LibStaffer Update Coming Your Way August 24th

Our summer of updates continues! We’re planning to release a LibStaffer 2.1 update on August 24th. This update will include many frequently requested features and improvements, as detailed below.

One important point of clarification for all you admins out there – LibStaffer has been a “v2” product since its original creation (it was our first product to be fully bootstrapped), and because of this, you won’t need to worry about migrating your content to a “v2” platform (like in LibGuides, LibCal, and LibAnswers). We’re rolling out many frequently-asked-for updates and tweaks to the way calendars and schedules display, but the new interface is not a jarring/significant change compared to what you currently see. So just to be super duper clear, you don’t have to worry about migrating your LibStaffer content to v2 – you’ve been v2 from the get go. 🙂

New Tools

• Schedule-level Administrators – We’re adding granular user permissions, so site admins can now elevate a regular level user to administer a single schedule (or schedules) within your system. These new permissions mean you can grant administrative oversight over the shifts and users associated with a single schedule, without granting administrative access to the system as a whole.
• Staff Defined Work Hours – Individual staff members can now define their standard weekly work schedule as part of their LibStaffer profile. This helps to show your real working availability when admins are scheduling shifts, so you won’t be scheduled for shifts when you’re not in the office. You can even define multiple blocks of working hours per day to take lunch and other breaks into account!
• Integration with LibApps Accounts – use the same login to access LibStaffer that you use for accessing all of Springshare’s v2 applications.
• Outlook integration – We’re making it easy to sync your LibStaffer schedule with your Outlook calendar! Once this update is live, you’ll need to authorize the connection to Outlook from within your LibStaffer account – once authorized, LibStaffer will push your schedule info to Outlook seamlessly.

Calendar Management Updates

• Schedule Display Improvements – We’re adding many enhancements to the schedule view, so it’s easier for admins to see at a glance which shifts have been given up, which may need coverage, and which have pending swap requests.
• New Tools Menu – We’re adding several administrative schedule tools aimed at making bulk changes easy. The new Tools menu will include options for deleting shifts and shift assignments – either for a single day, or for a range of future dates, and you’ll also have the option to change all future shift assignments while editing a shift.
• Auto Scheduler Updates – We’re adding a new control for the Auto Scheduler to limit the number of shifts per day that a staff member can work.
• Holidays – Admins will see a new option to define “Holidays” – ie days when the regular schedule doesn’t apply. Holidays are excluded from the Auto Scheduler (so no one is automatically scheduled), and are prominently displayed in all schedule and time off views.
• Printable Schedules – We’ve updated the print views, so schedules you print and post now look fantastic right out of the box.
• New Timeline Views – We’ve added several new views designed to give you a high level overview of the staffing and schedules at your library.
• Set Default Calendar – Each user can also choose which schedule they want to see by default.

Time Off Updates

• View All Time Off – We’re making it easy for all LibStaffer users to view the approved time off for all staff associated with a schedule! Both Admins and Regular level users will see a new dropdown menu in the Time Off area, which will enable switching between viewing your own time off, and approved time off for anyone associated with a schedule.
• Approval Not Required – Site admins will have the option to not require administrator approval for new time off requests. This will be a site wide setting found under Admin > System Settings.
• Edit & Delete Time Off – both Admins and Regular level users can now delete future time off requests.

Important for Admins – Merging With LibApps Accounts

Once the update goes live on August 24th, Site Admins will want consider merging your current LibStaffer accounts with your LibApps accounts. You’ll see this option displayed on the Dashboard following the update – it’s not something you have to do right away (or even within the next year – it can wait!), but once you’ve merged accounts, the following will happen:

• The login page for your LibStaffer site will change:
  • ex for our training site, our URL will change from https://libstaffer.com/login.php?iid=2 to https://springylib.libapps.com/libapps/login.php
  • Your site’s base URL (ex springylib.libstaffer.com) will automatically redirect to the proper login page, but bookmarks that point to the direct login URL will need to be updated
• Logins for LibStaffer accounts will change:
  • If the LibStaffer account holder already has a LibApps account (matched based on email address), they’ll use that same username/password for LibStaffer
  • If the LibStaffer account holder doesn’t already have a LibApps account, we’ll create a new account in LibApps for them. These account holders will need to keep an eye out for a LibApps notification email, which will prompt them to log in and create a new password

And last but certainly not least, here’s a sneak peek of the new Schedule Management Page: