Beta Website: latest developments in response to your feedback
May 27, 2010 | Dara Renton |
Comments (68)
Many thanks to all who have provided feedback so far on the beta version of the new Toronto Public Library website. The site has been available to the public for a few months now, and we continue to get valuable feedback every day. Here’s an update on what we’ve been doing and what’s next.
What We’ve Done in the Past Few Weeks
Session timeout: You’ve told us that once you’re logged in, you don’t want to be automatically logged out too quickly, especially if this results in you losing your place in the site. We’ve introduced a warning so you can refresh your session and stay logged in. It’s not working perfectly yet, but we hope it’s a step in the right direction. Your feedback on this feature is welcome.
RSS feeds for new titles lists: New titles lists are constantly changing, so this is a great way to keep up to date.
Improved performance: We continue to monitor performance and make adjustments as needed. We have just upgraded our servers and hope you will find the site responding faster.
Improvements to Hours & Locations: changes to layout and functionality have made the page faster to load and easier to use.
What We’re Planning to Do in the Near Future
Complete unfinished areas of the site, including access to online articles and databases, information about library services, and help pages.Add more categories of award winners lists in the Books section.
Add a search box to the account page.
Longer-Term Projects
Some things you’ve told us you’d like to see will take more time to accomplish:- A “wish list” feature
- A “Remember Me” option when signing in
- Personalizing search results to indicate which items you already have on hold
- Email reminders before items are due
- A mobile version of the site
- An online purchase request form
- Online registration and fine payment
As we move towards the full launch of the new website, we will allow you to choose whether or not to make the beta site your default TPL homepage. Once you select this option, the new site’s homepage will be the page that comes up every time you access www.torontopubliclibrary.ca.
If you haven’t done so yet, take a look at the beta website now and tell us what you think.
