Release Notes

Release notes are maintained by Heidi Burkhardt, Web Project Manager and Content Strategist. Notes were added every other week during the redesign project (October 2019–November 2020) and are now on as needed basis.

November 1, 2021

Over the last 8 months significant attention and time has gone into managing website content changes to reflect ongoing shifts in library building access, operations, and services. This work was particularly intensive in the second half of the summer leading up to the start of the fall semester, and carries on in a more limited fashion as we continue adapting. 

Design updates

  • Enhancements to the Hours View and better connections between hours displays throughout the site
    • Added anchor links to headings so we can link directly to them (Art, Architecture, and Engineering Library, for example)
    • Updated "view more hours" links across relevant templates (examples: Interlibrary Loan Office, Conservation Lab, Askwith Media Library) to link to the relevant anchor on the Hours View instead of the top of the page
    • Added links to respective pages in the the Hours View table so you can efficiently move between the listing and individual locations
    • Added repeating the next and previous buttons and date range along with each heading
  • Added support for displaying event and exhibit locations in onsite rooms and buildings (previously only "online" was built in)

New and updated content

Behind the scenes

  • Wrote the first Library Website Content Annual Report 
  • Finalized process for managing content that needs to be updated in a regular pattern and it's been in use to successfully to keep pages up to date since the summer

March 22, 2021

Design updates

  • Added uniqnames to site search so the indexing matches the Staff Directory
  • Updated Today and Upcoming Events and Exhibits to support displaying an event for each respective date it is offered when there is more than one occurance
  • Changed the first heading on department pages (example: Library Human Resources) to "Who we are" instead of "Department information" to be parallel with other headings and avoid confusion for pages that are technically "divisions"

New and updated content

Behind the scenes

  • Creating a process for regular, ongoing review of pages on the site for relevance and accuracy
  • Working on reviewing and updating our image and media management strategy to ensure we're using appropriate metadata for effectively using and managing our digital assets
  • Completed tracking pages with content that needs to be updated in a regular pattern (such as application periods for grants) and are creating a strategy for staying on top of updates
  • Completed tracking of links throughout the site to other spaces in our web presence — research guides, forms, library blogs, etc. — to support ongoing maintenance
  • Completed updating our web presence alerts strategy to support publishing site alerts here when needed, as well as other domains
  • Finished writing documentation around how the website is built, the intricacies of content creation, and how library staff can make requests for the website

December 18, 2020

Pilot feature

To improve the connection between the website's site search and Library Search, we are piloting an option to “Find Materials” for your search query from site search results. The option appears as the first item in your search results and selecting it jumps you to Library Search.

The feature will be tested by the UX team in early 2021 to see if it matches user expectations, as well as determine if any adjustments are needed to the label or design.

New and updated content

In addition to the pilot feature, we also have a new Find Materials Using Library Search page that is the first page listed when you open the "Find, Borrow, Request" menu.

In preparation for winter 2021 semester, we:

  • Removed all references to “fall semester” 
  • Made sure every "COVID callout" makes clear the alert is about pandemic-state operations. Our go-to language is "due to COVID-19," "while building access is limited," or "while building access is limited due to COVID-19" depending on the context, as well as "through at least the winter 2021 semester" where appropriate
  • Added COVID callouts to all of the service point pages, mostly found via Information Desks, which we missed previously

November 30, 2020

New and updated content

  • Refreshed ScholarSpace content to focus on consultation services and temporarily de-emphasize the physical space 
  • Made minor updates to Contactless Pickup to set expectations around turnaround time
  • Created and added a map of outdoor drop boxes to Returning Borrowed Items During COVID-19
  • Updated the Library Privacy Statement to reflect much of the information being moved to ViziBLUE
  • Expanded details about services provided by informationists on Information for Clinical Providers
  • Added pages for each of the individual filmmakers and distributors under Screen Arts Mavericks and Makers
  • Added Request Modifications for Accessibility to support our remediation service and made relevant updates to other accessibility pages

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Set a max-width for images in body text so they do not extend beyond the text's line length

Behind the scenes

  • Finalized and shared web content help documentation with library staff, including how to place public website content requests, as well as expanded support about content strategy and platforms

November 9, 2020

What's new

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Added an additional utm-source ID to the Library Search link in site search when there are no results

