Best Practices for LibGuides at UCLA

Before you type a single word into your guide, make sure you know these rules!

1. To link to a resource...
   1. Add a Database if you want to link to any resource in the A-Z list.
   2. Add a Book from the Catalog only if you want to include cover art.
   3. To link to anything else (including a book without cover art), add a Link.
   4. Avoid linking to resources in the Rich Text Editor. LibGuides' link checker and statistics module won't work on those.
2. Don't copy and paste directly from Word.
3. Keep it short, especially in titles for guides, pages, and boxes.
4. Use the Library Website Style Guide.
5. Link to the catalog rather than listing locations and call numbers which you'll have to keep track of. (And use the permalink, don't just copy the URL from your browser.)
6. Use shared content. If you're typing or copying the same words over and over, then you're wasting your time (both now and in the future when you need to edit 500 individual boxes). See Masterboxes.
7. Guides with lots of colors and font sizes don't look "cool" or "interesting." They just look confusing.
8. After you've made your first page or two, stop! Show it to your unit's web developer or someone who's done a few guides and find out all the things you're doing wrong (there are always some!) so you don't keep doing them for another twenty pages.