 Bulletin Boards
Bulletins Builder allows you to create virtual boards where you may post and share public bulletins.
You may create notices for your library, student-based clubs, upcoming school events, classroom information centers, and more. These bulletins can contain text, images, links, and embedded content like videos and Google forms. Use our editor or write your own HTML! CSS styles are also supported. - You can set the Style (colors);
- It’s mobile-friendly;
- and embedded Google Forms and Calendars work great!
A bulletin may be configured to appear visible only during a specified date range; bulletins that are not currently visible to the public appear as red in the Boards list. If you include an optional Bulletin URL, it will open in a new browser window when bulletin content is clicked. A bulletin is required to have Bulletin Image and/or Text. Bulletins and/or boards are listed with bold, red text in the Bulletin Boards list when they are not visible to the public. Your patrons can view public bulletins from the Alexandria Researcher or by typing the IP address (or domain name), port number, and (optional) serial number of your Data Station followed by "/bulletins" in their browser's Address field; also, individual boards may be bookmarked or linked to directly. Any boards without bulletins won't display to patrons. |
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The Bulletin Board Management window consists of two distinct areas: - The left-hand side of the Bulletin Board Management window belongs to the Bulletin Boards pane—which is essentially a list containing the names of your current boards and their associated bulletins. Selecting (highlighting) a bulletin or a board from this list will display the contents of the record in the right-hand side of the window.
- The larger, right-hand portion of the Bulletin Board Management window consists of the Boards/Bulletins pane where the contents of the selected bulletin or board record are displayed—in full—allowing you to modify their information or remove them completely.
If you are Centralized Catalog, the Select A Site window appears each time you access the Bulletin Board Management module. This allows you to select the site for the bulletins you would like to manage; however, the choices offered depend on the sites that you, as an operator, have permission to access (review Site Access for more information). Therefore, you may have access to multiple sites, but not all the sites defined in the Sites Management interface interface. Unlike other Alexandria modules and interfaces, the union site record does appear in the Select A Site list; this allows you to access any converted bulletins (bulletins that existed pre-v6.22.5) that need to be assigned a site. |
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- Add Board. This creates a new, blank (unlocked for further editing) board in the Bulletins pane of the Bulletin Board Management window.
- Remove Board. Removes the currently highlighted (i.e. selected) board. When you remove a board, all the bulletins on that board are removed as well. Once saved, you can't restore deleted bulletins or boards, so be careful!
- Export board. Export your board as a .txt file.
- Import board. Choose the file of the bulletin board to import. Check the box in order to update an existing pane with a matching ID.
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BoardsBoards contain bulletins; they are used to organize related messages into manageable groups. Boards that are not currently visible to the public appear as red in the Bulletin Boards list.
Boards Settings- Site Name. This non-editable field displays the name of the site where your board (and associated bulletins) will be placed. Clicking on the Site Name will show the Site Information dialog.
- Board Name. Provide a unique name for your new board. Duplicate board names are not allowed due to how Alexandria allows you to link to bulletins via URL.
- Show Board From/Until. Provide the date range for which this board will be available. If today's date falls outside of the specified time frame, the board will not appear to the public or be available via direct URL. For example, if the date range is 01/01/2023 to 01/05/2023, the board will be available from January 1st through the 5th. The start date is automatically populated with today's date when you Save the record; if the end date is left blank, the board will carry on indefinitely. If the end date you provide comes before the start date, the board will not be saved.
If desired, you can provide optional, private notes for operators and librarians that are shown here, but nowhere else. For example, you can leave a note describing the duration of a particular board or its appropriate usage.
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Bulletin Boards can be configured to only appear during specified timeframes. Bulletins that are not currently visible to the public appear as red in the Bulletin Boards list. If you include an optional Bulletin URL, it will open the target destination in a new browser window when clicked. A bulletin is required to have either a Bulletin Image and/or Text.