Major behind the scenes work

  • Continuing work on establishing editorial workflows and mechanisms, writing a bunch of documentation, and tracking website content

October 26, 2020

What's new

  • Completed website redesign project assessment plan report and shared internally with staff

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Adjusted the "Show all" expand/collapse button on the Library News main column so that it appears after 10 items instead of 15, also added an expand/collapse button to the "Library updates" column that will appear once there are 20 items 
  • Added support for more than one set of pronouns on staff profiles. If someone includes multiple pronouns in each field, separated by a forward slash, we will automatically present them as separate sets
  • Allowed line breaks within paragraphs, which we will use judiciously for things like addresses 
  • Reduced the size of the heading 2 on the Today and Upcoming events and exhibits page to match all other heading 2s
  • Added alt text support to the homepage hero image behind the search box, which was previously treated as decorative
  • Added utm-source IDs to the homepage search box, catalog, and articles links to better track traffic from the website into Library Search

Major behind the scenes work

  • Continuing work on establishing editorial workflows and mechanisms, writing a bunch of documentation, and tracking website content

October 12, 2020

What's new

  • "What's happening?" panel added to the homepage with upcoming events
  • Incorporated new callouts to set clear expectations for services related to "library use only" materials, such as on the Book Arts Studio

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Fixed a top padding issue on the Today and Upcoming events and exhibits page that prevented the main dynamic content from displaying properly without an alert callout above it
  • Added a hidden text label to side navigation that states "Has sub-pages" along with the "v" indicating there are child pages. This makes the sub-pages perceivable to screenreader users

Major behind the scenes work

  • Continuing work on establishing editorial workflows and mechanisms, writing a bunch of documentation, and tracking website content
  • Distributed a post-launch internal communications survey to all library staff as part of our assessment plan
  • Worked with staff at the Bentley to update the setup for our yearly web archiving crawl so it continues uninterrupted

September 28, 2020

Our lead developer and project lead both took time off this sprint and there are no major updates to report.

Additional batches of content changes were implemented on September 21 in line with expanded Shapiro hours and study space access, as well new contactless pickup locations on North Campus.

The major behind the scenes work noted in the September 14 update all continue.

September 14, 2020

What's new

An initial release of events and exhibits is now available by starting at the Today and Upcoming page.

This includes:

  • A landing page showing today's events and upcoming events, with a sidebar for exhibits
  • Individual event and exhibit pages, with support for online events (either including the direct link to join or withholding it until registration), and an optional registration link

In October, if there are enough offerings to warrant it, we will add a homepage panel for "What's happening" featuring 3 upcoming events and exhibits. We also need to finish adding support for displaying physical locations as the "where" but may delay until it's relevant.

Major behind the scenes work

  • Updating the initial draft of our website content strategy, starting to plan editorial workflows and mechanisms, and generally writing a bunch of documentation
  • Putting together a report on our assessment plan and wrapping up post-launch work on some of the metrics
  • Continuing efforts to review and articulate our use of Google Analytics, as well as overall monitoring of site usage and establishing our approach for evaluating the site's user experience going forward
  • Continuing work on our new setup for website content tracking

August 31, 2020

What's new

A number of updates were made to support changes in service offerings for fall semester:

  • Swapped out the "Plan your visit" block on the homepage that listed hours for top locations for an "Onsite services" block with essential information, which links to a new Onsite Services During COVID-19 page under Locations and Hours
  • Added and applied a new set of Visit bullets on location pages (e.g. Shapiro Library), and added parallel descriptions on the Hours View
  • Added a page for Request Contactless Pickup, made adjustments to the Request Items for Pick Up or Delivery landing page and respective page summaries to make it a clearer entry point for the current state of these services
  • Updated content throughout Access During COVID-19 as needed, including splitting Access to Physical Materials into its own page to provide a more direct link to the information there
  • Added relevant callouts to every study spaces page (we are relying on LibCal for most of the messaging for maintenance sustainability)
  • Added new callouts throughout Computing and Technology, and new content and callouts on all Shapiro Design Lab pages

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Set site search to ignore quotations marks instead of giving no results
  • Fixed a bug that was causing the text in the hero image with text template (e.g. "Explore 3D visualizations of anatomy on Information for Clinical Providers) to display off center on full screen 

Major behind the scenes work

  • Final preparations for building events and exhibits
  • Establishing new setup for website content tracking going forward, including keep tabs on what external content (e.g. Research Guides, Google Forms, TTC workshops) we're linking to

August 17, 2020

A number of team members took some time off during the latest sprint, so we are light on updates this time.

