6 new FAQ features. You Asked. We Listened.

<p>Last month, we unveiled the <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/08/faq-management-you-can-haz-unlimited.html" target="_blank">FAQ tab for the admin site</a> which provides advanced configuration and management functionality for your LibraryH3lp-powered knowledge bases. This week we've rolled out 6 new patron-facing features.<br /><br /><ul><li>Patrons can sort questions by # views, likes, dislikes, time last updated, or even alphabetically.  Read more below to find out how to include sort within your FAQ.</li><li>A FAQ site's e-mail integration can be either an e-mail address or a URL. The URL allows you to link any existing e-mail contact form you already provide for patrons.  The e-mail address hooks into our <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/faq-integrations" target="_blank">built-in, customizable e-mail contact form</a> which gathers patron information and e-mails you the patron's question. </li><li>The 'Chat with Us' link in the right sidebar disappears when your chat service is offline.</li><li>There is a new 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of each question page.</li><li>HTTPS support.</li><li>New theme! Flatly. <a href="http://ask.libraryh3lp.com/?theme=flatly" target="_blank">See it in the wild</a>.</li></ul><br />A big thank you to everyone who has provided feedback and comments about the FAQ module so far! The ideas for all these new features come directly from you - our user community.<br /><br /><h3>How to add question sorting to your FAQ</h3><div><br />In your browse.html template, add the following HTML just <i>above</i> the questions div element and then customize to suit.</div><code></code><br /><div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="clearfix"></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">  <div class="span7"></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">    <div id="question-orderby" class="btn-group pull-right"></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">      <a class="btn btn-small dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" href="#"></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        re-order results</span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <span class="caret"></span></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">      </a></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">      <ul class="dropdown-menu"></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="views" direction="desc">most views</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="views" direction="asc">fewest views</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li class="divider"></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="last-updated" direction="desc">recently updated</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li class="divider"></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="likes" direction="desc">most useful</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="dislikes" direction="desc">least useful</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li class="divider"></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="question" direction="asc">A to Z</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">        <li><a tabindex="-1" orderBy="question" direction="desc">Z to A</a></li></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">      </ul></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">    </div></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;">  </div></span></code></div><div><code><span style="font-size: x-small;"></div></span></code><br /><br />Or if you prefer, <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com">e-mail support</a> and we'll make the necessary changes for you.</div></div><code></code></p>

Last month, we unveiled the FAQ tab for the admin site which provides advanced configuration and management functionality for your LibraryH...

Library à la Carte Phoenix Edition source now available!

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyWVwcq_TzV7op3bWXSJPPiWAxF-rUckAT6fmqNKNB9zRoUnkqOKN4wrkLlSaA6HZWgmOW3Ke6sKG4grujLZFDCisjPVErYBe3vs5vEPv0du76RfWUcRl6_2cmCSuyFlbgidwUwhFjwcB/s1600/phoenix-100-wide.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyWVwcq_TzV7op3bWXSJPPiWAxF-rUckAT6fmqNKNB9zRoUnkqOKN4wrkLlSaA6HZWgmOW3Ke6sKG4grujLZFDCisjPVErYBe3vs5vEPv0du76RfWUcRl6_2cmCSuyFlbgidwUwhFjwcB/s200/phoenix-100-wide.png" width="136" /></a></div>Update: As of April 9, 2015 we have discontinued development of Library à la Carte Phoenix Edition.<br /><br />We've finalized our first round of updates to Library à la Carte and have <a href="https://github.com/nubgames/alacarte" target="">released the code under the AGPL license through GitHub</a>.  Phoenix Edition continues the great work by the Oregon State University Library & Press to provide an open source content management system specifically for libraries. It is free as in speech and free as in beer. <br /><br />Like <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/9-FAQ-module" target="_blank">LibraryH3lp's FAQ module</a>, Phoenix Edition has a fresh look and feel thanks to <a href="http://twitter.github.io/bootstrap/" target="_blank">Bootstrap</a>. One of the key new features is scrolled guides/pages with affixed left sidebar for easy navigation. Interested in seeing it in action? Check out <a href="http://docs.nubgames.com/subject-guide/4-Chat-widgets-for-patrons" target="_blank">LibraryH3lp's documentation site in Phoenix Edition</a>.<br /><br />As <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/06/library-la-carte-resurrected-open.html" target="_blank">announced previously</a>, Phoenix Edition runs Ruby on Rails 3. There are no database schema changes to simplify migration and we plan to maintain this release for a few years. There are a few remaining items to migrate before the release is considered complete. These include anything tutorial-related and searching/sorting of guides, page, and modules. We also plan to improve author workflows.<br /><br />Once the upgrade to Ruby on Rails 3 is complete, we will focus on Rails 4 for future releases and begin to introduce database schema changes. We'd like to introduce virtual hosting and access controls, which allows a single instance of Library à la Carte to serve up multiple independent sites.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Interested in contributing to Phoenix Edition? Send us your pull request!</div><div><br /></div><div>And finally if there is interest, we can offer a hosted version for those who would like to use Library à la Carte but can't host it themselves. Please <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">contact us</a> if you are interested.</div></p>

