LibGuide Sustainability & Troubleshooting

The Content Box widget allows you to share a box from one of your guides. 

 Want to reuse a box in another guide? For best results, we recommend that you copy or map the box. Content box widgets are intended for displaying a box outside of LibGuides (such as your library's website).

1. Log into LibGuides and go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Content Box tab.
3. In the Box Selection section, select the guide that the box is in from the Guides dropdown.
4. Then select the box to use in the widget from the Box dropdown.
   • Note: Boxes are organized by the pages they are on.
5. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format. The format options give you two basic options:
   • Simple: this embeds the widget content directly into the page, with the widgets styles and JavaScript code running right alongside the other content on the page -- this includes the jQuery and Bootstrap libraries, so be careful when trying to embed these on pages that already include these libraries (such as LibGuides and other Springshare products).
     • If you choose this option, you can select the Embed Type - if you're not sure which option to use, we recommend JavaScript. 
   • Framed: this displays the widget inside of an iframe element on the page. The widget's content, styles, and JavaScript will be contained within the iframe, rather than directly on the page itself. This is a good option to choose if the Simple output format creates issues on your page.
     • If you choose this option, you can set the Height and Width of the iframe element.
6. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.
   1. Do you need to include the jQuery library? If you are embedding this content box in any Springy app (i.e. LibGuides, LibAnswers, LibCal), do not check this checkbox. Our pages already include jQuery and including it again will break the page. For all other pages, check with its admin about whether or not you need to include it. Including jQuery is only necessary if it's not already present on your host page.

The Guide / Page widget allows you to share an entire guide in another site, or just a single page. 

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Guide / Page tab.
3. In the Guide Selection section, select the guide that the box is in from the Guide dropdown.
   1. If you want to create a widget for a specific page in the guide, select it from the Page dropdown. If no page is selected, the widget will load the home page of the guide and allow users to navigate between all pages in the guide.
   2. To enable navigation to other pages in the guide, (optionally) check the Enable Navigation checkbox. When this option is unchecked, only the page selected in the builder will be accessible via the widget.

4. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format. The format options give you two basic options:

   Output format: Simple
   Output format: Framed

   Additional Options:

   • If you choose the Framed output, you can set the Height and Width.
     
5. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

The Guides widget creates a list of guides. You can create a variety of lists:

• All guides
• Guides with a certain word or phrase in the title
• Guides in a specific subject category or group
• Guides with a certain tag
• Guides by a specific librarian
• Guides of a certain type (ex. all course guides)

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Guides tab.

3. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format and List Format. The format options give you four basic options:

   Output format: Simple List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Simple List List format: Drop-down menu with links
   Output format: Framed List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Framed List List format: Drop-down menu with links

   Additional Options:

   • If you choose the Simple List output, you can select the Embed Type - if you're not sure which option to use, we recommend JavaScript. You can also choose the Link Target - whether links open in a new window or the same window.
     
   • If you choose the Framed List output, you can set the Title, Height, Width, and Link Color.
     
   • If you choose the Bulleted list, list format, you can click the Display Description checkbox to include guide descriptions in the widget.
     
   • If you choose one of the drop-down options, you can change the Default Text for the dropdown.
     
4. Select the number of guides that should appear in your list in the Number of Results field. If you leave this empty, it will show all guides that match your criteria. If you do that, we recommend you select Hide "More Results" Link - if you're showing all the results, there are no additional results to show.
5. In the Search section of the builder, you can optionally specify search terms that need to be in the guide title, group name or subject category.
   1. Matching: Choose to have the term contained in the field or an exact match of the term.
   2. Limit to: Check the Group and/or Subject checkboxes to also search those fields.
   3. Terms: Type the text that will be searched.
6. In the Filters section, add any filters (where you can add multiple items for each filter and also add multiple filter types) for the widget:
   4. Groups: Select any group(s) that the guides are assigned.
   5. Subjects: Select any subject(s) that the guides are assigned.
   6. Accounts: Select the account(s) that own the guides.
   7. Guide Types: Select the guide type(s) that the guides are assigned.
   8. Tags: Select any tags that are assigned to the guides.
7. In the Display Order section, choose the order of the guides. Choose from:
   • Guide Name (A-Z)
   • Guide Name (Alphanumeric)
   • Popularity / Number of Hits (most popular first)
   • Date Published (newest first)
   • Relevance (full-text index)
8. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

The Groups widget creates a list of groups. You can create a variety of lists: 

• All groups
• Groups that only contain published guides
• Groups and their associated guides

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Groups tab.

3. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format and List Format. The format options give you four basic options:

   Output format: Simple List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Simple List List format: Drop-down menu with links
   Output format: Framed List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Framed List List format: Drop-down menu with links

   Additional Options:

   • If you choose the Simple List output, you can select the Embed Type - if you're not sure which option to use, we recommend JavaScript. You can also choose the Link Target - whether links open in a new window or the same window.
     
   • If you choose the Framed List output, you can set the Title, Height, Width, and Link Color.
     
