Robert Heller
Forum Replies Created
-
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Downloadable FilesOK, first of all a “Reference collection” is not quite the correct thing. Normally a “Reference collection” would be *physical* items that must not leave the library: things like encylopedia volumes or historical documents. At least that is the traditional meaning associated with a “Reference collection”. What you are talking about is something new. I am not sure how it would fit with Web Librarian and just what sort of accounting (if any) would be useful. It will require some thought.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Downloadable FilesI think you have some confusion going on here. There are two *separate* concepts here. ‘library’ is something of an ambibious word. *Normally* (and I believe originally) there where two kinds of libraries: *lending* libraries and non-lending libraries. Both dealth with physical assets (books, scrolls, etc.). These days most libraries are lending libraries, which might also have some items that are not lendable, items that can only be used in the library, usually rare books or things like reference materials (like encylopedias).
More modernly, people have started using the word library in a *different* sense relating to digital assets, as is a ‘library of downloadable software or documents’. This is really something different, since the assets in question can be infinitately replicated (copied), and thus the idea of lending makes no sense.
The Web Librarian is really only meant for physical assets that can be loaned out. The download manager is not really meant as a searchable database. It sounds like what is needed is a completely different sort of plugin, something that is something of a hybrid of the two. I don’t believe such a plugin exists.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Downloadable FilesSo, esentially, you are ‘giving away’ the PDFs — that is, people can download them and simply keep them. I am not sure what sorts of ‘management’ of this you are looking for. I guess having a searchable database makes sense. Is there some sort of access control being imposed — that is can anyone download the files or is this restricted to only library patrons?
There is a WP plugin, named “Download Manager” which can be used to manage downloadable files, including with access restrictions.
The Web Librarian is specificly intended for physical items (eg books, DVDs, etc.) that can be loaned out.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] due dateAre you sure? When you check in an item, the item is no longer checked out and won’t show a due date. Note: did you refresh the page?
I just went through the sequence: checked a book out to a patron, placed a hold for another patron, checked in the item (early) and then checked out the item to the new patron and then checked the item back in.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] due dateFirst of all, each physical book must have a unique barcode. That means if you have four copies of a book, there will be four records in the database, with all of the fields duplicated, *except* the barcodes. So when the patron does the search, there will be four results, all the same, but with different barcodes. The patron can put a hold on a specific copy and see separate due dates for each copy.
With a ‘fanicier’ circulation and cataloging system (like Evergreen), there would be two different types of holds, a ‘title’ hold and an ‘item’ hold. Generally only ‘title’ holds are done — that is a patron places a hold on the *title* and not the specific item (eg by barcode). This makes sense for larger libraries and for systems involving multiple libraries (eg for inter-library loans). The Web Librarian only has ‘item’ holds, where holds are by the *unique* barcode. Normally *small* libraries don’t usually have multiple copies of a given title, so this is not a problem. It looks like you in fact have multiple copies of some of your titles, so you are encounting this problem.
At this time, the Web Librarian program does not have a way of handling this sort of situation intellegently, that is, there isn’t a way to implement title holds as opposed to item holds.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] due datea. That entirely depends on your Library’s policies.
b. I don’t understand the question. Do you mean your library only has 4 books?Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Can't add PatronsYou can try updating to 3.2.9.2 — this fixes some minor bugs and *may* solve your problems.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Add Item to Collection ErrorI’ve released a new version. This version *might* work under MS-Windows, but I don’t really know. It should take care of the error messages you got, but there might be other MS-Windows issues I don’t know about (and can’t test for).
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Add Item to Collection ErrorIf you can’t arrange to setup or use a LAMP server, you are going to have to find someone who knows MS-Windows better than I do (I don’t know it all) to get the source code (freely available) and help you debug it and/or come up with MS-Windows workarounds.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Missing User RolesI don’t know what to say. It works fine on a CentOS 5 (binary compatible with RHEL 5). I do have a newer version of php (installed from te IUS repo).
Please find out *exactly* what is running on openshift: which version of rhel, which versions of mysql and php, and *exactly* what sort of WP is installed (eg is it a multisite version?).
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Add Item to Collection ErrorIt works just fine on a LAMP server. It (appearently) does not work well on a WAMP or WIMP server. *I* don’t have the resources to support it on either a WAMP or WIMP server.
You could try installing a virtualaziation system (eg VirtualBox) on your MS-Windows machine and install Linux in the virtual machine and set up a LAMP server and that should work just fine.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Missing User RolesIt has been tested up to the current version, 3.5.1. You are not running WP on a MS-Windows server? If so, all bets are off.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Add Item to Collection ErrorFrom http://php.net/manual/en/function.nl-langinfo.php
Note: This function is not implemented on Windows platforms.
There is not much I can do. I don’t have the resources to support MS-Windows.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Can't add PatronsAre you IIS or Apache?
The MS-Windows version of MySQL is *different* from the Linux/UNIX version of MySQL. Part of this is a function of the design of MySQL (depending on a case-sensitive file system). The MS-Windows and Linux/UNIX versions of MySQL are not totally compatible with each other. I don’t know what the AJAX error is caused by. Since I don’t have a MS-Windows system to test on, I can’t be of much help. The easy solution would be to install Linux on a spare spare machine or even as a VM on the MS-Windows machine.
Is there some reason you are using MS-Windows Server? It is certainly an *expensive* option.
Forum: Plugins
In reply to: [WebLibrarian] Can't add PatronsIs the server a MS-Windows server or a Linux server?
What happens if you use Firefox?