Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Can't Pay Fines Online with Lost Library Card Barcode

If a customer tries to log into SmartPay with a lost library card, they will get the message: User type is blocked...(and their btype). It does not specifically state the card is lost. But SmartPay does not allow them any further access. 

Monday, June 10, 2013

Hyperlinks on Email Notices

A customer recently asked, "Why isn't there a link to the overdue title on my email notice?" Here's why. 
  1. Overdue notices are generated within the Horizon program itself and their configuration is not very flexible.
  2. There's a very limited amount of space to add the lengthy link to ValleyCat. 
  3. They could look at the list of titles they have out, but could not renew any that are overdue. 
You might ask, "Why then do Preoverdue Notices contain a link to the general "My Account" page?" Here's why: 
  1. They are generated by a third party program that's a bit more flexible than Horizon.
  2. The link to "My Account" is much shorter. 
  3. Since the item is not yet overdue, the customer can still renew their item(s).

It would be great if we could configure email notices to be more user friendly, but that's not possible with our current system. But at least now you know the reasons.