What's new

  • Small screen views built for Staff Directory and Find a Specialist. These now switch to a vertical stack instead of needing to scroll horizontally through the rows

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Made the "Getting here" field on Visit pages (e.g. CVGA) optional to avoid repetition where the text isn't necessary for supporting wayfinding

Behind the scenes work

  • Refining designs, specifications, and technical infrastructure for building events and exhibits
  • Planning for additional site content and adjustments in preparation for fall semester
  • Continued supporting library leadership in creating content for division and department pages, with many now added to the site

August 3, 2020

What's new

We launched the site!

The new lib.umich.edu went live on Tuesday, July 21. 

Design updates and bug fixes

  • In response to concerns about the lack of a prominent, direct link to Catalog Search when you arrive at the site, we slightly adjusted the label text for the What can we help you find? search box label on the homepage and added links to both Catalog and Articles in Library Search 
  • Added Find Resource with Research Guides to serve as an entry point into the guides platform—in addition to the links to specific guides in context throughout the site—based on an expressed need from library colleagues
  • Implemented a number of minor context fixes (links, copy) in response to comments and questions

Major behind the scenes work

  • Infrastructure updates and troubleshooting to support launch and the transition to apps.lib for various sites and applications that formerly lived under the lib.umich.edu directory
  • Continued supporting library leadership in creating content for division and department pages
  • Began prioritizing and planning for post-launch work, including building events and exhibits designs

July 20, 2020

What's new

Implemented significant updates to site search to address accessibility issues and improve overall usability:

  • Keyboard access to results now uses standard keyboard navigation (tab instead of arrows)
  • Input element label updated so that it describes how to access results for assistive technology users
  • Keywords in the summary are now highlighted in bold in addition to keywords in the title, which are bold and highlighted
  • Added a visually hidden aria alert for assistive technology users that says the number of results, eg "42 results". This changes and updates as your query then results change

The final sections that were in progress are now live on the site:

In further support of communicating around access to services, resources, and spaces during the pandemic we:

  • Added more callouts throughout the site to work in tandem with the COVID-19 site section
  • Added a new Visit bullet to all individual location pages (except the Biological Station Library) stating: Library buildings and spaces are closed
  • Unpublished Visit bullets that contradict building being closed

Design updates and bug fixes

The Web Content Coordinator Group completed a content review and as part of this we:

  • Checked links on every page and fixed as necessary
  • Reviewed basic style choices (sentence case headings, for examples) using a checklist and updated where needed
  • Found a bug in the collecting area template with how contact phone numbers and emails were linked, which we quickly fixed

Major behind the scenes work

  • Finalized all redirect mapping and plans for launch, prepared a launch checklist for testing on the day, and prepared for enabling search engine indexing on the new site
  • Offered tours of the new site for library staff and worked with the Communications and Marketing department to prepare external communications for launch
  • Finalized all forms with stakeholders, added links to the site, and set redirects from legacy to new
  • Sent instructions and guidelines to AULs, deans, and department heads for reviewing their department contact information and writing descriptions

July 6, 2020

What's new

As of Monday, June 29, the site is in public preview. Visitors at the current lib.umich.edu are invited to check out the preview site in preparation for the change. As part of this we:

  • Moved the release notes link to the footer
  • Launched a new contact form for reaching out to the website team

Efforts to wrap up content worked included:

Design updates and bug fixes

We added support for:

We also went back through previously built content to add in links where the respective pages were not ready at the time.

Major behind the scenes work

  • Continuing preparations for launch and setup for redirects
  • Preparing instructions and guidelines for department heads and AULs to write department and division descriptions
  • Migrated all existing webforms to Qualtrics
  • Began gathering content lists for the Information for... pages
  • Developed a plan with the Continuity of Services Team for ensuring clarity around building closures, as well as drafting the 'Access During COVID-19' section

June 22, 2020

What's new

whole lot of content. 

