Persistent UI-Elements

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The following sections present elements that appear or remain consistent in the UI for all users.

The Alma Home Page

The home page is the initial page that appears when you log in to Alma. You return to the Alma home page when you click the logo in the persistent menu or when you cancel certain actions in Alma.

Alma Home Page Elements

The elements on the Alma home page and items available in the menus depend on your user role and the information available at your institution. However, the home page always presents:

Persistent Menu – For information, see The Persistent Menu)
Maintenance Message (if there is one to display) – A message about upcoming maintenance may appear under the persistent menu. Click Dismiss to dismiss the message and prevent its reappearance.

Maintenance Message
Predefined or Customized Widgets – The widgets that appear are relevant to your user role and the current status of your system. Some of these widgets contain links that you can click to view more information. For information on displaying or removing these widgets, see Managing Widgets.

Managing Widgets

You can display or remove widgets from the Alma home page.

The following other documentation discusses widgets:

An administrator can configure the availability and contents of the widgets. For more information, see Configuring Widgets.
For information on the Scheduled Job widget, see Viewing Scheduled Job Summary Status.
For information on the Primo search box widget, see Adding Primo’s Search Box to the Alma Home Page.
For information on Analytics contents for widgets, see Displaying Analytics Reports in Alma.
For information on the Sandboxes widget, see The Sandboxes Widget.

To display a widget on the Alma home page:

Click Add Widget in the persistent menu on the Alma home page. A list of the widgets that are defined for your user privilege appear. For example:

Add Widget
Click the gray check mark to the left of the widget that you want to display. The check mark becomes yellow to indicate that the widget is active. To remove a widget while you are on this page, click the yellow check mark to the left of the widget. The check mark becomes gray to indicate that the widget is not active.
For example, if you select the check mark next to Notifications, the following widget (that is, the Notifications Web page that was created and then defined on the Customize Widgets page) is displayed on the home page:

Notifications Widget
Click Close when you are done.

To remove a widget from the Alma home page:

Click Remove in the drop-down menu at the top right corner of the widget.

Notifications Widget - Remove

The Persistent Menu

Every page in Alma has the same header, which is called the persistent menu.

Persistent Menu

The persistent menu contains the following elements:

Logo – The logo of your consortia or institution. Click the logo on any page to return to the Alma home page.
Welcome Message – Includes your user name.
Alma Main Menu – The main menu used to navigate in Alma. Throughout this document, any reference to this menu uses a path of menu and sub-menu elements as follows: main section > sub-section > specific option, for example Resource Management > Search > Repository Search. If the resulting page is also a menu of options, these options may appear in the documentation as additional elements to the path.

Alma Main Menu
Select an option to navigate to the relevant page and close the menu. You can also click the X in the top right corner to close the menu.
The options in the Alma main menu depend on several factors, in particular the library/location to which you are logged in (Switching Library Desks/Departments) and your user role (see Managing User Roles). For the roles that are required to see each option, see User Roles – Descriptions and Accessible Components.
Persistent Search Box – The quickest method of searching Alma, whether for library items, purchase orders, or users. For more information, see Using the Persistent Search Box.

Persistent Search Box and List of Options
Tasks List – A list of task types that may require your attention. Each line indicates the task type and the number of tasks of that type. Select a line to open the page that enables you to manage these task types. For more information see Tasks in the Task List.

Tasks List
Analytics Link – A menu of links to Analytics pages that are relevant to your user roles. For more information about configuring these links, see Displaying Analytics Reports in Alma.

Analytics Drop-Down Menu
Library/Desk Selector – The physical location at which you are currently located. For more information, see Switching Library Desks/Departments.
Help Link – A menu of help options. Select one of:
- Browse Online Help – Open the Online Help.
- Help For This Page – Open the Online Help page that is relevant to the current UI page that you are on.
- What’s New Videos – View a page with links to the most recent video tutorials.
- Hide (or View) “Show Me How” – Not relevant at this time.
- Alma Release Schedule – Display a pop-up with the last several, and next several, Alma release dates.
  
