted version for those who would like to use Library à la Carte but can't host it themselves.<br /><br />We've been shaking down Phoenix Edition by migrating in LibraryH3lp's <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/" target="_blank">documentation site</a> and <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/4-Chat-widgets-for-patrons" target="_blank">pages into subject guides</a> so you can see Phoenix Edition in action!<br /><br />Phoenix Edition runs Ruby on Rails 3, which we plan to maintain for a few years. New development efforts will focus on Rails 4. And like <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme.html" target="_blank">LibraryH3lp's FAQ knowledge module</a>, Phoenix Edition has a fresh look and feel thanks to <a href="http://twitter.github.io/bootstrap/" target="_blank">Twitter Bootstrap</a>.<br /><br />Finally while we're on the topic, a quick shout out for <a href="http://www.subjectsplus.com/" target="_blank">Subjects Plus</a> - another attractive, open source CMS for libraries!  While Library à la Carte is backed by Rails, Subjects Plus uses PHP.  So whether you're a Rails shop or a PHP shop, there will be good open source options available for you.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>

Update: As of April 9, 2015 we have discontinued development of Library à la Carte Phoenix Edition. UPDATE:  Library à la Carte Phoenix Edit...

FAQs on FAQs: Fabulous Footers

<p>Welcome back to FAQs on FAQs, a series designed to help you get the most out of your LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ. Last time, we showed how to <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/05/faqs-on-faqs-using-your-existing.html" target="_blank">reuse existing headers from your library's website</a> within your FAQ. So it is only fair that we cover custom footers in this installment!<br /><br />As with customizing headers, setting up a custom footer requires a little bit of <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/faq-questions" target="_blank">template editing</a>.<br /><br /><b>1) Add content. </b>Place the desired content within the <i>footer.html</i> template. Or if you wish the footer to span the entire width of your page, comment out the <i>footer</i> block within the <i>base.html</i> template using HTML comments (as you did with your header in Step 1 of the <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/05/faqs-on-faqs-using-your-existing.html" target="_blank">previous installment</a>) and place the desired content after the main "container" div.<br /><br /><b>2) Adjust styling.</b> As with custom headers, your strategy for including the styling for your header elements will vary since there are several ways to handle CSS. Please <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/05/faqs-on-faqs-using-your-existing.html" target="_blank">refer to Step 2 of the previous installment</a> for styling tips and tricks or <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">e-mail support</a> if you need any help sorting things out.<br /><br /><b>Advanced customization: Sticky Footers.</b> If you want to be extra fancy, you can opt to make your footer sticky. A sticky footer always remains at the bottom of a page and can be attractive on your individual question pages where content may be short and your footer appears higher on the page. If you'd like a sticky footer for your FAQ, <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/faq-sticky-footer" target="_blank">check out the "how to" in our online docs</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhvgQRbZ_OdO0yU1lpK67_E2E9V3EpfayM_VdVyODaUSjUNG704-c-e-mk5mnZ0Z6O4SaqHcd8XOFREe5GhJyXwid0F3_1zZsPO8SeZwtVvNWyZaYqEuMoxYlNzzxMDeh07pFpz8utczz/s1600/without-sticky-footer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhvgQRbZ_OdO0yU1lpK67_E2E9V3EpfayM_VdVyODaUSjUNG704-c-e-mk5mnZ0Z6O4SaqHcd8XOFREe5GhJyXwid0F3_1zZsPO8SeZwtVvNWyZaYqEuMoxYlNzzxMDeh07pFpz8utczz/s200/without-sticky-footer.png" width="250" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkBDh0k2JyhzwdHVQZPCTwCMX-zZvxon3z7BW7QpKyxXy-v6bY42f3nV1M45TjtGqAg48pNE2WGRRclXS_rmfK3sbSfOaF_KqvKFBOPwkwolBn3TkczuPG3VjkZml8417C0Nm6sAOv-vX/s1600/sticky-footer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkBDh0k2JyhzwdHVQZPCTwCMX-zZvxon3z7BW7QpKyxXy-v6bY42f3nV1M45TjtGqAg48pNE2WGRRclXS_rmfK3sbSfOaF_KqvKFBOPwkwolBn3TkczuPG3VjkZml8417C0Nm6sAOv-vX/s200/sticky-footer.png" width="250" /></a></div><div class="separator" libraryh3lp.com="" mailto:support="" style="clear: both;" target="_blank"></div>Want to get your own LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ site up and running? Need to import content from an existing knowledge base into your FAQ? <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">E-mail us!</a><br /><br />Missed a previous installment of FAQs on FAQs? Here are some quick links to help you catch up: <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-chat-and-e-mail.html" target="_blank">real-time chat and e-mail contact options</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-mobile-its-in-there.html" target="_blank">mobile-specific view for patrons browsing on smartphones</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-populating-your-knowledge.html" target="_blank">adding content to your knowledge base</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-customizing-answer-previews.html" target="_blank">customizing answer previews</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-style-your-faq-with-themes.html" target="_blank">style your FAQ with themes</a>, bring your own theme <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme.html">part 1</a> and <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme_23.html">part 2</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/05/faqs-on-faqs-using-your-existing.html" target="_blank">reusing existing headers</a>. </p>