  • Find, Borrow, Request is now filled in
  • Most of the outstanding pages in Research and Scholarship are done and we're getting the last of it done this sprint
  • Collections is complete save one page
  • Access during COVID-19 placeholder section is in place
  • We now have pages for all of our various service points, which are linked as relevant from pages and presented as 'Inside' their respective locations

Our focuses are now getting to the last of the About Us content, gathering content for and building the Information for... pages, and preparing instructions and guidelines for department heads and AULs to write department and division descriptions.

Design updates and bug fixes

Major behind the scenes work

  • Ongoing planning for internal and external communication leading up to public preview and launch
  • Held a check-in meeting with Architecture and Engineering colleagues to prepare for launch and ensure our redirect strategy is set with back-up plans 
  • Began work to rebuild webforms in Qualtrics and will complete asap
  • Began work to add Best Bests Research Guides, but hit a roadblock due to limitations with the vendor's API. Exploring next steps
  • Planned for the ability to make select documentation public on the intranet in order to link to it from the website. We be ready in time for launch

June 8, 2020

What's new

  • 'We're here to help' panel added to the homepage with call to action link to Ask a Librarian

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Changed M|Library in header to only link to the library website homepage instead of being split with umich.edu based on usability testing findings
  • Reviewed our font-size and style for heading 2 and made consistent throughout the site
  • Fixed issues with the logic for hours and address display
    • Locations that share the same hours as the building they are in now inherit them for display (e.g. Clark Library)
    • Locations using the manual locations content type now display hours
    • Addresses for locations in Hatcher Library now display specifically Hatcher Library North or Hatcher Library South
    • For rooms inside buildings, the address now display the floor and room number (example: Papyrology Collection)
    • Street address lines 1 and 2 now display where needed (e.g. in progress MLibrary@NCRC)

Major behind the scenes work

  • Finalized plans for migrating all forms and notified stakeholders of next steps
  • Developed intake mechanism for submitting related content links for the Collecting Area pages and shared with Selectors
  • Implemented technical infrastructure refresh for Library Expertise and have documentation in progress so staff can begin using it
  • Continued planning communications for launch, both internal and external, preparing for the public preview on June 29
  • Completed reviewing all legacy content to map for redirects and identify outstanding content needs. Developed plans for contacting all stakeholders
  • Almost done writing, writing, writing and continuing to get in touch with stakeholders as needed

May 25, 2020

What's new

Development in this sprint was focused on getting all options in place for strategic messaging. This will include drawing attention to existing services with increased relevance or importance, as well as service changes related to COVD-19.

  • Primary website alert is now connected to content authoring setup and reflects our new style
  • New text panel style now available. This allows us to position important information within more structured templates 
  • In text "info alert" callout style changed to match panels (see: Support for Campus Book Clubs)
  • The existing callout style was switched from maize to teal in the last sprint to reserve the former for more critical content

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Based on usability testing findings, added Today: in front of displayed hours where it was not already present

Major behind the scenes work

  • Investigating ways to improve site performance, particularly looking to at occasional slow initial site load
  • Beginning to plan communications related to launch, both internal and external
  • Writing, writing, writing and getting in touch with stakeholders as needed
  • Reviewing all legacy content to map for redirects and identify outstanding content needs

May 11, 2020

What's new

  • All design templates and elements needed for News have been built. This includes a panel with a featured item and recent news on the homepage, a News landing page, and individual News items
    • We selected a handful of news items to migrate over in order to support development and will do another review of what's in the site and featured in preparation for launch
    • The build includes adding a pull quote style option
  • Completed updates to floor plans, including text descriptions, images, and the addition of accessible PDFs
  • Added a new callout style for Info Alerts. These will be used for strategic messaging relative to services and locations, particularly in light of shifts to operations due to the pandemic. See Request Instruction for an example
    • As part of this design, we decided to reserve the color maize for alert content and changed the color on existing callouts to teal
  • Began building out the presence for individual locations with related content, including Related links, Collection pages, and Inside... and Study spaces lists. More work to come on these!
  • Created a clear placeholder image for use in places where we do not have a photo to represent a physical space (example)
    • These will eventually be captured and swapped out when we're able 
  • Implemented updates to Find a Specialist including connecting group emails to relevant terms (e.g. Medical School, Web Archives) and updating labels for Health Sciences categories
  • Built in support for embedding YouTube videos and images in body text. We anticipate this will be used most frequently for News items

