Bug 5106 - Simplify MARC view choices in the OPAC
Summary: Simplify MARC view choices in the OPAC
Status: CLOSED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: Koha
Classification: Unclassified
Component: OPAC (show other bugs)
Version: Main
Hardware: All All
: PATCH-Sent (DO NOT USE) enhancement (vote)
Assignee: Owen Leonard
QA Contact: Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2010-08-09 15:55 UTC by Owen Leonard
Modified: 2012-10-25 23:03 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Change sponsored?: ---
Patch complexity: ---
Documentation contact:
Documentation submission:
Text to go in the release notes:
Version(s) released in:


Attachments
MARC view with "view plain" link (15.58 KB, image/png)
2010-08-09 15:58 UTC, Owen Leonard
Details
After clicking the "view plain" link (12.01 KB, image/png)
2010-08-09 16:00 UTC, Owen Leonard
Details
Plain view (12.43 KB, image/png)
2010-08-09 16:02 UTC, Owen Leonard
Details
Proposed change (17.89 KB, patch)
2010-08-09 19:29 UTC, Owen Leonard
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
Revised fix (21.58 KB, patch)
2010-12-07 19:58 UTC, Owen Leonard
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
Revised for current HEAD (21.40 KB, patch)
2010-12-17 14:05 UTC, Owen Leonard
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
Signed patch with marker fix (15.94 KB, patch)
2010-12-20 19:01 UTC, Marcel de Rooy
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
Patch signed (2nd fix) (21.53 KB, text/plain)
2010-12-20 19:14 UTC, Marcel de Rooy
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Owen Leonard 2010-08-09 15:55:01 UTC
The MARC view in the OPAC is useful to librarians, but probably less to to non-librarian patrons. Offering two ways to view a MARC record (when XSLT is on) seems like overkill, an unnecessary complication to the interface. Users who click the link that pops up the modal MARC window will find that their back button doesn't work until they click "close" on that window.

I propose the following: 

1. Eliminate the "Extended MARC View" tab
2. Point the "MARC View" tab to opac-MARCDetail.pl as it is when XSLT is off
3. Offer a "view plain" link on opac-MARCDetail.pl. Clicking this link would replace the standard labeled MARC view with an unformatted view similar to the one displayed in the pop-up modal MARC view.
4. When viewing the "plain view," clicking the "view labeled" link will return you to the standard labeled MARC view.

This solution accomplishes the following:

1. Simplifies the interface
2. Eliminates the back button problem with the pop-up MARC view
3. Gives librarians alternatives for viewing MARC, including a view which makes cut and paste of the raw record easy.
Comment 1 Owen Leonard 2010-08-09 15:58:44 UTC
Created attachment 2488 [details]
MARC view with "view plain" link

Note that there is now only one "MARC View" tab at the top. Clicking it brings you to this view. If XSLT is on, a "view plain" link will appear as it does in this screenshot.
Comment 2 Owen Leonard 2010-08-09 16:00:19 UTC
Created attachment 2489 [details]
After clicking the "view plain" link

When the "view plain" link is clicked, JavaScript is used to pull the raw MARC data from a separate file. A "loading" indicator is displayed while that process completes.
Comment 3 Owen Leonard 2010-08-09 16:02:37 UTC
Created attachment 2490 [details]
Plain view

The MARC view page after the raw MARC record has been loaded and displayed. Note the "view plain" link has turned into a "view labeled" link to return to the standard labeled view.
Comment 4 Nicole C. Engard 2010-08-09 16:05:36 UTC
I would add 2 points:

1. Change the label to 'Librarian View' or 'Staff View' or something other than MARC (other OPACs have done this already)

2. I would rename make what you call 'plain view' the default and then have a link to 'labeled view' or if not come up with a different name for 'plain view' cause that really makes no sense :)
Comment 5 Owen Leonard 2010-08-09 16:31:00 UTC
> 1. Change the label to 'Librarian View' or 'Staff View' or something other than
> MARC (other OPACs have done this already)

I don't know... If the view is primarily for librarians, why not use a label that librarians understand?
Comment 6 Nicole C. Engard 2010-08-09 16:34:55 UTC
Cause it's the OPAC :) it's for the public - not the librarians.  But really - it's not a big deal to me, just something I've seen on other open source ILSes
Comment 7 Owen Leonard 2010-08-09 19:29:24 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 8 Owen Leonard 2010-12-07 19:58:07 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 9 Owen Leonard 2010-12-17 14:05:01 UTC
Created attachment 2872 [details] [review]
Revised for current HEAD
Comment 10 Marcel de Rooy 2010-12-20 10:49:41 UTC
Tested the patch. Works fine. I like the idea, but would like to make the distinction between view labeled and view plain more clear. I would suggest to stick to the current name Expanded (instead of the new Labeled). 

Additionally, you could perhaps mention both views on the same line: [View plain MARC] and [View expanded MARC]. Show by color or so which view is active, or by label: [Plain MARC view] and [Switch to expanded MARC view] (if plain is active, v.v.) This makes the user more aware of the active view and existence of both views.
Comment 11 Owen Leonard 2010-12-20 13:24:18 UTC
> Additionally, you could perhaps mention both views on the same line: [View
> plain MARC] and [View expanded MARC].

This is my motivation for keeping the links subtle: I think this is a feature of interest to a very limited subset of OPAC users. I'm assuming most users of the OPAC are not interested the details of the MARC record. Of those that are interested in the MARC record, only a few will be interested in seeing the plain unformatted view. I don't think the two versions of the MARC view deserve equal weight in the interface.
Comment 12 Marcel de Rooy 2010-12-20 13:36:10 UTC
You are right that only a few opac users will be interested.
Signing it off.
Comment 13 Marcel de Rooy 2010-12-20 19:01:23 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 14 Marcel de Rooy 2010-12-20 19:14:09 UTC
Created attachment 2896 [details]
Patch signed (2nd fix)

Oops, forgot two new files in this patch..
Comment 15 Chris Cormack 2010-12-21 04:06:25 UTC
Pushed to new/enh/bug_5106 

Im going to do some testing on this tonight, and probably push a follow up patch for the opac-showmarc.pl bit of it. Just some tidy up. Id appreciate some others testing too, then we can merge it to master
Comment 16 Chris Cormack 2010-12-21 07:50:45 UTC
Pushed a follow up patch, and have tested, everything working as it should. 
Merged to master, please test and mark resolved
Comment 17 Marcel de Rooy 2010-12-21 15:27:47 UTC
Tested. Seems to work fine. One question (about tidying up code): Where is the call to opac-showmarc with view=card in the opac now? Is it still there?