All Pratt LibGuides use the same visual style by default, and overall guide appearance is configured by Pratt LibGuides admins and applied universally. However, the way you structure your guide and organize content across pages is up to you. Below are a few core elements and advice for creating a well-organized guide.
For detailed guidance on titling, subject assignment, and tagging your guide, view our recommended Naming Convention, Type and Subject Assignment, and Tagging.
A guide’s description is the line of text directly below the title, visible on all pages of the guide. When adding a description to your guide, aim for a one sentence summary that might help users quickly and easily understand the purpose of your guide.
The home page or start page is the page that loads by default when a user opens your guide.
Be sure to clearly label your start page (“Home”, “Welcome”, “Getting Started”, or “Start Here”) and include some brief introductory content. Aim to summarize what users can expect to find in your guide’s various pages and why that guide may be useful to them.
Sidebar navigation is our default configuration in LibGuides. Users can navigate through the various pages of your guide by clicking them in the side navbar.
By default, subpages will only display in the navigation menu when viewing their top-level page. You can also make subpages appear permanently in your sidebar navigation--or toggle on box-level navigation--by adjusting your side-nav settings.
Top-level pages (frequently referred to as simply “pages”) and subpages have a parent-child, nesting relationship. Most often, you’ll be adding pages and only configuring subpages as needed to reduce scrolling. However you decide to organize your pages and subpages, make sure you are consistent and aim for parallel organization across pages.
Common top-level pages on our guides include: articles, journals, databases, books, video, data, and websites.
Be sure to include a point-of-contact in your guide. You can do this by adding a Profile Box to your guide, or by referencing a contact email on your guide’s home/start page
Default URLs are long, ugly, and not easily interpreted by humans. Friendly URLs are easier to read in address bars, emails, and on printed materials. Plus, they're easy to recall and share at the Research Desk or in instruction sessions.
When assigning a friendly URL, keep words minimal and lowercase. Use dashes and numbers sparingly, and avoid special characters and underscores.