I might mention here that we (Temple University) found LibGuides 2.0 to offer some noteworthy improvements in section 508 accessibility
when compared with version 1.0. Accessibility is a particular point of concern for the whole institution as we look across the city, state, and country at other institutions that have been called out and settled with various disability advocacy groups.
So we moved to v. 2.0 during the summer in order to have those improvements in place for the fall semester, as well as to get the value from some other developments in v. 2.0 that benefit all customers.
When I see email on list about making modifications to templates and such, it gives me a bit of concern on this score that by doing so, one might easily begin to make the CMS framework for content less accessible. I thought I should voice that. This is not to say that one shouldn't customize and explore enhancements etc., but one should do so with some care if you are operating with similar mandates or concerns. Unless I am mistaken, several of the examples noted are now throwing 508 errors that are not in the out-of-the box LibGuide templates and which are not the result of an individual content contributor/author inserting "bad stuff" like images without alt tags.
Jonathan LeBreton
Senior Associate University Librarian
Editor: Library & Archival Security
Temple University Libraries
Paley M138, 1210 Polett Walk, Philadelphia PA 19122
voice: 215.204.8231
fax: 215.204.5201
mobile: 215.284.5070
email: [log in to unmask]
email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cindi Blyberg
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 12:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] LibGuides v2 - Templates and Nav
Hey everyone!
Not to turn C4L into Support4LibGuides, but... :)
The infrastructure for all the APIs is in place; currently, the Guides API and the Subjects API are functioning. Go to Tools > API > Get Guides to see the general structure of the URL. Replace "guides" with "subjects" to retrieve your subjects. You will need your LibGuides site ID, which you can get from the LibApps Dashboard screen.
Word is that it will not take long to add other API calls on the back end; if you need these now, please do email [log in to unmask] and reference this conversation.
As for v1, we are planning on supporting it for 2 more years--that said, we would never leave anyone hanging, so if it takes longer than that to get everyone moved over, we're ready for that.
Best,
-Cindi
On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 10:46 AM, Nadaleen F Tempelman-Kluit <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hi all-
> While we're on the topic of LibGuides V2, when will the "GET subjects"
> API (and other API details) be in place? We're in a holding pattern
> until we get those details and we've not been able to get any timeline
> as to when those assets will be in place. So we're deciding between
> building out LibGuides CMS "Global" landing pages using the V1
> platform, or waiting until some future date which, very soon, will
> mean abandoning this project till next summer. If we go the former
> route, it would also be great to know how long V1 will be supported.
> Thanks
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 10:29 AM, Cindi Blyberg <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 7:15 PM, Michael Schofield
> > <[log in to unmask]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Q1. How complicated is it to change all 3 column guides to a
> > single-column
> > > left/right-nav layout?
> > >
> > > A little. You can force the entire group [or all groups] to use a
> single
> > > template, which is a huge time saver, except your guides' middle
> > > and
> > right
> > > columns will be in "hidden" columns rather than forced to collapse
> into a
> > > single column. This was pretty confusing at first. We were afraid
> > > we actually lost content during the migration. You will need to
> > > manually
> hit
> > > every guide and change the layout to single-column, but that's
> > > just a
> > click
> > > of the button. If you have 400+ guides, though, that's 400+ clicks.
> > >
> >
> > Alas, yes. Once we realized this was happening, our devs hashed it
> > out
> and
> > will be rolling out a fix to the migration script so that this won't
> happen
> > again.
> >
> > Q2. Three-columns or single column?
> > > Single column. Users scan, and they scan the top and left-most
> > > portions
> > of
> > > the screen. Anything in the middle and to the right is lost.
> > > Also,
> three
> > > columns on a responsive site is a little weird, because content is
> pretty
> > > squishy; on tablets you might have pretty narrow left and right
> columns.
> > >
> >
> > Actually, when you view a 3-column layout on a smaller screen, it
> > scales down to a single column. If you're seeing otherwise, can you
> > send us
> some
> > examples in case this is a bug we need to fix? Thanks. :) The key
> > here, of course, is to have the most important information in the
> > left-hand column, and not to have too many boxes on a single page.
> >
> >
> > > Q5. Has anyone split the main content column into two smaller columns?
> > > LG2 makes it crazy easy to change number and percentage-based
> > > widths of the columns. So you could still use the
> > > tabs-across-the-top template
> and
> > > create a little 33% wide left "sidebar" column and a 66% wide
> > > right
> main
> > > column.
> > >
> >
> > One slight caution here: if you add a second content column to a
> side-nav
> > layout and the guide author wants to display nav pills for the
> > page's boxes, only the boxes from the first content column will be
> > displayed as pills. This is by design, but we've filed it as a known issue.
