Andornot Add-on Options

To meet our client's needs, we have developed a range of product components and add-ons that work with Inmagic software to enhance and extend its functionality.

These range from small JavaScripts to complete ASP.Net based applications. If you have a requirement that cannot be met by the standard functionality of your Inmagic software, please contact us for a quote on developing a solution for you.

Here are some suggestions for using the product to its fullest (and to wow your users and your boss). Some are very simple; some require a bit of knowledge of HTML coding and some require a programmer.

How do I make my search and results pages look like the rest of my organization’s website?

This is our number one gripe when we review sites. Many of these simply use an exported query screen with forms straight from TextWorks with no attempt to integrate with the site’s template.

There is a solution, but it does require some knowledge of HTML or assistance from your web designer or Andornot. It uses the Inmagic feature that allows “include” files in seams on each web page. So, you can reference a layout page with the graphics and navigation from the main website and have it appear automatically in all your displays. Look up “includes” in the TextWorks Help file index for more information and a diagram of where these seams can appear on a search results page.

Better yet, you can add a setting to the dbtwpub.ini file to use these same “includes” for every database you publish on the web without having to add information to each form individually. Our Andornot Starter Kit comes set up with some sample “includes” for you to edit. See our ASK website for a demo.

How can I improve the design of my search pages?

Exported query screens can be carefully edited. We recommend:

• A Quick Search screen with just an Any word search box and a link to an Advanced Search screen. (Keep it simple with an option for more specific searching if needed.)
• Substitute Google style syntax. Since WebPublisher PRO was first released, the Google search syntax has become the standard. Don’t risk your users not finding data because they are assuming that two adjacent words will be “anded” when WebPublisher PRO actually treats them as a phrase. Inmagic included an Alternate Search Syntax option in version 10 or use Andornot’s more flexible AutoBoolean version.
• An Advanced search with A-Z links or Browse buttons to view and paste from the indexes. There is absolutely no excuse to continue to use Word Wheels – they have been superseded by the Inmagic Browse option or our Andornot Index Popups with Find As You Type functionality (as in F3 on the desktop).
• Radio buttons instead of dropdowns when there are only a few choices, i.e. for record types or locations. The existing code can be quickly edited to substitute these.
• Canned searches can be created easily and are a wonderful way of giving your users an alternate method of accessing your data. We recommend them for creating lists by topic, by record type, in fact by anything! To make it easy for you, we have created an Andornot Search Cannery Wizard which will help you build and test these.

What about my results pages? I don’t like those buttons with << for navigation.

Andornot has developed a set of features that we include in our Andornot Starter Kit forms that allow you significantly more display options:

• The style of the Next / Previous links can be text or buttons
• Only selected forms need be listed in a change form dropdown and this can appear anywhere on the page (great for bilingual sites)
• Back to Search results hyperlink
• URL recognition in any text field
• Enhancements to the FIND variable syntax etc.

I have lots of databases, can I search them all at once?

You can use the multi textbase feature provided in WebPublisher PRO which lists all the results consecutively, or you can use our Andornot OneSearch which just lists the totals for each with links to the search results.

Can I add the ability to select records for emailing, printing or saving etc.?

This is quite a complex process as users expect their selections to be retained from page to page and across searches. This functionality is really popular with users. Your best bet is to contact Andornot as we can program this specifically for your needs.

Can I add requesting or ordering capabilities?

This too requires some programming as usually each client has very specific requirements for payment methods, items that cannot be ordered, delivery options etc.

I’m keen to add Web 2.0 features such as comments, reviews, tagging.

These can all be added by a programmer. Take a look at the Imagine Canada Promising Practices interface for an example. Their other interfaces to the Library Catalogue, Special Collections, and Find Websites also show off many of the features mentioned above.

I’d like to add RSS feeds to my databases?

We recommend our Andornot RSS combo package. This is easy to set up and the Viewer can also be used to display the content of any feed so that your pages update automatically without any work from you!

Can I show images in my databases using a Gallery style view?

Sure you can using cascading style sheets. Ask us how to also add watermarking and automatic resizing. See our demo using the Inmagic Cars sample database.

Do you have any extra options if I have a web developer who wants to work with the software?

Indeed we do if they use Microsoft ASP.Net which is our preferred development tool. We have both a WebPublisher Developer Kit and a control for XML output.

Virtually every new site that Andornot works on includes many of these options. Contact us for a demo to walk you through these and other possibilities!