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Decided not to use images on landing pages where it's too conceptual for a photo (e.g. Policies) and will keep the space empty. We will also keep some empty that will benefit from staging a meaningful photo when we're able (e.g. Data Services). Placeholders have been removed from any that were using one
  • Turned off scroll to top behavior in the Staff Directory and Find a Specialist that resulted in the page "jumping" when you used the search box
  • Changed the 'View all hours' link label used in various places on the site to 'View hours for all locations' to better reflect where the link takes you (Locations Hours View)
  • Added null hours handling to the Hours Lite panel used on the homepage so the page continues to load even if there are no relevant hours available

Major behind the scenes work

  • Completed findings for a major usability testing effort by the UX team and tasked out the work required to implement recommendations
  • Trained hours admins in how to manage hours for the new site. These admins are now working to get the infrastructure (date ranges and hours by day) setup for normal operations. As we approach launch and have a clearer picture of building status, we will add exceptions as needed
  • Gathering requirements and writing specifications for Group Panels, which will allow us to have some more flexible layouts when needed
  • Planning and timeline work to finalize priorities prior to launch and what work will carryover

April 27, 2020

Nothing significant of note was added to the preview site over the last two weeks. Development efforts were focused on everything needed to support content for News and it's not quite ready to release yet. Content efforts were centered totally on drafting.  

Major behind the scenes work

  • General strategizing, project management, and outreach planning as we continually adapt to shifting priorities due to the pandemic and remote work, teaching, and learning
  • Completed updates to floor plans images and descriptions based on the accuracy review and passed everything off for creating accessible PDFs. All changes will be made in one batch once the PDFs are ready to upload and appear in the site after that
  • Analysis of usability testing and quality assurance project findings and making changes as trends emerge
  • Wrapped up findings for UX research project around homepage hero images that gave us valuable insights to support image selection overall

April 13, 2020

What's new

  • Find a Specialist is alive. This interface is a work in progress and replaces the existing Subject Specialist page. It also aims to better encompass all types of specialty and address historically unmet needs for finding people
    • We highly recommend reviewing the information in our in progress doc and detailed documentation for Find a Specialist linked from there to learn more about how this is built and the work we have left to do 
  • The Department page template is built and our organizational structure is on display through Our Divisions and Departments 
    • The individual pages currently only display structured data and placeholder text. Outreach to get descriptions drafted and ensure accurate email addresses, etc. is expected to start in May
    • See Arts and Humanities for a page using most of the available fields
  • The Collecting Areas section is largely built out
    • Outreach to collect and add related content including Research Guides, Digital Collections, Online Exhibits, and other things that may be relevant depending on the discipline will occur in May
    • A few outstanding Collecting Area pages are currently being drafted or planned and will be added to the site as they're finalized

Design updates and bug fixes

  • The Amenities listings on Visit pages for locations have been refined and are now linked to other areas of the site as relevant
  • Links to department and division pages from the Staff Directory and individual profiles will now take you to the respective page instead of the 404 page

Major behind the scenes work

As we get closer to launch, we're including additional items here beyond development work to illustrate other "invisible" things we're focused on to have the new site ready.

  • Began outreach encouraging everyone to update their staff profiles
  • Completed a full review of all floor plans for accuracy in collaboration with staff from Library Operations (thank you!!)
  • Completed training Web Content Coordinators in content entry and planned hours training
  • Met with colleagues from the Bentley and made plans for ensuring the new site, and out of scope content remaining on the legacy site, are captured in our yearly web archiving crawl
  • Finalized our plans for how we'll create forms for the new site that are currently using the Drupal Webforms module
  • A number of user experience and usability projects are in progress. We’ll have findings soon and work to task out any resulting work 

March 30, 2020

What's new

  • Split the old Building (or Library) Access pages into Transit and Parking and Navigating the Library (or Building) on relevant location pages 
    • Added heading for Floor plans to the Navigating... pages and included links to the respective floor plan pages (e.g. Music Library Floors)
    • Added references in callouts on floor plan pages to the respective location page
    • Re-wrote the "Getting here" text on all Visit pages to better scaffold into the new pages for each location

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Made updates to the content featured in the footer, including adding a link to library blogs, and added labels to the social icons
  • Fixed bug preventing deeper levels of pages from displaying in the site map
  • Investigated a bug with the horizontal navigation not displaying correctly when new pages were add that resolved itself after some updates

Major behind the scenes work

  • Most developer time this sprint was spent on the Find a Specialist interface, which will replace the current Subject Specialist page, as well as use technical infrastructure that broadens the specialities we can represent. We're excited to share it soon!

