Website Publishing Guide

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Website Publishing Guide

Goal

Our goal is to provide an informative, easy to use website for all patrons that includes clear navigation, consistency, visual appeal, and accuracy. Library workgroups are responsible for periodically checking webpage content for these elements.

On This Page

Getting Started
Site Structure
Guidelines
CSS
Tips
History

Getting Started

Before you create a webpage you should be able to answer these questions:

How does the page fit into the organization of the existing site?
- Use existing folders. Creating first level folders is prohibited without prior permission.
Is your page duplicating information that exists on the site?
- Link to the information instead of recreating the data or embed information using APIs.
- Example: Library hours are only posted on https://library.lanecc.edu/about/hours. Hours should not repeated on individual pages except in the right sidebar.
- Example: Embed Libguide boxes, widgets, etc.
Am I willing to update the page to keep the information current by periodically checking for broken links, the currency of the content, and when the page is obsolete, delete the page and those links that link to it?
- Creating web pages can be a fun way to express your creativity. However it is also a challenge to keep the site up-to-date and accurate that requires a commitment from all web publishers.

Site Structure

The Library's website architecture is hierarchical. The top level of the site only contains the Library's main page, https://library.lanecc.edu. Beneath the top level are folders and sub-folders which contain all the other pages of the site.

Top level folders are pre-defined and cannot be added to without prior approval.

Top level folders:

about: Includes the index page, "About Us", plus principles, profile, hours, manual, floor map, spotlights, displays, and art in the Library.
circ: Includes circulation policies, interlibrary loan service, borrowing materials, and advance reservations.
collection: Special collections - picture books, esl...
find: Includes links to find articles and databases (Libguides), online encyclopedias and dictionaries, current events and statistics, and citation guides
howtos: Includes the index page, "Research How-tos", Tutorials and handouts, Moodle widgets, information literacy.
inklings: The faculty newsletter.
instruction: Includes the index page, "Instruction", plus classroom policy, instruction request form.
lists: Includes new books and dvds list, browse the shelves and other browsable material lists.
reserves: Includes course reserve information and reserve request form.
services: Includes services for faculty and students.
staff: Staff directory and staff webpages
suggest: Includes make a suggestion form, and purchase request form.

Other folders (outside of Drupal):

custom: Google search, header_footer, ill form (Primo passthrough), scripts, widgets, vendors (custom files)

Guidelines

All pages must conform to the Library's Website Guidelines.
All pages (including staff pages) must conform to college standards.
- Lane's Web Guidelines
Use of Headings (from LCC Content Guidelines)
- AP style for headings within a webpage
- The exception is for sentences that include punctuation such as a question mark. Those headings are written in sentence style.
  
  Examples:
  
  Video Services for Faculty (AP heading)
  Ask the Web Team (AP heading)
  Request Help Desk Assistance (AP heading)
  Newspapers and Current Events (AP heading)
  Writing a Paper (AP heading)
  Who can borrow? (sentence style)
  Where can books be delivered? (sentence style)
  When can I pick up my book? (sentence style)

Drupal and CSS

Drupal is to be used to create and edit pages on the Library's website. The exception to this are the pages in the "/custom" folder that cannot live inside of Drupal for technical reasons.
Webpage publishers may not use other headings, subheadings, body fonts, or link colors that are not predefined in the Library's CSS. Changes to the style sheets must have prior approval.

Tips

Make link text meaningful
- Avoid "click here" at all costs. Here are some options:
  Instead of, "To request an interlibrary loan, click here" try:
  "To request an interlibrary loan, see Interlibrary Loan Request Form" or
  "Request an interlibrary loan" (preferred)
Computer terms: is it website, web site or Web site? and other common questions.
- web: lower case
- webpage: lower case, no hyphen
- website: lower case, no hyphen
- homepage: lower case, no hyphen. Special note: There is only one homepage and it is located at www.lanecc.edu. The Library's site, https://library.lanecc.edu is referred to as Library Main Page.
- Internet: upper case
- ebook: lower case, no hyphen
- email: lower case, no hyphen
- ereader: lower case, no hyphen
- noncredit: no hyphen
- online: lower case, no hyphen
- sentence spacing: one