Update: As of April 9, 2015 we have discontinued development of Library à la Carte Phoenix Edition. We've finalized our first round of u...

FAQ Management: You can haz unlimited knowledge bases!

<p>Today we reintroduced the FAQ tab within the admin site. That's right. It's back and better than ever!  And <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-in-place-faq-editing.html" target="_blank">in-place editing</a> still works. So now, you can work on your FAQ in-place or via the admin site.<br /><div><br /></div>The FAQ tab, like the <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/07/today-we-released-major-overhaul-of-our.html">recently updated Services designer</a>, is another step on the road toward an improved and easier to use admin site that incorporates the helpful feedback you've provided. As with the patron-facing side of FAQs and our <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2013/06/library-la-carte-resurrected-open.html">modernization of the open source Library a la Carte CMS</a>, we're using Bootstrap. <br /><h3><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></h3><h3><span style="font-size: large;">Highlights</span></h3><ul><li><b>Unlimited FAQ sites.</b> Create as many sites as you'd like. Maybe per different departments or area. You are only limited by your own imagination. Unlimited knowledge bases are included with every subscription at no additional cost. </li><li><b>No charge for custom URLs.</b> Plug in your own CNAME (local URL).</li><li><b>Optional password protection.</b>  Great for creating internal FAQ sites.</li><li><b>Context-sensitive help. </b>Click the green "Show me how this works" button at the top of the page to activate.</li><li><b>Full revision history for answers and template code.</b>  Make an editing error in one of your answers or templates? Easily revert back to your prior version. You can even reset templates back to their original defaults.  You can also see when each change was made, and by which user.</li><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/AVvXsEg93unfvE00SmajtSQVrOd0cMbcz6QjCpNrTsnVNhCQzlXY2RSgCeW7P6jJF37npWInIoilUTbikyVdVnvGyll5bAEGGEE2Wf61iyuTGQ2A4EAR6SPOEL5pUAOiJqEv2X1Sds3GiZUleiU/s1600/answer-revision-history.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93unfvE00SmajtSQVrOd0cMbcz6QjCpNrTsnVNhCQzlXY2RSgCeW7P6jJF37npWInIoilUTbikyVdVnvGyll5bAEGGEE2Wf61iyuTGQ2A4EAR6SPOEL5pUAOiJqEv2X1Sds3GiZUleiU/s1600/answer-revision-history.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Revision history lets you easily step through all changes to answer text (and template code). <br />You can also see which user made each change, and when they did so.</td></tr></tbody></table></ul><div><div><br />You can learn more about the FAQ, and especially customization, in our <a href="http://dev.libraryh3lp.com/subject-guide/9-FAQ-module#topic_54">Library a la Carte-backed docs</a>.<br /><br /><h3><span style="font-size: large;">Nitty-gritty: permissions</span></h3><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>By default, admins and admin-level users can edit FAQ questions and templates.  And, any user who creates their own FAQ can edit it.<br /><br />But we have a flexible permissions system available.  Until it is fully exposed in the user interface, you can email our support account to tweak the default permissions.  For example, you can extend FAQ editing permissions to any or all users.  You can even have some users able to edit only questions but not templates.<br /><br />And of course, each FAQ site can have different permissions.<br /><br />Bottom line: Need permissions tweaked? <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com">Ask us</a>.<br /><br /><h3><span style="font-size: large;">Known gotchas</span></h3></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><strike>The Ad Block Plus browser extension can cause the FAQ (and Services) tabs to appear blank.  We hope to develop a workaround for that.</strike><br /><br /><strike>Revision history for answers and templates is populated at page load. To see all available versions, including those from the current editing session, reload (right-click, reload frame).</strike> Fixed!</div></div></p>

Today we reintroduced the FAQ tab within the admin site. That's right. It's back and better than ever!  And in-place editing  still ...

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...