March 16, 2020

What's new

  • The template for collecting areas is built. We will be adding all of the relevant pages through early April and then incorporating them into respective location pages
    • Undergraduate Collections demonstrates the page template, as well as text panels that allow us to include additional structured content that is particularly useful for highlighting sub-collections in this context 
    • Children's Literature demonstrates the page template, as well as a bulleted list panel (note some used here are placeholders), which will be used heavily to connect related content in platforms such as research guides and digital collections
  • Study Spaces section is built out. This section is a great representation of how links to floor plans are connected throughout the site

March 2, 2020

What's new

  • Our big release this sprint is floor plans!
    • We know there are some inaccuracies due to recent office moves and will be doing a review in April to identify updates needed for accuracy and language consistency
  • View floor plans links are now functioning on all destination templates and take you to the relevant page
    • On pages like Lactation Rooms that use cards and may have more than one floor plan link, the link label is dynamic to include the building name and floor number
    • For full pages (e.g. Design Lab Workshop) the link label says 'View floor plan'
  • The site now builds every weekday morning at 8am (it was previously only manual triggers) in support of folks starting to update their profile content

Design updates and bug fixes

  • The hero image on the homepage that features the Library Search box has a number of updates
    • Moved the label out of the input field
    • Can now use an optional background to ensure contrast (this gives us the most flexibility in choosing images)
    • Flipped the caption to a light background with dark text to match the above
  • Adjusted our site breakpoint and utility navigation padding to accommodate one more item (Give)
  • The Staff Directory now sorts on display name (first name) instead of uniqname (keyword searches sort on relevance) 
  • URL state is in place in the Staff Directory, so you can now link to a filtered view (e.g. a department like Design & Discovery), search results (e.g. content), or a combo!
  • The heading on profiles for 'Languages spoken' is now the more general 'Languages'
  • We also had a number of folks test the profile template and fixed a few bugs in turn 

February 17, 2020

What's new

  • Profiles are built. See Heidi Burkhardt for an example that uses all of the available fields
    • People are findable by name and title in site search, as well
    • Department and Division page links will go to 404 pages until those are built (anticipated in March)
    • Profile content will be managed on the intranet and takes better advantage of central data
    • There are also a number of new fields including a make an appointment link (for LibCal), languages spoken, pronouns, and social media links
    • Outreach is being planned to support everyone in updating their profiles. More information coming very soon
  • The Staff Directory is now available! 
    • Profile links will go to a 404 page until each profile is made public (see above)
    • Department page links do not currently do anything, but will go to the respective pages once built
    • We anticipate adding a Location filter once more data is available
    • This is built primarily for full screens with the ability to scroll side-to-side in your results for small screen interaction. We hope to have time to build the small screen view, as well

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Site search
    • Drop-down on full screen is slightly wider
    • No results found message updated to match homepage search box language and link to Library Search
    • Minor changes to support result relevancy, such as removing keywords from summaries when already in the title
  • Changed the link at the bottom of the "Plan your visit" section on the homepage from "View all hours and locations" to "View all hours, locations, and access details" to better signal that many of our primary building locations have caveats to the hours listed. Also switched the link to the Hours View
  • Updated the field being queried to fix an issue with email not displaying on some destination pages
  • Removed the room number from destination pages when the value was "null"
  • Fixed bug where primary navigation list of links could break when wrapping columns

Major behind the scenes work

  • A lot went into preparing to build floor plans, including writing descriptions to serve as text equivalents, testing and finalizing our workflow for creating accessible PDF alternatives, and completing the technical infrastructure and content setup
  • Taxonomy and term synonym development to support the future Find a Specialist interface that will function in parallel with the Staff Directory 

February 3, 2020

Much of our work over the last two weeks was behind the scenes, whether design, requirements gathering, or builds in progress. We expect some exciting releases over the course of the month!

