John Miedema

A whirlwind of changes have already been completed on OpenBook. The real world is getting busy again so progress will slow down, but here is a sneak peak at the new OpenBook Options panel.

Figure 1. OpenBook Options 1

Figure 2. OpenBook Options 2

Display Mode. Sets a default display mode, either small, medium, or large. You can override this for a particular instance with an inline argument.

Embed COinS. You can choose whether or not to embed them. Handy when you have other COinS plugins.

Display Mode Templates. This is a big deal. These template editors allow you to choose the content, ordering and styling of the OpenBook elements: cover, author, title, etc. There are three templates, one for each display mode.

Find in Your Library. WorldCat by default, but if you specify an OpenURL resolver, the “Find in Your Library” link will point to that library.

System. If you have a local copy of Open Library, you can use OpenBook with it. You can also set proxy settings if you are behind a firewall.

Other Visual Features

• Links to other sources by ISBN, e.g., LibraryThing, GoogleBooks, maybe even Amazon. Still thinking about this, but people really seem to want these.
• WordPress toolbar button for easy insert of OpenBook shortcode
• Use in widgets
• Indicator if book is available to read on-line at Open Library
• Additional COinS data
• Faster loading when using several instances of OpenBook, using a callback method
• Internationalization. I have put in the functions to make translation of all text possible. Someone else will have to do the actual translations.

Other Technical Features

• Better detection of requirements during plugin activation, including cURL
• Separate WordPress and PHP code to allow for easier reuse in other platforms
• XHTML compliance. Escape of HTML chars
• Include the GNU GPL license in the distribution

Hope that whets your appetite. If you are itching to see some other feature I have not mentioned, this is a good time to ask.