YRL Websites for Libraries

Hi everyone,

You’ve now had some time to work with your new Web sites and update your own content.  We know you’ve also been busy with the migration but hopefully you’ve been able to squeeze in a few minutes here and there to keep your Web sites up to date.

Christine, Rob and I will be giving a presentation about this project at the Alberta Library Association conference in April.  We would love to include information from you about how your patrons like your websites and what impact they have made on services to your patrons, so we would appreciate it if you could post some comments regarding the project.

I am still available by email for support and questions, probably until the end of March, so if there are still some items to sort out with your site please let me know.

Thanks everyone!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
cynthia at oraleprojects.com

The WSFL Training was one of the keys to launching the amazing array of Web sites now being offered by libraries in YRL.  The training manuals used during the sessions contained practical guidance to get the sites running quickly and easily, along with step-by-step instructions for many of the options and features available in the YRL templates.

The complete Level 1 and 2 training manuals are now online and available for downloading or searching.  The manuals are a great resource to support those who participated in the WSFL project, and will be invaluable for training new staff or volunteers who will be assisting with the sites in the future.

Websites for Libraries Training Manual - level 1 

Websites for Libraries Training Manual - level 2 

If you spot any typos or errors in the manuals, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note.  I am able to update them and make corrections for a couple of weeks, and I would certainly appreciate other eyes checking the documents.  Thanks in advance for your help!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note or give me a call.

Thanks everyone!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

All the Web sites in the WSFL project generate a set of visitor statistics and display the data in charts and graphs.  These  statistics can be a great help when you are maintaining your site, considering new pages, tracking the marketing on a program, or just to get a sense of who is using your site.

At this time, the statistics are only available through a unique login which must be kept secure. A question has been raised as to whether those stats could be made public instead, so that visitors can see them as well.

Specific Advantages of Public Access

• visitors can see how busy the library web site it
• board members can view the statistics at any time
• there is no need to remember another login
• it is easy to get current stats on a moment’s notice

Specific Disadvantages of Public Access

• spammers and bots will generate false visits to your site to show up in your stats
• spammers and bots can then leverage your stats page to increase their rankings
• your stats page will be indexed in search engines
• if your stats are not that great, everyone knows
• your stats can be misinterpreted and inappropriately used by an external source

Specific Advantages of Private Access

• the statistics - good and bad - are only seen by those with password access
• you decide which information to release and to whom
• spammers, bots, and indexing are all blocked from the stats by the login requirement

Specific Disadvantages of Private Access

• you need to remember another login
• you need to keep that login secure
• you need to gather, interpret, and provide the information to those who request it such as board members

For those who would really like to keep the statistics private but still have a way to share some of the numbers with their visitors, I suggest you add a text box widget to one of your sidebars and put the information in the box manually.  For instance, you could give the number of visits last month, the average number of visits per day (base them on the previous month), or whatever stats you wish to share.  In your maintenance schedule you can add a task that reminds you to check your stats each month and update those numbers. This maintains your security while sharing the information.

That having been said, we can open your stats up for public viewing if you wish.  All requests to open the statistics page to the public will require the authorization of your Librarian. Please consider your decision carefully.

If you would like your stats page opened up for public access, please forward the authorization by your librarian to me by November 13 and I will have the login requirement removed from your stats folder.

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

All the sites in the WSFL project were designed with a contact page as part of the templates.  The contact page allows you to provide your visitors with the mailing address, phone numbers, and any other pertinent contact information that you want them to have.  At the bottom of the page, there is a contact form that allows them to submit comments or questions.

When the contact forms were originally set up, they used the email address of the template designer as the submission address.  I’ve received a note from him stating that he is receiving messages that have been submitted through those forms, which means that some sites have not changed the contact email on their forms.

At this time, I’d like to ask *all* those who are part of the WSFL project to check their contact form settings to ensure the email address is correct.  It needs to be set so the information your visitors submit is sent to an email address that you use on a regular basis.  To check or change that address:

1. Login to the Dashboard
2. Choose Manage from the main menu
3. Choose Contact Form 7 from the submenu
4. Select the “Contact Form 1” form link
5. Scroll down and check the email address for the “To” field in the Mail section
6. Change it if needed, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button

If you would like the form data emailed to a second email address, put that address in the second Mail section.  If you would like to change the name of the form from Contact Form 1 to something different, click on the form name (below the form name link but above the form itself) and edit the text.

If you run into any issues, please let me know.