What's new

Design updates and bug fixes

  • In the primary site navigation, when there aren't any child pages in a secondary section, it now functions as a link to the secondary page instead of button that opens a pane displaying the child pages. You can see examples in the Collections section

January 20, 2020

What's new

  • Site search functionality is now available from the site header! It searches the page title and summary, as well as curated SEO keywords. We will optimize search results throughout the rest of the project (and ongoing after launch) to strategically drive users to applicable page content
  • Added a related links template to support displaying links with more visual prominence. The primary use case is on Visit pages for locations. See the Papyrology Collection for an example
  • Added a focus state that notifies the user that they landed on a new page, which is important for folks using assistive technology. With universal design in mind, you'll see a subtle indicator alongside page titles when a new page loads

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Updated our handling of panel placement and specifying whether it should be part of the body or full width below it. This allowed us to implement the related links template noted above
  • Updated our display for hours to be consistent throughout the site (updates are still in progress for any in the body content)

Major behind the scenes work

  • Over the last two sprints, we also completed a project to clean-up our use of the title field to better support site search. These changes simplify our approach to titles for both developers and content creators. The change was seamless for someone visiting the site, but was important work for long term sustainability 

January 6, 2020 (!)

The team did not conduct a sprint review before the holiday break and most of us took the full two weeks off. This release reflects work completed from 12/9-12/20.  

What's new

Design updates and bug fixes

  • An issue causing n/a to display for location hours on the last day in a range is fixed

December 9, 2019

What's new

  • Google Tag Manager scripts have been added to the site to start testing out our analytics setup, otherwise nothing big this time 👋. 

Temp fixes

  • Pages are built within Cafés and Wellbeing using standard cards. These will eventually use new "destination" cards with additional details, but it is currently blocked by a bug. Note they will currently take you to the 404 page because these in particular will eventually go to external and floor plan page links, respectively

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Added ability for basics pages to use "destination" template in order to use layout with an image (e.g. Anatomage Table)
  • Added the floor to addresses where relevant (e.g. Asia Library)
  • Updated full width "destination" template to better accomodate the image (e.g. Glenn Watkins Seminar Room)
  • Removed "Amenities" heading from Visit pages when there are no items to list
  • Applied patch to improve image processing speeds

November 22, 2019

What's new

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Added icons to the Utility navigation items
  • Added descriptions back to primary navigation
  • Fixed issue where hours were displaying for a "destination" even if `display hours` was not selected
  • Changed the site map to a three column layout and added child pages for the utility navigation

November 11, 2019

What's new

  • Release two new page templates that will be used for "destinations" (i.e. rooms, spaces, and services points). See ScholarSpace and the Glenn Watkins Seminar Room for examples with placeholder content
    • Still to be done: (1) linking up to floor plan pages and (2) options to add visual weight to the image on the full width version so it doesn’t look like it’s floating
  • Added a site map in the footer and accessible from the skip links. The site map automatically updates with any additions or changes to the site structure

Temp fixes

  • All pages where the content is not ready yet have placeholder copy

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Adjusted card panels to align with body text on basic pages (e.g. Citation Management
  • Added ARIA labels to primary navigation for assistive technology users
  • Changed copy on Location and Hours > Hours View for the building from 'General' to 'Main hours'
  • Fixed irregular summary field line breaks in panels on full screen

October 28, 2019

What's new

  • We have a footer!
  • Made some changes to Visit pages (e.g. Shapiro Library) to better scaffold content (e.g. parking) and provide clearer prompts to what is on the Building Access pages

Temp fixes

  • Built out the Research and Scholarship section with landing pages, which includes some placeholder images and lorem ipsum copy

October 14, 2019

What's new

  • Top three elements (search box with hero image, plan your visit, and popular databases) built on the homepage
    • Note the search box displayed here will likely see iteration
  • Nested side nav implemented (example) and local navigation is implemented on small screens for side and horizontal nav
  • Placeholder pages added to Collections > Collecting Areas and About Us to more accurately represent anticipate structure

Temp fixes

  • 'Search this site' box in header goes to a static page on the site while we research how best to implement this feature
  • Section descriptions not displaying in primary navigation while we work out a bug

Design updates and bug fixes

  • Minor fixes to a few different design elements