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LibGuides @ UBC

General Tips

  • Determine if the content should be in LibGuides or UBC Wiki or CMS/WordPress or a combination
  • Use a template or copy a guide to maintain consistency of appearance with other branches/divisions
  • Use the space on the homepage wisely: include key resources, related guides
  • Avoid long paragraphs of content; use lists
  • Assign subject categories & groups
    • Published guides will appear on the UBC Library Research Guides portal, under subjects guides, course guides, and an A-Z list
    • Subject categories have been defined by the system administrators. For a guide to appear under a subject heading on the portal, it must have at least one subject association
  • Assign tags to increase findability of guide.
    • Do not tag with the title of the guide or peripheral information (e.g. do not tag 'Databases')
  • Assign friendly URLs for guides and pages for easier navigation for users
    • Use only alphanumeric characters, dashes, forward-slashes, and underscores
    • Use underscore (_) or hypen (-) to indicate a space
    • Consider using only lowercase letters to keep things simple (system is case-sensitive)
    • More information at Are Your Links Descriptive?
  • Display previous and next page links on a guide
  • Do NOT modify the CLF (Common Look and Feel); do not add colours to boxes or headings

Reuse Content

Reuse content rather than recreating it whenever possible.

  • Reuse links 
  • Reuse or copy an existing box in a guide
  • Ensure that databases (in reusable boxes and anywhere else) are linked from the Assets library so that updates to the Assets list will automatically update on guides
  • It would be useful to create a storage guide of commonly re/used boxes (lists, tips, search boxes [widgets], etc.) like the Reusable Content in this guide

Adding Images

Using the Image Manager

  1. In the Rich Text/HTML box, place the cursor where the image should be and click on the Image () button on the second row of the toolbar
  2. In the Image Properties window, click the Browse Server button
  3. In the Image Manager window, select or upload a new image
    • To upload and insert a new image, click the Upload New Image (any JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, or ICO file up to 5MB in size)
    • To insert an existing image, click on the Reuse this Image () icon under its thumbnail
  4. In the Image Properties window, customize the image using the options under the Image Info tab
    • URL: this contains the URL of the image from the Image Manager library
    • Alternative Text: it is recommended to add effective alternative text
    • Width and Height: customize the dimensions of the image.
      • When the padlock icon is locked, entering a width or height will automatically calculate the other dimension so the image retains its aspect ratio
      • Click on the padlock icon to toggle the aspect ratio on/off
      • Restore the default dimensions by clicking on the Reset Size icon
  5. To link the image to a URL, click on the Link tab
    • URL: enter the URL of the page to link to
    • Target: select whether to open the link in the current window or a new window.
  6. Click OK to insert the image.
  7. Save the changes to Rich Text/HTML content item

For more information, see How to add and edit images...

Tips for Images

  • Be conscious of copyright
  • Resize (e.g. resizr) before uploading to enable faster page loading
  • Compress larger images
  • Provide descriptive text ("alt tags")

Publication Status

Decide if the status should be 'private' or 'published'