Table of Contents
Version 2
Introduction
Over Christmas break and beyond, Mibase online had a nearly (still working on it) complete re-write. The main reason for the re-write was to make it compatible for a “member checkout” system, and to make the system simpler for Volunteers to use and operate on mobile devices. It will also aid in the movement of this version to an open source platform, and possibly attract some programmers to help me on this never ending task of keeping my code up to date.
It was also developed to reduce the amount of data going back and forth to the server, and caching more locally. HTML pages are built locally and arrays of data are sent back and forth. What this means is pages will load faster and more securely, and the server can perform more efficiently. This version may not look much different, but the code to build the pages is very different.
I have tried to make mibase work on 5 main pages so users don't have to navigate away from pages. These pages are loans/returns, members, toys, member detail and toy detail. I haven't completed the bulk email function yet, but this page will be merged into the members search page.
I will be decommissioning version 1 in the next couple of months, so please give version 2 a go, if you have custom code developed for your Library, please test and report back to me. Please check,
- loan and email receipts,
- loan conditions (max toys per member category, number puzzles or games etc),
- and most importantly overdue fines. note Bayside TL - have done session calcs yet.
To have a go at version 2, go to Settings and change the new_loan_page = 'Yes', logout and then login. There should be a new light blue button “Try Me” in the main menu.
A BIG thank you to Rebecca Lalor from Maroondah Toy Library, who has spent most of her 2019/2020 Christmas break testing this version and re-writing the wiki, without her input this upgrade wouldn't have happened!
Thank you also to Bridey from the Melbourne Community Toy Library for providing financial support through a grant application.
Changes from version 1
The below changes may not be obvious, but it is important to know about them, before you start using version 2 during a busy session.
Navigation - Menu.
The Main menu has changed to “split buttons” for Home, Toys, Members and Reservations. Click on the down arrow to display the sub menu, click on the LHS (the words on the button) to go to Toys, Members, Home, Reservations.
Below are detailed notes for each page (not quite finished yet)
Members Search Page
Member Detail Page
Toy Detail Page