[OPEN-ILS-DEV] OPAC configurations/skins/themes, etc

[Karen Collier]

Jason & Dan,

Thanks for your responses.  I was able to get the alternate themes working
on my site and updated the wiki.  

I also did some reading about the difference between forward and reverse
proxies and came to the conclusion that as long as ProxyRequests is left
Off, maybe it really is secure enough to Allow from all.  Whew!  

And yes, a web form is exactly what I was thinking of.  Thanks for running
through what the various parameters in the URL mean.

Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: open-ils-dev-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org
[mailto:open-ils-dev-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Karen
Collier
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 3:56 PM
To: open-ils-dev at list.georgialibraries.org
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-DEV] OPAC configurations/skins/themes, etc

After reviewing the discussion on this list back in July, on customizing the
OPAC, I went through and did some experimentation with my test server
findit.kentcountylibrary.org and created the previously missing page on the
wiki
http://open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=evergreen-admin:customizations:opac
with some basic info on customizing the OPAC.  I'm tempted to try some more
drastic changes to layout and such, but I think that would require a more
in-depth understanding of the OPAC than I currently have.

Another option I've considered, since most of the changes I want are to the
search page and not the results page, is embedding a search box for the OPAC
within the html of our existing Web page set up on another server.  Any
thoughts on how this might be done and if it's practical with the OPAC as it
is?

In that discussion from July there was made mention of some major reworking
of the OPAC planned for the future.  Has that happened?  Is it still in the
works?  Would making some interface and feature suggestions/requests be
appropriate at this point?

Meanwhile, would someone more knowledgeable on customizing the OPAC mind
double checking what I posted on the wiki for errors or omissions?  

I'm particularly curious about proxy settings to allow the cover images to
show up.  I was able to get it working with "Allow from all" but from what
I've heard that's not too secure so I don't have that set up right now.
I've seen suggestions of requiring session cookies to access added content,
or using a proxy-pass directive or a mod_perl application to serve the
content.  Could anybody elaborate on those or other more secure options, for
a newbie to server administration?

Thanks,
Karen

--

Karen Collier
Public Services Librarian
Kent County Public Library
408 High Street
Chestertown, MD 21620
410-778-3636