[WEB4LIB] kiosk

[Andrew I. Mutch]

Avi,

You can manipulate the superkiosk mode to include the toolbar for
navigation - an example of a browser setup like that appears on the
instruction pages for the superkiosk mode.  Essentialy, you set the
browser to open in superkiosk mode and use the instructions from the
regular kiosk mode to open a new window [still in -sk mode] with whatever
features you want.  Also, I know include instructions on how to disable
the short-cut keys but with this caveat!  If you run in superkiosk mode
with the shortcut keys disabled, there is no way to exit from the browser
[unless you do this with javascript in a page - I haven't tried that
though] so you need to make sure that you include a way to close the
application outside of the browser.

You can "disable" some buttons in the prefs.js file.  
Also, you can automate logins with the TweakUI utility from Microsoft.

However, if you need a 100% reliable kiosk browser, I would look at some
of the third-party products built on either IE or NN.  Although there is a
cost involved, they do give you a degree of control that simply isn't
available with these free methods.  They work in most situations but I
can't guarantee them!

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI


On Thu, 16 Dec 1999, Avi Janssen wrote:

> I need to create a secure, tamper-proof kiosk that runs only Netscape or
> Internet Explorer and is restricted to one particular web page and several
> sub-pages.
         > 
> * I successfully locked-down the PC via user profiles and system policies so
> that the desktop is completely empty.
> * I read the great tutorial on kiosking Netscape at
> http://northville.lib.mi.us/tech/netscape.html.  From there I also learned
> how to limit the user to that one particular site.
> 
> * But I still need to navigate WITHIN the site, so I need the navigation
> bar.  Therefore super-kiosk mode won't help.  And then I'll need to disable
> or remove all the buttons except Back, Forward, and Home.
> * And I still need to disable the Close command with the mouse or Alt-F4.
> * And I would like a way to idiot-proof my machine.  In my setup, you still
> have to log-on and type in "password" as the password.  Any other ideas?
> Any way to automatically reboot the machine if it freezes?  I heard about
> Rebound! (http://www.sophisticated.com/software/sw_pkrb.html), but that's
> only for Macs.  I'm looking into DeepFreeze and WinSelect by Hyper
> Technologies (http://www.hypertec.com/).  Any other ideas?
> 
> Avi Janssen
> Information Services Manager
> Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
> 618 S. Michigan Ave.
> Chicago, IL  60605
> voice: 312-322-1736
> fax: 312-922-6406
> pager: 888-786-6828
>