I. New Features/Improvements
A. WYSIWYG editor introduction continues.
1. Scripted Messages
There are three levels of scripted messages available for use in both email answers and in Chat sessions: Librarian Personal level, Institution level, and Shared (BME) level. The previously introduced WYSIWYG editor now replaces the plain text entry box at all three levels. You can now add formatted text, using colors and line breaks, as well as the other elements in the WYSIWYG editor, with the notable exception of the “Linking” menu item and “Linking” button.
URLS can still be used inside of scripted messages and if you enter a complete URL (Including the “http://” portion) the URL will automatically be converted to an underlined, clickable link. When entering a URL, be sure to include a space after the URL before you type any other words or characters, so that the auto link feature doesn’t include those words as part of the URL.
Important considerations while drafting or editing your current scripted message to add formatted content:
- Be mindful of use of colors and large size text headers, particularly when creating messages to be used primarily in Chat. Colors and large type may conflict with the patron’s interface or Preferences settings, thereby rendering the text unreadable. An example would be using red text in a chat session. If the patron is using an interface that has a red Qwidget, they won’t see red text, as the red Qwidget renders the librarian chat against a red background.
- Avoid using complex URL tags with anchors (<a></a> tags). The auto link feature already wraps recognized URLs with anchors, so adding manual anchors will cause havoc in the patron interface, and break the URL so that it is no longer clickable or viewable in the Viewport (if the patron is using Chat with Viewport.) Manual anchors will also cause sent URLs to break the Qwidget, forcing the page to appear in place of the Qwidget chat.
- We strongly recommend you review your existing scripted messages at all three levels to check for manual anchor tags. You can remove them, leaving only the original URL which will automatically link when you save the edited script.
2. Announcements
The WYSIWYG editor has now been added to both Institution level and BME level Announcements. The full suite of WYSIWYG tools, (including linking) has been added at both levels, allowing for easier emphasis and personalization of the Announcement areas on the My QuestionPoint Home page.
II. Fixes
A. Line breaks in original KB entries without patron email address repaired.
It was discovered that Ask sessions that did not contain a patron email address (such as anonymous or walkup sessions) contained line break issues when moved to KB. This has been repaired. The KB entries now correctly recognized line breaks used in the WYSIWYG editor and do not display the <br/> tags in the KB record.
B. Foreign language sets and diacritics in plain text components repaired
Plain text elements of emails (such as the Question History part of emails sent to patrons and to referral librarians) and KB records had display problems as a result of last month’s line break bug fixes. This has been repaired, and all supported foreign language sets and diacritics are now correctly rendered in the plain text portion of emails and KB.
C. Lengthy URLs caused display issues in the Ask module
When patron questions or librarian answers contained extremely long URLS, the Question lists and/or Full Question detail displays were negatively affected, causing horizontal scroll bars and reduced visibility of additional important question data. This has been fixed, and long URLs now wrap within the confines of the table cell structure, keeping all of the columns visible in a regularly sized webpage.
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