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> > > Behalf
> Of
> > > Blake Galbreath
> > > Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 6:37 PM
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] LibGuides v2 - Templates and Nav
> > >
> > > I have always thought that left-nav was the UX standard for
> left-to-right
> > > languages (as opposed to Arabic, eg.: http://www.france24.com/ar/).
> > >
> > > Personally, I feel that right-nav makes more sense across the
> > > board,
> due
> > > to the fact that it is less distance to travel for right-handed people.
> > But
> > > the convention seems pretty set in stone. I am also not sure how
> > > screen readers deal with right-nav - although i am guessing that
> > > there is no problem there programming wise.
> > >
> > > Blake
> > >
> > > On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 3:24 PM, Brad Coffield <
> > > [log in to unmask]>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Benjamin: "Unfortunately we have authors who want *three*
> > > > columns
> plus
> > > > left-nav..." LOL
> > > >
> > > > Margaret: Love the floating nav on that page. It's exciting that
> we'll
> > > > be able to leverage Bootstrap with our guides now. Moving the
> > > > entire library website to libguides CMS is looking more and more promising.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Some more thoughts:
> > > >
> > > > I'm no UX expert but is it generally agreed that left-nav is the
> > > > much better choice? It seems like it to me. Given current web
> > > > wide conventions etc.
> > > >
> > > > One big issue to switching to left-nav in v2 is the amount of
> > > > work it's going to take everyone to convert all guides to the new layout.
> > > > Which is one of those things that both shouldn't matter (when
> > > > looking at it in a principledness way - that is, "Whatever is
> > > > best for the patrons! No matter
> > > > what!) but also does matter (in a practical way - that is, "OMG
> > > > we
> are
> > > > all so busy being awesome").
> > > >
> > > > But part of me, when looking at other people's guides and my
> > > > own, wonders if three columns isn't just a little TOO much for the user.
> > > > How is one supposed to scan the page? What's the prioritized
> > > > information? For a couple years now I've been eschewing three
> > > > columns whenever possible. Do others agree that three columns
> > > > can be info
> > > overload?
> > > >
> > > > Brad
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 4:32 PM, Benjamin Florin <
> > > > [log in to unmask]>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > We've been tinkering with our LibGuides template in
> > > > > preparation for an eventual redesign of our site and guides, e.g.:
> > > > >
> > > > > http://libguides.bc.edu/libraries/babst/staff
> > > > >
> > > > > Some of our guide authors weren't happy with the LibGuides
> > > > > side-navigation's single-column limitation, so we made our own
> > > > > template, moved {{guide_nav}} off to a left column, and wrote
> > > > > our own styles to
> > > > make
> > > > > the default top-nav display as left-nav. We've found that a
> > > > > 50/50
> or
> > > > 75/25
> > > > > split next to the left nav looks pretty good.
> > > > >
> > > > > Unfortunately we have authors who want *three* columns plus
> > left-nav...
> > > > >
> > > > > In general the LibGuides templating has felt modern and easy
> > > > > to
> work
> > > > with.
> > > > >
> > > > > Ben
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 3:18 PM, Brad Coffield <
> > > > > [log in to unmask]>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Hi all,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'm finally diving into our Libguides v2 migration and I'm
> > > > > > wondering if anyone would be willing to share their
> > > > > > experience/choices regarding templating. (Or even some
> > > > > > code!)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'm thinking left-nav is the way to go. Has anyone split the
> > > > > > main
> > > > content
> > > > > > column into two smaller columns? Done that with a
> > > > > > column-width-spanning
> > > > > box
> > > > > > atop the main content area? Any other neato templates ideas?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > We are in the process of building a "style guide" for all
> > > > > > libguides
> > > > > authors
> > > > > > to use. And also some sort of peer-review process to help
> > > > > > enforce the
> > > > > style
> > > > > > guide. I'm thinking we are going to want to restrict all
> > > > > > authors to left-nav templates but perhaps the ideal solution
> > > > > > would be to require left-nav of all but to have a variety of
> > > > > > custom left-nav templates to choose from.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Any thoughts are much appreciated!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Warm regards,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Brad
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > Brad Coffield, MLIS
> > > > > > Assistant Information and Web Services Librarian Saint
> > > > > > Francis University
> > > > > > 814-472-3315
> > > > > > [log in to unmask]
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Brad Coffield, MLIS
> > > > Assistant Information and Web Services Librarian Saint Francis
> > > > University
> > > > 814-472-3315
> > > > [log in to unmask]
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Blake L. Galbreath
> > > Systems Librarian
> > > Eastern Oregon University
> > > One University Boulevard
> > > La Grande, OR 97850
> > > (541) 962.3017
> > > [log in to unmask]
> > >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Nadaleen Tempelman-Kluit
> Head, User Experience (UX) Department
> Bobst Library, New York University
> [log in to unmask]
> (212) 998-2469
> @nyulibraries
>