We realized that the new Researcher Bulletins doesn’t show the Bulletin URL. Oh no! Did you know you can add any links to your Bulletin Text? Paste this code in your Bulletin Text: <a href="url">link text</a> Change the ‘link text’ to ‘More’ or whatever you want the link text to be. Paste your Bulletin URL where the ‘url’ is. E.g. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.">Read more</a>. In the upcoming Bulletins Builder, we'll make it easier to add html to your bulletins! |
Bulletins Settings- Bulletin Name. Provide the title of the individual bulletin you want posted to the board; for example: “Student Assembly”, “Planetarium Field Trip”, or “Parent Teacher Conferences”. Unlike board names, bulletin names are not required to be unique.
- Show Bulletin at the Top of the Board. Any bulletin with this box checked will appear before other bulletins in the board.
- Show Bulletin From/Until. Provide the date range for which this bulletin will appear on the board. Keep in mind that the board’s Show Board From/Until date will always take precedence; this means, if the main board expires before the bulletins contained within, the bulletins will expire concurrently. Determine whether individual bulletins will appear for days, weeks, months, or indefinitely. If today's date falls outside of the specified time frame, the bulletin will not appear to the public or be available via direct URL. For example, if the date range is 01/01/2016 to 01/05/2016, the board will be available from January 1st through the 5th. The start date is automatically populated with today's date when you Save the record; if the end date is left blank, the bulletin will carry on indefinitely. If the end date you provide comes before the start date, the bulletin will not be saved.
- lletin URL. If desired, you may provide a supplementary URL to an outside web address. If provided, it will appear as a hyperlink entitled More at the bottom of the bulletin. Hyperlinks are optional and must be complete URLs (e.g. http://www...) in order to function properly. Note you can add any number of links in your Bulletin Text formatted like <a href="url">link text</a>; so the Bulletin URL field will be removed in the near future.
<a href="url">link text</a> |
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You can customize or quickly adjust some of the visual aspects of your bulletins using basic HTML5. However, the <font> tag is obsolete in HTML5; therefore, to modify font properties, refer to common cascading style sheets (CSS) classes instead. You can use the <span> tag to group individual inline-elements (described below) within a bulletin. The ability to embed HTML5 within bulletins means you can use <iframe> and embed Adobe Flash (“.swf”) files—although COMPanion doesn't recommend anyone doing so without the proper experience. Below are some examples of custom HTML5 that can be embedded in bulletins.
Please exercise caution. Improper HTML5 formatting has the potential to visually cripple your bulletins. |
Description | Type | Results |
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| Colored text | <p style='color:red'>This text is red!</p> | This text is red | | Italic text | <p><i>This text is emphasized!</i></p>
<p><em>This text is emphasized!</em></p> | This text is emphasized | | Bold text | <p><b>This text is bold!</b></p>
<p><strong>This text is bold!</strong></p> | This text is bold | | Subscript and Superscript | <p>This is <sub>subscript</sub> and <sup>superscript</sup></p> | This is subscript and superscript | | Overline | <p style='text-decoration:overline'>Overline</p> | <p style='text-decoration:overline'>This text is overlined</p> |
| | Strikethrough | <p style='text-decoration:line-through'>Strikethrough</p> | This text is striked
| | Underline | <p style='text-decoration:underline'>Underline</p> | This text is underlined | | Right-Align | <p style='float:right'>This text is right-aligned!</p> | This text is right-aligned | | Highlight Text | <p style='background-color:yellow'>This text is highlighted.</p> |
| | External Link | <a href='This'>This'>http://www.google.com'>This is an external link!</a> | This is an external link! | | Email To | <a href='mailto:address@Contact'>Contact'>email.com?subject=Hello%20World'>Contact Us</a> | Contact us | | External Image | <img src="http://www.website.com/images/example.gif" alt="Example" width="200" height="95">
When linking to external images, it is very important that you specify (and don't go beyond) the maximum image width of 200px unless you want to visually cripple your bulletin boards. | <img src="http://www.website.com/images/example.gif" alt="Example" width="200" height="95"> |
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