Welcome back to FAQs on FAQs, a series designed to help you get the most out of your LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ. Last time, we showed how to  r...

FAQs on FAQs: Reusing an existing website header

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://lovejoylibrary.ask.libraryh3lp.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville" border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXvqzWMZkVU8np7s_Ph05ttaCRn2ssWBQwLM-jVLyJQZ4chqzwz_Rm0MR6XVG8fMiKIS4UzujJlB64tYncmsEIt3gfWZF8gFsXqYiS3_-7FfnB28m8KD3IpqDjpBTFIpNtuU5Dtp9cIzG/s320/Screen+shot+2013-05-03+at+9.18.00+AM.png" title="" width="320" /></a></div>Welcome back to FAQs on FAQs, a series designed to help you get the most out of your LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ. As <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme_23.html">previously promised</a>, this installment shows you how to reuse an existing website header within your FAQ. Never fear! The process is straightforward and requires just a bit of template editing.<br /><br />Reusing a header within your FAQ is a simple yet effective way to blend the FAQ's look and feel seamlessly into your library's existing website. And the results can be very striking such as with <a href="http://lovejoylibrary.ask.libraryh3lp.com/" target="_blank">Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville</a>.<br /><br />Let's get started, shall we? After logging into your FAQ site, you'll want to <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/faq-questions" target="_blank">edit</a> your <i>base.html</i> template. And then follow these steps:<br /><br /><b>1) Comment out the header block using <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_comment.asp" target="_blank">HTML comments</a>.</b> This will look like:<br /><br /><div><code><!--<br />  {% block header %}<br />    <div class="navbar"><br />      <div class="navbar-inner"><br />        {% include "header.html" %}<br />      </div><br />    </div><br />  {% endblock %}<br />--> </code></div><br /><b>2) Add your header.</b> Just below the commented out header block, add the HTML for your header.<br /><br />The trickiest part after adding in your header's HTML is getting the styling correct. Your strategy for including the styling for your header elements will vary since there are several ways to handle CSS.<br /><ol><li>If the CSS is already included directly within each element's style attribute, then you are done.</li><li>If the CSS is part of your website's head element, you can <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-style-your-faq-with-themes.html" target="_blank">copy those styles over to your FAQ's head element</a>.</li><li>If the CSS for the header is contained within a CSS file, then you can include that file within your FAQ like this:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><code><link rel="stylesheet" href="http://your.library.edu/header.css"/></code></div></li></ol>One note on option 3 above. If the CSS file includes styling that affects elements outside your custom header, the rest of your FAQ's styling will also be affected. If you run into this scenario, you could ask your webmaster to break up the CSS files or even fall back to option 2 cutting and pasting into your head element what you need. If you need any help straightening this out, please don't hesitate to <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">e-mail us</a>; we've already helped several libraries in this situation.<br /><br /><b>3) Plug in the FAQ edit controls.</b> Add this just below your custom header HTML:<br /><br /><code><!-- FAQ login/logout and edit controls --><br /><div class="navbar-inner" style="margin: 0; border:none; padding:0; background:none; min-height:20px; border-radius: none; box-shadow:none;"></div></code><br /><code><br /></code>That's it! You're done. And since we've covered headers in this installment, we might as well move on to footers for our next installment.<br /><br />Want to get your own LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ site up and running? Need to import existing content into your FAQ? <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">E-mail us</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Missed a previous installment of FAQs on FAQs? Here are some quick links to help you catch up: <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-chat-and-e-mail.html" target="_blank">real-time chat and e-mail contact options</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-mobile-its-in-there.html" target="_blank">mobile-specific view for patrons browsing on smartphones</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-populating-your-knowledge.html" target="_blank">adding content to your knowledge base</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-customizing-answer-previews.html" target="_blank">customizing answer previews</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-style-your-faq-with-themes.html" target="_blank">style your FAQ with themes</a>, bring your own theme <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme.html">part 1</a> and <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme_23.html">part 2</a>.</div></p>

Welcome back to FAQs on FAQs, a series designed to help you get the most out of your LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ. As  previously promised , this...