  Release Dates Pop-up
  The current release version and build number appear at the bottom of the Help menu.
- Suggest an Idea – Suggest an idea to Ex Libris. Click to open the Ex Libris Idea Exchange page in a new window.
  
  Ex Libris Idea Exchange
  
  Your administrator may have removed this link. See Configuring Other Settings.
- Generate Tracking ID - You can generate a tracking ID that assists Ex Libris in debugging, by clicking the new Generate Tracking ID link from the Persistent Menu (Help > Generate Tracking ID). Use this option when an error occurs and the standard error message with a tracking ID does not appear automatically. Generate the ID as soon as possible after the error occurs. This ID enables Ex Libris to provide better initial analysis of the issues that you are encountering and helps identify inconsistent problems. Provide this ID in any Salesforce issue that you open. The following is an example of a tracking ID:
  
  Generate Tracking ID
  
  The tracking ID is not enough on its own to resolve your issue. You should still provide as many details of the problem as possible, such as the steps in the workflow that led to the error, which entities were involved (user identifier, item barcode, etc.), and any other information that could be relevant.
  
  Watch the Tracking ID Generator video
User Menu – Your user name appears as a link. Click the link to open the User Menu. The options in this menu are as follows:
- In some institutions, the first item in the menu is a language selector that you can use to change the language used in the UI. See To change the language of the interface, below.
- Change Password – Change your password. See To change your password, below.
- User Details – Display details about your user on the User Details page. For more information, see Editing Users.
- Detach from social account – If your user account has been associated with a social account and you wish to disassociate the two, click this option to do so. This only appears if the user account is associated with a social account.
- Sign Out – Log out. See Logging Into and Out of the User Interface.
Add Widget Button (appears only on the Alma home page) – Display a widget on the home page. See Managing Widgets.

To change the language of the interface:

Click your user name at the top right corner of any page. A drop-down menu appears. The top item in the menu is a drop-down sub-menu with the available languages for the user interface.
Select a new language from the drop-down sub-menu.
The user interface changes to the selected language. Currencies and numbers in the UI and exported Excel files change to match the standard defined by the language (with commas, periods, and spaces in the appropriate locations).

To change your password:

Click your user name at the top right corner of any page. A drop-down menu appears.
Select Change Password from the menu. The Change Password page appears.

Change Password Page
Enter your current password and your new password in the relevant fields.
Click Save. Your new password is saved.

Depending on your institution’s setup, you may be required to use passwords of a certain length, to include certain characters in your password, or to change your password at certain times.

Switching Library Desks/Departments

Alma presents to you the features and options that are relevant to your user role and your logged in desk or department.

You can see your current logged in desk/department in the Currently At field in the top menu on any page.

If your institution is part of a collaborative network and you are permitted to switch between member institutions (you have a user account in multiple institutions), you can also switch between institutions. For more information, see Switching Between Institutions.

To switch the UI to another desk/department:

Click the Currently At link in the top menu on any page. A dialog box appears.

Choose Your Current Desk/Department Dialog Box
Select the desired desk or department and click Select. The UI changes to present the available options and pages relevant to the new desk or department.

Tasks in the Task List

The following tasks can appear in the task list:

