Library CMS website platform features checklist

As a library or library system, you might have well-defined feature requirements for various digital systems such as the online catalogue, various eResources, or even in-library WiFi. However, what about the public-facing website, which can be the first and sometimes most frequent interaction that patrons have with you? Here's a handy library CMS website platform features checklist, whether you're looking for a new website or evaluating your existing one.

General considerations

• Responsive design
• HTTPS / SSL certificate support
• Split search between the catalogue and the website
  • For website search results, further drill the results down by content type
• Freedom to design a front-end user experience independent of the CMS choice

Library system considerations

If you run a library system that oversees many branches:

• Does each branch get its own website? If so, does each branch get its own domain or subdomain?
• Generate an automated list of member libraries or branches, so they can be managed centrally and then automatically updated on different pages
• Editors can customize all site-specific elements, such as "Donate" and "Volunteer" buttons, create featured banner cards, and more
• Automated process to set up new libraries or branches
• Each individual site can customize preset themes to modify the main colours and which colours are assigned to each element

Hours of operation

• Ability to "set it and forget it"
• Show a dynamic display of the current hours -- that is, whether the library is open right now
• Easy to manage the regular schedule of hours
• Add special recurrence rules and special days
• Add a special schedule for summer hours

Events calendar

• Events can be discovered in multiple ways, such as on a calendar view, list view, in search results, and in homepage and other landing page features
• Patrons can search and filter by event tags or categories and sub-categories
• Patrons can use "Download to calendar" buttons to add events to their Outlook, Google, or Apple calendars
• View and share an event in the context of a specific day as well as in the context of the entire series
• Add event recurrence rules, starting with simple rules such as "every Tuesday", then getting more sophisticated such as "last Tuesday of every month", multiple rules in a single event, exceptions, and skipped occurrences

Registration forms

• Add a registration form to an event in the context of a specific day or the entire series
• View and modify registrations, as well as export them to CSV / spreadsheets
• Support wait lists and cancellations
• Automated e-mail notifications, as well as moving registrants between the main list, wait list, and cancellation list

Featured books and book lists

• CMS integration with Bibliocommons, Polaris, or whatever catalogue system you use
• Editors can use a book scanner to build CMS book lists
• Editors can share and re-use book lists within a site and across sites
• Pull in book data by UPC, ISBN, or Control Number, and automatically link to the relevant catalogue URLs

News pages, general pages, image galleries, and other content types

• A variety of content types to suit your library, with the ability to modify and add to the list and feature set over time
• News or blogs: sort by date and add author information
• General pages or articles: Create and re-use rich content and formatting such as embedded book lists; embedded images, videos, and files; accordions; blockquotes; and embedded external widgets such as from LibraryAware, YouTube, and Vimeo
• Image galleries: upload and edit multiple images at once, and add captions and alternative image text
• Landing pages including the homepage: manage dynamic homepage blocks, with a combination of custom-built elements (including banners, featured cards, and more) as well as automated features (such as upcoming events, latest news, and more)
• eResources: build and manage a list of eResources that is shared across libraries
• Menus: simple for an editor to build and manage menu elements for the main menu, footer menu, and other relevant menus
• Forms: customize a contact form, or any custom form (such as "Suggest a Book"), with the ability to manage and export data in the back-end and configure multiple e-mail recipients

CMS back-end features

• Granular permissions for editors to manage multiple sites or a single site: editors can create and edit only exactly what is relevant
• Audit logs and version history of all changes
• Preview and stage changes before going live
• Taxonomy and tag management
• Multi-language support
• Easy to create short / vanity URLs

Service, support, and ongoing development

• CMS is actively supported by a development partner and a larger community rather than a homegrown system
• An agreement with a development partner and/or CMS vendor to provide ongoing updates, improvements, and feature additions to the CMS
• A service-oriented development partner
• An eye towards long-term, ongoing support
• An arrangement for hosting, whether on-premise or in the cloud, including staging sites, and backups
• Security measures: regular security patches, a secure hosting environment, encrypted passwords

Do you have additional library or library system CMS feature requirements? Are you looking for a CMS development partner with years of experience with library websites, as well as with various publishers? Read our case study about the Marigold & Peace Library System websites, and get in touch anytime.