Robert Heller

There are no limits in the code for Web Librarian. The description field type is set to ‘text’, which I *presumed* is unlimited, but I guess it isn’t.

The long version of your description is 658 characters long and the short version is 483, so I am *guessing* the limit is 512 characters.

I wonder if I should change the description field type to longtext. OTOH, I wonder if it really makes sense to have such a long description field. It *is* possible to simply have a regular WP page or post with as long and detailed a description as you like. It is also possible to use the weblib_itemdetail short code in a page or post that contains the long and detailed description to provide a hook to the collection database for the item, such as its barcode, status (checked out, due date, etc.), call number, hold request button, etc.

The ‘invalid type’ message has nothing to do with the date it has to do with the type field. You need to define one or more ‘types’ using the the collection type page. The collection types are used for statistics and to define the loan period (eg 3 weeks for books, 1 week for DVDs).

Just to be clear: in order to check something out, you need to open the patron’s circulation record. Web Librarian is not quite as ‘sophisticated’ as Open ILL (Evergreen), which has a screen where a patron’s barcode can be scanned (yes, Evergreen not only has barcodes for items, it also has them for people — the barcodes for people are on the back of their library cards). Once the patron’s record is opened, the circulation desk person can then scan the books, DVDs, etc. the patron wants to checkout. Web Librarian works something this.

Argg! MS-Windows is *obviously* not a POSIX operating system. I’m guessing mess-windows does not bind stderr to anything — ALL POSIX/UNIX/Linux systems bind stderr to something, typically on a LAMP server this would be Apache’s errro_log. I’m guess IIS does not have an error log or else php under IIS does not bind stderr to anything. Dumb. How do they expect people to debug code? Or log errors?

OK, if you use the example short code page from the manual:

[weblib_searchform]
[weblib_itemlist holdbutton=1 inlinemoreinfo=1]

You will get a search form with the search results. The *default* search results are all books in barcode (‘system’) order.

If you want a search form without default search results, you need to create a ‘public’ page with just:

[weblib_searchform actionurl='resultsurl']

and another page (at ‘resultsurl’) containing:

[weblib_searchform]
[weblib_itemlist holdbutton=1 inlinemoreinfo=1]

Don’t provide a regular navigation link to the second page (eg use a custom menu and leave this page out of the menu tree), if you don’t want people to land there and get the ‘default’ search results.

Note: if your pages are using the default permalinks (eg ‘?p=id’), you should set method to ‘post’:

[weblib_searchform actionurl='/?p=id' method='post']

As for checkout, this is done on the back end by a user with at least ‘manage_circulation’ priviledge using the Circulation Desk admin page.

OK, this is a small bug. Fixed in 3.2.9.3. You should update the plugin.

I think you have some confusion going on here. There are two *separate* concepts here. ‘library’ is something of an ambibious word. *Normally* (and I believe originally) there where two kinds of libraries: *lending* libraries and non-lending libraries. Both dealth with physical assets (books, scrolls, etc.). These days most libraries are lending libraries, which might also have some items that are not lendable, items that can only be used in the library, usually rare books or things like reference materials (like encylopedias).

More modernly, people have started using the word library in a *different* sense relating to digital assets, as is a ‘library of downloadable software or documents’. This is really something different, since the assets in question can be infinitately replicated (copied), and thus the idea of lending makes no sense.

The Web Librarian is really only meant for physical assets that can be loaned out. The download manager is not really meant as a searchable database. It sounds like what is needed is a completely different sort of plugin, something that is something of a hybrid of the two. I don’t believe such a plugin exists.