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Revised: May 16, 2003

Adding the Patron Question Form to Your Web Site

Contents

Introduction
Form Editing
Procedure
Additional Resources

Introduction

After you download a patron question form template, you need to modify the form and add it to your library's Web site. The forms with minimal formatting offer the most flexibility for creating a form consistent with the look of your web site. However, you can also modify the form with QuestionPoint formatting and change its colors, fonts and graphics so that they match those on your web site.

This document provides a step-by-step procedure for completing these tasks. We will do our best to provide support on this procedure (and other procedures that it refers to) as written. The procedure assumes a certain level of familiarity with the appropriate web technologies, and our support staff is not equipped to provide instruction in HTML, JavaScript, or web design.

If you are not familiar with HTML or JavaScript, we recommend collaborating with your library's Webmaster to complete these tasks. Refer to Additional Resources at the end of this document for some web sites with basic HTML and JavaScript tutorials.

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Form Editing

  • When the procedure includes a step that requires you to edit the form, open the form using an editor of your choice. You can use as a Windows text editor (such as TextPad or NotePad), an HTML editor, or a UNIX editor. Use a word processor only if it allows you to see the HTML code and it allows you to save files in plain text format. Save the form with an .htm or .html extension, whichever is the convention for your Web site.

  • The items to modify in the form appear in a box like this:
<!-- Begin library hidden input field -->
<!-- Replace the value attribute "1" with your library's QuestionPoint institution ID, supplied by OCLC, in the library hidden input field -->
<input type=hidden name="library" value="1" >
<!-- End library hidden input field -->

with the code to modify highlighted, such as this: value="1".

  • Unless a procedure step directs to you modify the JavaScript, do not modify or remove anything between these tags:

    <script language="JavaScript">
        and
    </script>
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Procedure

This procedure takes an incremental approach, where you frequently test modifications to the form and ensure that they work correctly before moving on to subsequent modifications. This approach helps you troubleshoot the source of a problem if you encounter one.

Note: Step 1 of the procedure is to make a backup copy of the form you downloaded. You can use this copy to start over or to compare your customized form with the original.

 

Step Action
1 Make a backup copy of the form you downloaded. Give the backup copy a new name so you don't overwrite it by mistake.
2 Open the form file in a text editor.
3

Are you planning on modifying the form text so that it is in a language other than English?

  • Yes. Go to step 4.
  • No. Go to step 5.
4

To allow your patrons to see QuestionPoint messages in your language, follow these steps:

  • Find the section of the form that looks like this:

<!-- Begin language hidden input field -->
<!-- If this form will be in a language other than English, replace the value attribute "1" with the appropriate value for your language, as described in
http://questionpoint.org/web/members/
addingchatform.html. -->
<input type=hidden name="language" value="1">
<!-- End language hidden input field -->

  • Use this table to find the value that corresponds to your language:

    Language Value
    French (Français)
    2
    Spanish (Español)
    3
    Chinese-Traditional (中文(繁體))
    4
    Chinese-Simplified (中文(简体))
    5
    Dutch (Nederlands)
    7
    Slovene (Slovensko)
    8
    German (Deutsch)
    10
    Korean (한국어)
    12

  • Change value="1" so that it contains your library's language value, like this:
<input type=hidden name="language" value="3">
5

Add your library's institution ID to the form's hidden "library" field:

  • Find the section of the form that looks like this:
<!-- Begin library hidden input field -->
<!-- Replace the value attribute "1" with your library's QuestionPoint institution ID, supplied by OCLC, in the library hidden input field -->
<input type=hidden name="library" value="1" >
<!-- End library hidden input field -->
  • Change value="1" so that it contains your library's institution ID, like this:
<input type=hidden name="library" value="10097" >
How can I find my library's institution ID?
  • Log into QuestionPoint.
  • If you do not see the Home screen, click the Home link in the black bar at the top of the screen.
  • Your institution ID appears under your institution's name.
6 Save and close the form file.
7 Add the form to your library Web site test or staging area. This is wherever you test additions to your site before moving them into your live Web site, the one accessible to patrons and other users.
8 Use the form to submit a question to your library. Then check your library's new question list for the question.
9 Back up your customized form with a new name. This preserves the changes you've made so far and allows you to start over from this point if necessary.
10

Open the form in an editor and make any modifications you wish to the form's page title, image, or introductory text. You are also free to add more images and text elsewhere on the page. The code shown below is from the basic question form template (Example #1). The other form templates may be slightly different but the changes you make will be similar.

Page Title

<html>
<head>
<!-- QuestionPoint Question Form - Example #1 -->
<title>Question Form Example #1 [QuestionPoint] - Change to your page title</title>

Image

<table width="95%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" align="center">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<!--Placeholder for a graphic of your choice. -->
<img src="images/image_placeholder.gif" width="200" height="110" alt="Alt tag for your graphic" border="1">

Introductory Text

<!--Introductory text about QuestionPoint. Modify or delete as desired.-->
<p>Your introductory text </p>
<a href="http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/html/home/
patron_authorize.htm">
Check Your Questions and Answers</a>
<!--Begin question form -->

In the introductory text, you may want to consider notifying patrons that their question might be sent to a regional network or the global network, or might be archived in a knowledge base. Click here for an example. This example uses the Yes/No selection as an optional field, which you would do in step 10. (The template Example #2 also has a field with this question in the form itself.)
11 Repeat steps 7 and 8 to test your modifications.
12 Back up your customized form with a new name. This preserves the changes you've made so far and allows you to start over from this point if necessary.
13

Do you want to add any custom (user-defined) fields to the form?

  • Yes. Go to step 14.
  • No. Go to step 21. You can add them later at any time.
14 Determine the custom fields you want to add. You can add up to 10 custom fields. Consider your institution's data needs, how you want to capture the data from the patron (text box, textarea, radio buttons, drop-down list, or checkboxes) and the form's overall layout.
15 Add the fields to the form.
16 Repeat steps 7 and 8 to test your modifications. Make sure that the new fields appear with the question when you view the question in QuestionPoint.
17 Back up your customized form with a new name. This preserves the changes you've made so far and allows you to start over from this point if necessary.
18

Do you want to require patrons to complete any of your custom fields?
19 Repeat steps 7 and 8 to test your modifications.
20 Back up your customized form with a new name. This preserves the changes you've made so far and allows you to start over from this point if necessary.
21 Apply your library Web site's formatting (style sheet, top and bottom navigation links, colors, fonts, and so on) to the form. You may also wish to resize the relative sizes of the table columns for the field labels and the fields themselves.
22 Add links to the form from other pages on your Web site in your test or staging area.
23 When you are satisfied with the form's appearance and functioning, add the form to your library's live Web site.
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Additional Resources

See these Web sites for more information about HTML and JavaScript. All links open in another browser window.

  • HTML Goodies. Includes primers and tutorials for HTML and JavaScript.
  • JavaScript Source. Includes library of downloadable JavaScripts and a JavaScript tutorial. The tutorial is more advanced than one on HTML Goodies, though.
  • Webmonkey. Lots of information about HTML (click Authoring on the home page), a JavaScript code library, and JavaScript (click Programming on the home page).
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