[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Configuration Interface Proposition

[Galen Charlton]

Hi,

On Mar 22, 2011, at 12:22 PM, Joseph Lewis wrote:
> If I'm not mistaken then this page is found under: Admin > Local Administration > Library Settings Editor

Yes, that is indeed the page being referred to.  Of course, the project wouldn't need to be limited to that specific idea; there are a lot of different types of configuration settings under the Admin menu that could benefit from a more holistic UI review.

> Here is what I propose, please reply with any hints/desires/tips, or if I'm entirely off in what was desired.
> 	• Page keyword search (JavaScript)

Yes, that could be useful.

> 	• Complete descriptions of each configuration (it looks like this is stored in the database)

Correct, in config.org_unit_setting_type specifically.

> 	• Re-Organize the page in to logical sections and sub-sections with easy links at the top.
> 	• Add an introduction to the page.

Good ideas as well.  You may find some useful text from the Evergreen manual (http://docs.evergreen-ils.org).

> 	• Some configurations should have inputs other than a standard text-box for usability (database row type?)

There's already some support for that; the datatype column on config.org_unit_setting_type controls the Dojo widget that is used for input.

> 	• Some kind of tracking may want to be added probably to a log, or another database table could be set up, so the system could be "revision controlled"

Evergreen supports the trivial creation of "audit" tables to track changes to any table, but the idea of revision control is still a good one, particularly if a sensible user interface is created to show the history of a setting.

Regards,

Galen
--
Galen Charlton
VP, Data Services
Equinox Software, Inc. / Your Library's Guide to Open Source
email:  gmc at esilibrary.com
direct: +1 352-215-7548
skype:  gmcharlt
web:    http://www.esilibrary.com/