First Project Complete!

I turned in my first project for the MCFL earlier this week (yesterday to be exact). It's a guide that will be made available to the library staff that shows them how to make posts on the staff blog (which is powered by Drupal).

Last week during my weekly meeting with my site supervisor, I had asked why another guide I was using for comparison had a fairly complex process for including pictures in a post. It didn't make sense to me when all that users have to do is drag pictures into the WYSIWYG text box to include them (the system is set up in a way that does not allow users to upload them directly from their computer--hence the complex process). I first wanted to find out if there was an existing policy that said it had to be done the way outlined by the other guide. If there was, I knew that I would have to create my guide to follow suit. But if there wasn't, I felt that the drag-and-drop method would be a lot more user-friendly because it had fewer steps and was similar to dragging a file from one folder to another (which a lot of people have done if they regularly work on a computer). So, I had to wait a bit for feedback since my supervisor needed to check with another individual to make sure that there wasn't a policy we had to follow. I got the OK to include my suggested method (Yay!) but with a few notes that they wanted me to include as well--mainly to let staff know that the drag-and-drop method is only for the staff site, not the public site (the original method would still need to be used for that).

So I finished the guide and sent it off to my site supervisor. I'm still waiting to get feedback from her about my work.

The week before last, my supervisor made a point of saying that I don't need to rush through the tasks and projects that she gives me, even for the "high-priority" stuff. So with the guide, I was able to take my time, plan it out, get the screenshots I wanted and edit the pictures, and basically do quality work. I'm not sure I would have felt compelled to do as many visuals if I felt pressure to get things done quickly. I feel really lucky that my supervisor is not a I-need-results-yesterday kind of person and is willing to let me take whatever time I feel I need to complete a task and complete it well. My paid librarian position definitely demands more awareness of deadlines, so it's a nice contrast.

The rest of the week will be taken up by research. I'll be trying to find out if some of the things that my site supervisor and the Technical Services team wants to do and include on the site is possible. So it's off to the Drupal how-to's to find some clues. I would love to be able to tell them "Yes it is, and here's how you do it!"