Building grassroots collaboratives with LibraryH3lp

<p><div>Dr. S. R. Ranganathan proposed in 1931 that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_laws_of_library_science">the library is a growing organism</a>.  And librarians are a collaborative bunch, frequently corresponding with colleagues and building shared collections and services.  With hundreds of libraries using LibraryH3lp every day, there is a fantastic opportunity for collaboration and leveraging cross-institutional expertise to grow your virtual reference service. <br /><br />Because LibraryH3lp was initially created to serve an after-hours cooperative chat and IM service for students at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State University, the capability to collaborate has been built into LibraryH3lp from the <a href="http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/107">very beginning</a>. And because one of our <a href="http://libraryh3lp.com/why">core values</a> is flexibility, collaboration comes in many flavors.<br /><br />All options below are available <i>even though you and your partnering institution maintain completely separate LibraryH3lp subscriptions</i>. In this way, you can leverage your existing partnerships -- or forge new partnerships -- to extend your virtual reference service wherever possible while maintaining your own local service.<br /><b><br /></b><b>1) Chat with colleagues at other institutions.</b>  You can buddy and directly chat with any other LibraryH3lp user (or queue) in the world.  Actually, they don't even have to use LibraryH3lp!  If your colleagues use chat through Gmail  or other XMPP-based services, you can buddy them to your LibraryH3lp account.  This is easy to do within your chat client; please refer to <a href="http://ask.libraryh3lp.com/questions/2878">our FAQ for details</a>.<br /><b><br /></b><b>2) Transfer patrons between institutions.  </b>If your partner institution also uses LibraryH3lp and you often cross-refer patrons, we can can set up targeted cross-institution transfers for any or all of your queues.  To invoke another of Ranganathan's laws, save the time of your patrons! They won't need to start their questions over from scratch if you can immediately transfer them to the appropriate place, transcript in hand.<br /><b><br /></b><b>3) Staff a collaborative service</b> using any service model or work flow you'd like. Perhaps you want something very simple, where all participating librarians receive all incoming questions on designated queues and the first librarian to respond wins the chat. Or maybe you are looking for something more nuanced, such as a<b> </b>"home team first" <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/collaborations-service-rollover.html">service rollover model</a><b>.</b>  With service rollover, you can serve your own patrons if you're available in the interest of the best, most expedient service possible; otherwise, your patrons are assisted by your trusted colleagues at your partner institution.<br /><b><br /></b><b>How much extra does this stuff cost?</b>  Not one penny.  Everything is included in your paid annual subscription.  That's right, we'll wire up your shiny new collaborative service up for free.<br /><b><br /></b><b>How do I get started?</b>  Contact <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com">support@libraryh3lp.com</a> and we'll do the necessary under-the-hood configuration needed to get your LibraryH3lp account talking to your partner institution's account.  We'll need to know your service goals (transfer only or shared, collaborative staffing), and we'll also need to hear from your partner institution(s) so that we can make sure all parties understand the new service model.<br /><b><br /></b><b>What if I'm interested in a partnership, but have no partner?</b> A good place to start your quest for like minded librarians is the <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/libraryh3lp/">LibraryH3lp Google group</a>.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Quick relevant plug.</b>  Would you like to extend your virtual reference service hours, but you don't have a willing partner for staffing longer hours the grassroots way?  You can get after-hours coverage through <a href="http://chatstaff.us/">ChatStaff!</a></div></p>

Dr. S. R. Ranganathan proposed in 1931 that the library is a growing organism .  And librarians are a collaborative bunch, frequently corres...

