Site and List Customization Made Easy with LISTSERV 17.0

By Jani Kumpula
Senior Webmaster/User Interface Designer, L-Soft

In the two most recent issues, you got a preview of the responsive HTML newsletter creator and the new and improved list archives in LISTSERV 17.0. Now let's take a look at the new site and list customization features, which allow organizations to easily tailor the web interface to match their graphic profiles.

Site Customization

In previous versions of LISTSERV, any customization of the web interface required extensive HTML and CSS coding in the relevant layout templates. The new site customization feature makes the process of putting your organization's stamp on the web interface much easier. When you enter the site customization screen, you are presented with a number of categories that allow you to customize sections of the web interface through simple pulldown menus and input boxes with no HTML or CSS coding.

The "Color Scheme" section at the top of the screen contains 24 color schemes and offers the easiest way to customize the web interface. You can simply select the color scheme that matches your organization's graphic profile, which will change the color of the main navigation bar as well as report headers, links and other accent colors.

If none of the predefined color schemes meet your needs, you can simply use the color picker and enter any color that you want to use for an exact match.

To include a custom logo for your organization in the main navigation bar, you can simply enter the URL pointing to the location of the image under "Custom Logo". Since the LISTSERV web interface is responsive and allows users to view the interface on mobile devices with viewports as small as 320px, the custom logo should not be more than 200px wide, minus any padding, to leave room for the navigation icons. Note that you may need to change the height of the navigation bar if your logo is more than 40px tall.

You can also use an entirely graphical top banner by entering the URL pointing to the banner under "Background Image" and choosing the appropriate size, positioning and repeating for the image.

Beyond changes to the main navigation bar, the various sections on the customization screen offer very granular control of all parts of the web interface. You can change the fonts, sizes, link colors and background colors with just a few mouse clicks.

List Customization

The same ease of customization is also extended to individual lists. While only site administrators can make sitewide changes to the web interface, individual list owners can customize their own list pages using the same menu options. Simply select the list that you want to customize in the list selector.

After that, you can make exactly the same type of customization changes as above, except that now the customization is limited to a single list.

This means that all list-related pages, including archives, login and subscription screens, message posting interface and archive search will have the new customized look.

Beta Testing

Beta testing of LISTSERV 17.0 starts soon, and we need organizations to participate. If you're interested in being a beta tester or want to learn more, contact us at: beta@lsoft.com.

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