Customizing Layouts
Beyond the color and layout changes possible by overriding the PowerPAC CSS classes and styles, overall layout structure for the PowerPAC header, menu options, footer, and dashboards can be customized by editing the application primary master page.
PowerPAC pages share a common ASP.NET master page called site.master which resides in the root directory. With knowledge of HTML, ASP.NET, and C#, a customized version of this file can result in changes in the layout of the header, menu options, and footer that may not be possible through CSS changes.
The site.master file can be modified in place, but be sure to make a backup of the original file. Also, be aware that changes will be overwritten when PowerPAC is upgraded on your server. A better method is to create a custom theme and then create a copy of site.master in your custom theme folder. PowerPAC always looks for a site.master in the selected theme folder before defaulting to the version in the application's root directory.
Most of the dynamic data content for portions of PowerPAC pages that are rendered via the site.master file are contained in a C# object called PageData.
The following attributes of the PageData object are available for use in any customized PowerPAC master page:
| ATTRIBUTE | C# DATA TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
|
IsPatronAccountEnabled |
bool |
Patron account access link. Enabled - Boolean attribute indicating whether or not patron logons are allowed. |
| Banner.CustomBackgroundColor | string | Custom background color style for banner as specified in Polaris Administration |
| Banner.CustomForegroundColor | string | Custom font color style for organization name display as specified in Polaris Administration |
| Banner.IsShowOrganizationName | bool | Whether to display organization name as specified in Polaris Administration |
| Banner.HeaderAlignment | string | HTML style attribute for horizontal alignment of header display data |
| Branches | list<> | List of branch (organization) links included in drop-down list used to switch branches |
| Branch.URL | string | URL used to switch to a given branch |
| Branch.Label | string | Branch (organization) display name |
| ChildrensPAC.IsEnabled | bool | Boolean attribute indicating whether or not Children's PAC logo/link displays |
| ChildrensPAC.LinkUrl | string | HREF link to Children's PAC main page |
| ChildrensPAC.Label | string | Display text of Children's PAC link |
| CopyrightText | string | Text of copyright statement |
| Languages | list<> | List of languages that this installation of PowerPAC supports |
| Language.Label | string | Label of the specific language option link |
| Language.URL | string | URL of the specified language option link |
| CurrentLanguageID | int |
Currently selected language. Could be used to conditionally display static text in the site.master in different languages. Valid values include those licensed by the system. Possible values: 1033 - English 1042 - Korean 1045 - Polish 1049 - Russian 1065 - Farsi - Persian 1066 - Vietnamese 1081 - Hindi 1141 - Hawaiian - United States 2052 - Chinese 3082 - Spanish - Span (Modern Sort) 3084 - French - Canada 12289 - Arabic 15372 - Haitian Creole |
| HeaderLogo.ImageUrl | string | URL for image of main header |
| HeaderLogo.LinkUrl | string | HREF link for main header logo |
| HeaderLogo.AltText | string | ALT text for main header logo |
| OrganizationName | string | Name of the currently selected organization |
| OrganizationID | int | ID for the currently selected organization. Could be used to key off of to conditionally display static text for specific organizations. |
| PageID | int | Web page ID for the page, typically used to determine which dashboards to display. Could also be used to key off of for any additional page-specific content. |
| IsPatronLoggedOn | bool | Boolean attribute indicating whether or not a patron is logged on |
| PatronName | string | Name of currently logged on patron |
| PolarisFooterLogo.ImageUrl | string | URL of the "Powered by Polaris" image logo |
| PolarisFooterLogo.AltText | string | ALT text for the "Powered by Polaris" image logo |
| MenuOptions | list<> | List of main menu categories and sub-options as defined in HeaderData.xml |
| MenuOption.ID | int | ID of main tab option |
| MenuOption.IsSelected | bool | Boolean indicating whether this is the currently selected option |
| MenuOption.Link.URL | string | URL for the option |
| MenuOption.Link.Label | string | Text label for the option |
| MenuOption.MenuSubOptions | list<> | List of sub-options for this main category. An empty list indicates there are no sub-options. |
| MenuSubOption.ID | int | ID of sub-option |
| MenuSubOption.IsSelected | bool | Boolean attribute indicating whether this is the currently selected sub-option |
| MenuSubOption.Link.URL | string | URL for the sub-option |
| MenuSubOption.Link.Label | string | ext label for the sub-option |
| MobilePAC.IsShowLink | bool | Boolean attribute indicating whether the link to classic Mobile PAC appears in the page footer |
| MobilePAC.Label | string | Label of classic Mobile PAC link in footer |
| MobilePAC.LinkUrl | string | URL of classic Mobile PAC link in footer |
| SkipToMainContentLabel | string | Label of the link to skip to main content of page. Typically invisible, but used by screen readers for ADA compliance. |
| SkipToMainMenuLabel | string | Label of the link to skip to main menu of page. Typically invisible, but used by screen readers for ADA compliance. |
| ThemePath | string | The web path of the images and style sheets for the currently active theme. Could be used as a prefix to any custom images contained in that directory. |
| VirtualReference.IsEnabled | bool | Boolean attribute indicating whether or not Virtual Reference is enabled |
| VirtualReference.LabelPre | string | Label text before the hyperlinked portion of the link |
| VirtualReference.Link.Label | string | Label of hyperlinked portion of the link. |
| VirtualReference.Link.URL | string | URL of hyperlinked position of the link |
| VirtualReference.LabelPost | string | Label text before the hyperlinked portion of the link |
Section- and Page-Specific Customizations
For PowerPAC pages that inherit from site.master, the BODY HTML tag contains two classes that may be used as selectors for scoping of section- and page-specific CSS customizations. The page-specific class is of the format page-{pagename} in which {pagename} is the name of the ASPX page minus the .aspx file extension. The section-specific class is of the format section-{sectionname} where {sectionname} is the directory in which the page resides.
Example:
For the page /polaris/patronaccount/itemsout.aspx, the BODY tag would include the following classes:
<BODY class=”section-patronaccount page-itemsout”>
Navigation Menu Options
Navigation menu options are defined in the file HeaderData.xml in the root of the PowerPAC folder. If a single customized HeaderData.xml file will suffice for all branches, copy the HeaderData.xml file to the /custom/ folder and customize the copied file. Polaris looks first for HeaderData.xml in the /custom/ folder; if the file is not found there, Polaris uses the HeaderData.xml file in the root of the PowerPAC folder.
If you need different custom HeaderData.xml files for various branches, you can create them in the /custom/ folder, and each can be assigned to one or more branches:
- After creating the multiple HeaderData.xml files, create a file called HeaderDataIndex.xml in the /custom/ folder. This allows PowerPAC to associate specific header data files with specific branches. See the sample file in the /custom/ folder called HeaderDataIndex-template-xml; use this file as an example or starting point.
- In the index file, each branch ID is assigned to the custom versions of HeaderData.xml. For example:
- Any branch not listed in HeaderDataIndex.xml will use the default HeaderData.xml.
Perform a PowerPAC reload or IISRESET after creating the HeaderDataIndex.xml file. Polaris Hosted customers should contact Polaris Customer Support to perform an IIS reset.
Menu Classes for PAC Usage Statistics
Library administrators who analyze PAC usage statistics using a third-party analytics tool can gather data regarding usage of menus in the header. To enable the usage statistics, an individual class identifies each menu and sub-menu option in the headerdata.xml file.
Note:
The class is not for the following menus: More, Language, and Branches.
The class name format is as follows: menu-[menuID]-[submenuID]
Example:
These classes also allow for CSS style customization of individual menu options and sub-options.