   • If you choose the Bulleted list, list format, you can click the Display Description checkbox to include group descriptions in the widget.
     
   • If you choose one of the drop-down options, you can change the Default Text for the dropdown.
     
4. In the Filters section, you can manually select the groups to be included in the list.
5. In the Guide Information section, you can use the Status option to choose to include groups that have no published guides or limit to only groups with published guides.
6. The Guide Information section also includes a set of Association options (that are enabled/disabled based on the list format that is in use) where you can choose to:
   • Include the guide titles with link
   • Include guide titles and full guide descriptions
   • Do not include the guide list
7. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

When you create a Search Box widget, you can allow users to search either your public guides or databases in your A-Z Database List -- from almost any page! Simply follow the steps below to create your widget, then use the provided HTML code to embed it into the HTML code of your webpage.

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Search Box tab.
3. In the Search Type section, choose Guides or A-Z Databases. This selection determines what content will be searched via the widget -- all published guides or the A-Z database list.
4. In the Embed Type section, choose either JavaScript code or URL for the widget type to use.
5. In the Look & Feel and Filters section, (optionally) configure the widget further:
   1. Placeholder Text: change the text that is displayed in the search box.
   2. Button Text: change the text of the search button.
   3. Width: adjust the width of the search box field.
   4. Group: choose a group to limit the guide search box to when building a widget that searches the guide content.
6. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

The Subjects widget creates a list of subject categories. You can create a variety of lists: 

• All subject categories
• Subject categories that only contain published guides
• Subject categories and their associated guides

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Subjects tab.

3. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format and List Format. The format options give you four basic options:

   Output format: Simple List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Simple List List format: Drop-down menu with links
   Output format: Framed List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Framed List List format: Drop-down menu with links

   Additional Options:

   • If you choose the Simple List output, you can select the Embed Type - if you're not sure which option to use, we recommend JavaScript. You can also choose the Link Target - whether links open in a new window or the same window.
     
   • If you choose the Framed List output, you can set the Title, Height, Width, and Link Color.
     
   • If you choose one of the drop-down options, you can change the Default Text for the dropdown.
     
4. In the Guide Information section, you can use the Status option to choose to include subjects that have no published guides or limit to only subjects with published guides.
5. The Guide Information section also includes a set of Association options (that are enabled/disabled based on the list format that is in use) where you can choose to:
   • Include the guide titles with link
   • Include guide titles and full guide descriptions
   • Do not include the guide list
6. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

The Tags widget creates a list of tags. 

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Tags tab.

3. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format and List Format. The format options give you six options:

   Output format: Simple List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Simple List List format: Drop-down menu with links
   Output format: Simple List List format: Tag cloud with links
   Output format: Framed List List format: Bulleted list, one item per line
   Output format: Framed List List format: Drop-down menu with links
   Output format: Framed List List format: Tag cloud with links

   Additional Options:

   • If you choose the Simple List output, you can select the Embed Type - if you're not sure which option to use, we recommend JavaScript. You can also choose the Link Target - whether links open in a new window or the same window.
     
   • If you choose the Framed List output, you can set the Title, Height, Width, and Link Color.
     
   • If you choose one of the drop-down options, you can change the Default Text for the dropdown.
     
   • If you choose one of the tag cloud options, you can change the Min Font Size and Max Font Size for the links in the cloud.
     
4. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

The Users widget creates a list of LibGuides users, with links to their public profile pages. You can create a variety of lists, such as: 

• All users
• Specific users (you pick)
• Users with published guides only

Creating a Users widget 

1. Go to  Tools > Widgets from the command bar.
2. Then click on the Users tab.
3. In the Look & Feel section, choose your Output Format and List Format. Check out the Widget Examples section below to see how each combination looks.
   • Output format: Simple List will display the list of names directly on your page, while Framed List will display the list of names inside of an iframe box.
   • List format: Bulleted List will display a simple, unordered list of users, while Dropdown Menu will display the names inside of a collapsible dropdown menu.
   • Depending upon the output and list formats that you select, you'll see additional options that you can configure.
     • If you choose the Simple List output, you can select the Embed Type. If you're not sure which option to use, we recommend JavaScript. You can also choose the Link Target - whether links open in a new window or the same window.
     • If you choose the Framed List output, you can set the Title, Height, Width, and Link Color.
     • If you choose one of the drop-down options, you can change the Default Text for the dropdown.
4. In the Filters section, you can manually select accounts to be included in the list.
5. In the Guide Information section, you can choose to include accounts that have no published guides or limit to only accounts with published guides.
6. Grab the code for the widget from the Embed Code box.

Widget Examples

Simple, bulleted list

• Output format: Simple List
• List format: Bulleted list, one item per line

Simple dropdown menu

• Output format: Simple List
• List format: Drop-down menu with links

Framed bulleted list

• Output format: Framed List
• List format: Bulleted list, one item per line

Framed dropdown menu

• Output format: Framed List
• List format: Drop-down menu with links