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01

From a blank account to a live public list in under an hour.

Getting started

Your library gets its own address, for example rigby.refbytesaz.com, and an admin area at /admin. RefBytes creates the account and the first owner login; the owner invites everyone else under Staff users.

The first hour

  1. Branding & settings. Add the library name, logo, and colors. The primary color is checked against white for WCAG contrast. Write the access explainer: one paragraph telling patrons what "Card required" means and how to get a card.
  2. Proxies. If off-site patrons log in through EZproxy or OpenAthens, add it under Proxies. Paste the prefix (https://ezproxy.example.org/login?url=) or a template with {url}. Set it as the default for new databases.
  3. Import your list. Under Databases → Import, download the template, fill it in (or export from your old spreadsheet with matching column names), and upload. You will see a preview of what will be created before anything is written.
  4. Match your website (optional). Under Settings → Advanced, paste your site's header and footer HTML and use placeholders such as {{ nav }}, {{ logo }}, and {{ library_name }} where the A-Z should fill things in. Add custom CSS inline or upload a stylesheet.
  5. Check the public page. Open View public list from the sidebar. Everything with status Active shows there within a minute.

Roles

Role Can
Owner Everything, including billing
Admin Staff users, branding, proxies, librarian profiles, and everything below
Editor Databases, subjects, types, vendors, agreements, invoices, and their own librarian profile
Viewer Read-only access to the admin and reports, and their own librarian profile