Borrowing requests - New - with no partner
Borrowing requests - Overdue
Borrowing requests cancelled by partner
Borrowing requests recalled
Borrowing requests returned by patron
Borrowing requests with active general messages
Borrowing requests with active notes
For information about managing borrowing requests, see Managing Resource Sharing Borrowing Requests.
Electronic resources - activation - assigned to you
Electronic resources - activation - passed due date - assigned to you
Electronic resources - activation - passed due date - unassigned
Electronic resources - activation - unassigned
For information about activating electronic resources, see Managing Electronic Resource Activation.
Import (EOD) - match issues
Import (EOD) - validation issues
Import - match issues
Import - validation issues
For information about resolving import issues, see Resolving Import Issues.
Invoices - approval - assigned to you
Invoices - approval - without assignment
Invoices - review - assigned to you
Invoices - review - without assignment
For information about reviewing and approving invoices, see Reviewing Invoices and Approving Invoices.
Items - deposit
Items - digitization
Items - document delivery
Requests - Digitization - need approval
These tasks only appear when you are at a digitization department. For information about managing digitization requests, see Digitization Processing.
Items - in department
Requests - All - pickup from shelf
For information about managing items, see Managing Requests and Work Orders and Pickup at Shelf.
Lending requests - New - assigned to you
Lending requests - New - unassigned
Lending requests - Overdue - assigned to you
Lending requests - Overdue - unassigned
Lending requests - Recalled - assigned to you
Lending requests - Recalled - unassigned
Lending requests failed locate - assigned to you
Lending requests failed locate - unassigned
Lending requests with active general messages - assigned to you
Lending requests with active general messages - unassigned
Lending requests with active notes - assigned to you
Lending requests with active notes - unassigned
For information about managing lending requests, see Managing Resource Sharing Lending Requests.
Order Lines - deferred - assigned to you
Order Lines - packaging
Order Lines - review - assigned to you
Order Lines - review - unassigned
Order Lines - waiting for renewal
Order Lines in evaluation - analysis
Order Lines in evaluation - draft
Order Lines in evaluation - requested
Order Lines with claims
Orders - approval
Orders - review
For information about managing PO lines, POs (orders), renewals, deferrals, and evaluations, see Reviewing PO Lines, Reviewing POs, Processing Renewals, Reviewing Deferred PO Lines, and Managing Trials.
Purchase requests - assigned to you
Purchase requests - unassigned
For information about managing patron purchase requests, see Managing Patron Purchase Requests.
Reading lists - unassigned
Reading lists - assigned to me - reading for processing
Reading lists - unassigned - citation has a new note
Reading lists - assigned to me - citation has a new note
For information about managing reading lists, see Managing Reading Lists.

Global Alma Hotkeys

The following global keyboard shortcuts (shortcut keys) are available in Alma:

General Actions
- F2 – Opens/closes the Alma main menu
- F3 – Opens the Advanced Search page
- Ctrl+Alt+F – Places your cursor in the persistent search box in the top bar:
  
  Persistent Search Box
- Shift+F2 – Opens the Alma home page
- Alt+B - Back
- Alt+N - Next
- Alt+E - Edit
- Alt+S - Save
- Alt+S - Save
- Alt+C - Cancel/Close
- Esc / Alt+C - Cancel/Close (for popups)
- Ctrl+Alt+S - Opens the Scanning interface
- Alt+R - Opens the Returns interface
- Alt+P - Opens the Pick From Shelf interface
- Alt+W - Opens the Patron Workbench
List Navigation
- Alt+> - Next
- Alt+< - Previous
- Alt+[ - First page
- Alt+] - Last page
- Alt+\ - Find (focus on input box above list)

Additional shortcuts are available on the Patron Services (see Managing Patron Services) and Manage Item Returns (see Returning Items) pages.

For information on the keyboard shortcuts available in the MD Editor, see MD Editor Menu and Toolbar Options.

Info Icon

You can see additional information about certain items by clicking the Info ALM_overview.2.1.24.jpg

icon on some pages in Alma—for example Transaction Details (Acquisitions > Acquisitions Infrastructure > Funds and Ledgers > Edit Allocated Fund > Transactions Tab > Actions > View), the Electronic Task Details Summary Tab (Resource Management > Manage Electronic Resource Activation > Actions > Edit), or the History tab on the Physical Item Editor page.

When you click the Info icon, a pop-up appears with information about the item on the page: created by, last updated by user/job, and (where applicable) modified by information.

Info Icon Popup

User Information Icon

You can display user information by clicking the User Information icon

beside a user name on various pages and pop-up windows, such as the User Details page.

Creator Info Icon

Click the icon to display user information:

User Information

An administrator can define which user information fields are displayed in this pop-up box. See Configuring User Information for Pop-ups.