FAQs on FAQs: BYOT - Bring Your Own Theme (part 2)

<p>Welcome back to FAQs on FAQs, a series designed to help you get the most out of your LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ. Last time, we revealed literally <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme.html" target="_blank">hundreds of possibilities for your FAQ site's theme</a> and also covered some of the under-the-hood goodies like icons that automatically change color based on your theme. In this installment, we'll show you how to plug in a third-party Bootstrap theme and how to harness the power of FontAwesome icons.<br /><br /><b>Plugging in a 3rd party Bootstrap theme</b> is easily accomplished with a bit of <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/faq-questions" target="_blank">template editing</a>. You'll need to edit your <i>base.html</i> template and look for this line within the head element:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><code><link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/themes/{{ theme }}/faq.css"/><br /></code></div><br />You'll replace that line with two lines that look like this:<br /><br /><span style="font-family: monospace;"><link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/faq.css"/></span><br /><span style="font-family: monospace;"><link rel="stylesheet" href="http://your.server.edu/theme.css"/></span><br /><br />The second stylesheet's href attribute will of course need to be set to reference your custom Bootstrap theme. Easy peasy, right?<br /><br />One minor complication that you might run into surrounds <a href="http://twitter.github.io/bootstrap/base-css.html#icons" target="_blank">Bootstrap icons</a> Vs. <a href="http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/" target="_blank">FontAwesome icons</a>. Chances are that any third-party Bootstrap theme you elect to use will automatically include Bootstrap icons. If there is an easy way to exclude those Bootstrap icons from your theme, then we recommend you do so in preference to FontAwesome. If that isn't possible, no worries, but you'll want to remove these lines in the head element of the <i>base.html</i> template:<br /><br /><code><link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/font-awesome.min.css"/><br /><!--[if IE 7]><br />  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/font-awesome-ie7.min.css"/><br /><![endif]--><br /></code><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMwpBbHM8O_wt2jn18AR9cOGVV_xR81Yw8n44X6Hb2IUewtTX1gEMr3rbi1NXcyuMSbcFZHzZ5HqSE8XuO1-I7qMpt8qNtMZU9Erf696cXADpbXgePcp28eim56LZf-eKi7ckEiz-_4bs/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-23+at+2.20.01+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMwpBbHM8O_wt2jn18AR9cOGVV_xR81Yw8n44X6Hb2IUewtTX1gEMr3rbi1NXcyuMSbcFZHzZ5HqSE8XuO1-I7qMpt8qNtMZU9Erf696cXADpbXgePcp28eim56LZf-eKi7ckEiz-_4bs/s200/Screen+shot+2013-04-23+at+2.20.01+PM.png" width="150" /></a></div><b>Using FontAwesome icons.</b> FontAwesome makes it super simple to embed <a href="http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/" target="_blank">tons of icons</a> within your FAQ site. You can place icons anywhere you'd like by creating an <i>i</i> element with a class name which is the same as the icon's name.<br /><br />E.g. <code><i class="icon-comments-alt"></i></code><br /><br /><br />In fact, you can do all sorts of things with these icons by adding classes to any <i>i</i> element...<br /><ol><li>Control<b> size</b> with <i>icon-large</i>, <i>icon-2x</i>, <i>icon-3x</i>, or <i>icon-4x</i></li><li>Add <b>borders</b> with <i>icon-border</i></li><li><b>Replace list bullets</b>.  Looks like this...<br /><code><ul class="icons"><br />  <li><i class="icon-ok"></i> Lists</li><br /></ul></code></li><li><b>Animate</b> with <i>icon-spin</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>.</i>¹</span></li></ol><div>So, here's how you'd create a large, bordered book icon that spins:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><code><i class="icon-book icon-large icon-border icon-spin"></i></code></div></div><div><br /></div>In the next installment of FAQs on FAQs, we'll show you how make the header for your FAQ site match your library's existing website. Want to get your own LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ site up and running? Need to import existing content into your FAQ? <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">E-mail us</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Missed a previous installment of FAQs on FAQs? Here are some quick links to help you catch up: <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-chat-and-e-mail.html" target="_blank">real-time chat and e-mail contact options</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-mobile-its-in-there.html" target="_blank">mobile-specific view for patrons browsing on smartphones</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/03/faqs-on-faqs-populating-your-knowledge.html" target="_blank">adding content to your knowledge base</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-customizing-answer-previews.html" target="_blank">customizing answer previews</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-style-your-faq-with-themes.html" target="_blank">style your FAQ with themes</a>, <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/04/faqs-on-faqs-byot-bring-your-own-theme.html">bring your own theme (part 1)</a>.<br /><br />¹ Works best with icon-spinner and icon-refresh.</div></p>

Welcome back to FAQs on FAQs, a series designed to help you get the most out of your LibraryH3lp-powered FAQ. Last time, we revealed literal...