Add ability for carousel contents to open in an OPAC shared list view

[Terran McCanna]

Wish list 3.6+

We have a lot of patrons who want to be able to see everything in a carousel at once rather than scrolling through them.

Since carousels store their contents in record buckets, and the shared lists that you can create through the OPAC also use record buckets, it seems like the next step would be to allow you to open a carousel in a shared list view using the same URL path:

https://[My domain]/eg/opac/results?page=0&locg=1&depth=0&bookbag=[My bucket ID]

[Millissa (millissam)]

This is a great idea! Our patrons would love it as well.

[Elizabeth Thomsen (et-8)]

Totally agree -- the carousel is a great window display to catch the eye, but not a great way to check out the list. Being able to display both the carousel and the link to the list would be really nice!

[Mike Rylander (mrylander)]

Hi all,

I don't have the bandwidth to produce a branch right now, but the way to spell the search you want is with the "container" filter. Given a pub=true container (which, IIRC, carousel containers must be) you can search for:

  container(bre,carousel,123)

where "123" is the id of the bucket you want. For example:

  https://training-eg36b.evergreencatalog.com/eg/opac/results?query=container(bre,carousel,3)

Internally, that's essentially what the bookbag search does, though it hides the details behind a bookbag (aka "my list") specific CGI parameter.

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

Oh, cool! Thanks, Mike - I can put that into a branch!

[Mike Rylander (mrylander)]

Hi Terran,

A slightly different way to construct that URL is:

  https://training-eg36b.evergreencatalog.com/eg/opac/results?query=&fi:container=bre,carousel,3

which will keep the container filter syntax out of the user search box. The drawback with that way is that, currently, the OPAC keeps that filter around in subsequent searches until you tell it to "start over".

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

Cool beans, I have it working at https://terran-testbox.gapines.org/eg/opac/home or https://terran-testbox.gapines.org/eg/opac/home?carousel_loc=4

Branch coming shortly for testing.

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

Patch at: https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/mccanna/lp1929872_carousel_link_as_list

[John Amundson (jamundson)]

This is a much-desired feature for some our patrons. Thank you for your work on this, Terran and Mike!

I have one concern and one question.

Concern:
When you open the carousel in list form and perform a search at the top of the page, the search just searches the list, but this is not obvious. For example, search for "Mozart" from this URL, https://terran-testbox.gapines.org/eg/opac/results?query=&fi:container=bre,carousel,2. Then search for "Coraline". The first search fails, but the second one finds the title in the carousel. There is no on-screen indicator telling the user that their search is just for the carousel.

With a traditional list, there's a checkbox that lets the user know the search will be just for the list, like here: https://terran-testbox.gapines.org/eg/opac/results?bookbag=9

Is there some way to get this indicator with the carousel list?

I never really understand why the traditional list (bookbag) URL doesn't work for carousels. They are already a public container. Would there be some simple way to make carousels work with the traditional bookbag URL?

If not, would Mike's first approach be better since then there is a visual indicator of some form?

Question:
Right now the "(See Complete List)" is at the top left of the carousel. Would it make more visual sense centered underneath the carousel title?

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

>>Question:
Right now the "(See Complete List)" is at the top left of the carousel. Would it make more visual sense centered underneath the carousel title?<<

It is already centered under the title, so you probably need to clear your browser cache.

[Jason Boyer (jboyer)]

It seems like it would be ideal to simply make the title of the carousel the link to the search rather than adding a new link anywhere.

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

Good point. I've made the title clickable.

For testing purposes, I currently have two links below the title with the two different suggested URL formats.

[Mike Rylander (mrylander)]

Hi John,

Yes, that's the drawback I mentioned. Adding "container" to the list of filters that the opac knows about (and lets you remove via a checkbox) should be simple, IIRC, but I haven't looked at the code for that in a while.

The reason carousels don't work like bookbags is that the container type is specific to each. IOW, containers are a general framework, and the type is used to decide which are used in various interfaces. The bookbag CGI parameter uses the container filter behind the scenes, but it specifies the bookbag type. This it to keep future container types (and even current ones, like "staff_client" type ones that the staff buckets use) from "leaking" into areas we don't want them in.

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

I'm removing the pullrequest due to the filter stuff that needs to be straightened out, but I'll leave it installed as-is on my testing server for the next week or so if people want to poke at it.