Translate Information Icon

If your institution supports multiple languages, Alma translates system-defined UI elements, such as messages and field names into the language selected by the user. You may also want to enable the user to view certain entered information in the user's selected language.

A limited number of fields in Alma support this ability. When multiple languages are enabled, these fields appear with a translate information icon

. For example:

Click the icon to open a dialog box that enables you to enter the field's information in the other enabled languages.

Tabs

Many pages contain too much information to fit on one page, or information that is better grouped together on subpages. These pages contain tabs at the top of the information. On some pages, the name of the page and some information at the top of the page (above the tabs) remains as you navigate between tabs. On other pages, navigating to a new tab may change the page name and remove or replace the top information.

In addition, man pages contains tabs with similar functionality. For more information, see Common Alma Tabs.

"Has Content" Icon

When a page contains multiple tabs, a blue icon ALM_overview.2.1.21.jpg

indicates that the tab has user-configured or system-generated content and a gray icon ALM_overview.2.1.22.jpg

indicates that the tab does not have content.

For example:

Example of Has Indicator Icon

The tabs in the Electronic Collection Editor are sensitive only to the list information that they contain. Although these tabs may contain information in the form sections, the “Has Content” icon still appears as gray.

Common Alma Tabs

Many pages in Alma contain tabs with similar functionality.

Assigned to Me, Unassigned, Assigned to Others Tabs

For pages that include items waiting for attention from an operator, the items are typically divided into three tabs:

Assigned to Me - These items are assigned to you. This tab provides the most options, typically including the option to unassign the item or assign the item to another operator.
Unassigned - These items are not assigned to any operator. You may be able to perform most actions on this page, but not as many as you can perform on the Assigned to Me tab. If you have the relevant permissions, this tab also allows you to unassign the item or assign the item to yourself or to another operator.
Assigned to Others - These items are assigned to another operator. This tab provides the fewest actions to perform. If you have the relevant permissions, this tab allows you to unassign the item or assign the item to yourself or to another operator.

When you click to change the assignment, a dialog box appears. You can enter the target operator, an optional note, and whether to notify the operator by email.

Assign To Dialog Box

Notes Tab

The Notes tab enables you to view, add, or remove notes that are relevant to the page. It appears on many Alma pages, such as:

The PO Line Summary page when editing a PO line
The Physical Item Editor page when editing item records
The License Terms Details page when editing license details
The Vendor Details page when editing vendor information

Add a note using the Quick Add box:

Notes Tab

Click Actions > Edit to edit a note:

Edit Note

To delete a note, select Actions > Delete for the note that you want to delete and click Confirm in the Confirmation Message pop-up window.

To locate a note in the list of notes, enter the text for which you want to search in the Find box and select the field—Created by, Modified by, or Note—in which you want to search for the text.

Attachments Tab

The Attachments tab enables you to view, attach, and remove attachments relevant to the page. It appears on many Alma pages, such as:

The Trial Details tab when editing trial information
The Invoice Details page when editing invoices
The Resource Sharing Borrowing request page when editing a borrowing request.

Attachments Tab

To add an attachment, click Browse in the File name field and select a file. Add a URL and/or note, if required, and click Add Attachment. The attachment appears in the list of attachments in the Attachments tab.
To edit an attachment, select Actions > Edit for the attachment that you want to update, modify the File name, URL, and Notes fields as required, and click Save Attachment.
To delete an attachment, select Actions > Delete for the attachment that you want to delete and click Confirm in the Confirmation Message pop-up window.
To download a file, select Actions > Download for the file that you want to download, specify the folder to which you want to save the file, and click OK.

History Tab

The History tab displays the history of changes to the fields on the page. It appears on many Alma pages, such as:

The PO Line Summary page when editing a PO line
The Physical Item Editor page when editing item records
The License Terms Details page when editing license details

History Tab

In some instances, the History tab contains radio buttons that allow you to change the types of changes appearing in the list. For example:

History Tab with Radio Buttons

The History tab of the Monitoring Jobs page has a different functionality. For more information, see Viewing Running Jobs.