New Library Web Page Launched

Yesterday was the official launch of our new web page. We appreciate all the comments and suggestions received from library staff and patrons during the beta testing and you will see that we incorporated many of them in our final release.

The application we used was Mambo, an open source content management system, which will allow Tech staff to make changes or emergency announcements via the web either at work or at home. We also like the Template Chooser feature on the lower right hand side of the screen, which will allow our users to change the appearance of the web page by selecting their favorite skin. Right now we have only four skins available, but I'm sure some of our creative staff are working on new ideas for release throughout the year.

Our default template is "BlueAndOrange" (voted most popular choice by our patrons and staff) to reflect the Twinsburg High School colors (Blue and White) and the reddish brick color of our building. We modified the original orange color to match the brick of the image at the top of the page. We hope you like it.

We decided to stay away from drop down menus or menus that would slide over to one side or another in favor of having major categories easily visible. We realize this will please some people and displease others, but we have to go with our gut instincts and experiences with the general public.

One feature I really like is being able to search the Catalog, Web Site, or link to the Internet with our easy keyword search bar located right under the image of the library. The default choice is Catalog, so you will need to click on the radio button in front of either one of the other choices (Web Site or Internet) if you want to look elsewhere.

One other thing to keep in mind: if you go to a site that is not maintained by the library (for example, the Library Catalog is hosted by Cleveland Public Library) you will need to use the browser arrow at the top of the screen to get back to our page. You can return to our main page by clicking on the word Home or anywhere on the image of the library, book, or icon at the top of the page for almost everything else. Remember, if you don't see the graphics with our name and address at the top of the page, then use your browser arrow to go back.