Updates updates updates

I swear, I'm gone for 8 weeks and there are a ton of updates to be done on new.ppld.org. Of course I did them and now Views Slideshow doesn't work again and I'm not sure why. I hate that module! We need a different slideshow solution...

2/18/10 Update: I added a carriage return to beginning of the code in the Views Slideshow block and it started working again. Go figure...

Diff and Search Files Modules

I just installed the Diff module so I can view the difference between revisions on new.ppld.org. Handy little module, there!

I also installed Search Files module, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get it to work. It takes a day to index, so I'll check back...

Views Carousel Fun

I ran all these Drupal updates a few days ago and as a result my book carousel started displaying incorrectly. Apparently our custom theme needs to be manually added into the viewscarousel.module script in the actual Views Carousel directory. This means each time we upgrade Views Carousel, that script gets written over and we have to add it again.

Here's the documentation for future reference:

Creating Your Own Views Carousel Skin

new.ppld.org Demo

We demonstrated the new website to the Drupal Southern Colorado Users Group (DSCUG) last Thursday, November 5. I think we got a very positive response and some good suggestions, including using GMap module and Location module for our Google Maps

We appreciate everyone taking the time to look at the site!

Jobs and Volunteers

We've finished our Jobs and Volunteers pages for the new website. HR can now enter job vacancy descriptions into Drupal for indexing and can easily change their status. Also, we've added a Benefits section and an FAQ section that should answer some of the questions that applicants generally ask.

The Volunteers page works in the same manner, with opportunities entered into Drupal and either unpublished by hand when filled, or automatically unpublished when expired. The only problem I'm having here is when you view this page in IE the space between entries is larger than it should be. It's a CSS thing, but I can't find the source of the problem. It's not a deal-breaker, just annoying.

CyberShelf

In the ongoing insanity that is the renaming of the eBranch, we've discarded the name "PPLD Downloads" and are going to give "CyberShelf" a try.

Our most recent usability test showed that patrons don't associate the term "Downloads" with eBooks, so we need something more descriptive. CyberShelf is catchy yet descriptive so I'm cautiously optimistic it will fly. If not, I'm going with either eMedia or keeping eBranch, both of which feel like a cop-out.

We'll run another usability test in the spring and see how the new name is received.

eBranch has been our biggest naming challenge so far, so I hope we've hit on a solution with which everyone can be happy.

Home Page Slideshow

We're using JWImageRotator for our home page slideshow. It makes a lovely slideshow BUT you can't link the slides to specific nodes or websites. At least, not that we've been able to figure out. So we need another solution.

We really like Acquia's slideshow on their home page, but apparently that's a custom module that they aren't releasing to the Drupal community at this time.

We'll keep looking around...