Thanks for taking care of this - Derek, the designer, will be grateful!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

Last week the upgrades were done on all the sites for the event calendar widget and the contact forms plugin.  These upgrades should correct the issues some sites were having with the functionality of the calendar as well as fix the CAPTCHA issue with the contact form.

If you are using the events calendar widget, please check your calendar to make sure it is now performing as it should.  You can add events to the calendar through the Events Calendar menu item from the main dashboard

All the sites have a contact form in place (it is on the contact page).  Please check your settings to make sure the form data is being sent to the correct email address, and then submit a form to make sure it is working.  To check your settings, go to the Manage menu item from the main dashboard and then select Contact Form 7 from the submenu.

If you run into any issues, please let me know.

Thanks everyone!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

This week I will be doing a plugin upgrade on all the sites.  Please do not work on your sites on the morning of Thursday, November 6 as I will be disabling some items at that time.  These upgrades should address the issues with the events calendar as well as the CAPTCHA on contact forms.

I will let everyone know when the upgrade is done and you can continue working on your sites.

Thanks for being patient as we get these issues sorted out.

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

If you haven’t registered yet, you only have a couple of days to send in your registration information and take advantage of the “Writing for the Web” workshop that is being offered next week.  If you have any questions regarding the session, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note.  If you’d like to get registered, please send me your registration information ASAP.

Thanks everyone!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

All of you who have registered in the WSFL level 1 & 2 training sessions should have received your official confirmation email.  If you have not yet received one but would like to make sure you have a seat in one of the sessions, please contact me ASAP so we can make any last minute changes we need to in order for you to attend.  Level 1 is October 22 in Barrhead and Level 2 is October 21 at YRL HQ in Spruce Grove.

Those of you in the level 1 session in Barrhead - please note that the location has changed from the library to Outreach School.  The school is located at 5310 - 49 Street in Barrhead.  Look for a sign that says “The Link”.

All level 1 & 2 sessions start at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.

Thanks everyone!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

I have had discussions with some of you regarding the addition of “hit counters” on your sites.  While hit counters provide you with some numbers to look at, they are not an accurate reflection of your Web site traffic.  For an accurate count of your visitors along with a host of other valuable information you can use in the ongoing development and maintenance of your site, you should be using your Web site statistics.

Web site statistics are collected automatically by Web servers; it’s part of their design.  These statistics are stored in “log files” of raw data.  This data is translated into something sensible that we can use for comparisons by a variety of programs, most of which will produce nice graphs and charts of the data.

For the YRL Websites for Libraries project, the statistics program on the server is Webalizer.  All WSFL sites have the statistics program installed and running, so it’s up to you whether you would like to access your statistics and have a look!  What your statistics can tell you:

• how many visitors you had - per hour, per day, per month
• busiest times - useful to schedule your maintenance
• most popular pages - useful for expanding or culling your site
• where your visitors are from - helps assess your marketing
• links that people used to get to your site - helps assess partnering & link exchanges
• search engine strings they used to find your site - helps in editing your own text to be more search engine friendly
• which search engines they are coming from - helps assess your placement in the engines
• Web browsers they are using - helps you in your testing and develoment process

For those maintaining Web sites, this information is essential in your strategic site planning and development.

If you’re ready to start tracking and leveraging the information from your Web site statistics, please contact me and I will provide your with the login information for accessing the stats for your site!

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302

We have the opportunity to add a special workshop to the WSFL project!

Joan Marie Galat, formerly the Writer in Residence at YRL, has a wonderful workshop entitled “Write and Edit Web Content”. Since writing for the Web entails some unique skills, we’ve asked Joan to provide that workshop as part of the WSFL project. I’ve included the workshop information below.

The session will be held on November 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Spruce Grove Library.

If you would like to register for this session, please send me the following information:

Library Name
Participant Name
Position
Email
Phone number

This session will be held only once and is not limited to those specifically participating in the WSFL project, so please register early if you wish to attend

Reflect your professional image with clear and concise web content.

Create web content your audience will want to read!

Write and Edit Web Content is presented in an interactive lecture format. Practical exercises reinforce writing techniques. Participants leave the workshop confident and ready to develop professionally styled text for intranets and the Internet.

Topics include how to:

write effective copy for your target audience
self-edit text
designate logical hyperlinks
understand user navigation
attract attention with headlines
format pages for on-line browsing
organize information for strategic results
create site maps

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Cynthia Beuselinck
Websites for Libraries Project Coordinator
866.993.4302