LibGuides Cheat Sheet

Suggested Maintenance Schedule: Breaks (Summer to Fall, Fall to Spring, Spring Break, Spring to Summer). Please check on each of your published Research Guides at least once a semester, if possible.

• Refresh Content: Update your guide with fresh sources for the beginning of the semester if needed.
• Check All Links: Are all your links working? Use the Link checker found in LibApps: Dashboard > Tools > Link Checker. (Links in Rich Text Boxes links have to be updated manually.)
• Update Screenshots: If screenshots have been used, have interfaces changed?
• Check Tutorials: If video tutorials have been used, make sure they are up to date.
• Check Images: Update images as needed. If you're using logos, are they up to date?
• Check Content Feeds: If RSS or Twitter feeds have been included, check the last time it was updated. If no new material has been posted in a while, consider changing the feed.
• Review Tags: Consider if any changes or additions need to be made.
• Review and Update Instructions: Are the steps still current? Are logins needed?
• Review Usage Stats: Consider unpublishing or deleting guides that have few visits (hits) or no longer being used. Can content be better utilized as a box or included in another guide?
• Check Course Schedule: Is this course still being taught? Do materials need to be updated?
• Confer With Your Faculty: Updates to curriculum? Suggestions? Have textbooks or assignments changed? Any resources they'd like to have added or removed?

Finding and Fixing Broken Links

Use these tools to find and fix any broken links in your guides:

Updating Links in Rich Text Boxes

Links in rich text boxes need to be reviewed and converted to assets.  

• All proxied content in LibGuides created by using an asset were transitioned to the new URL on May 3rd.
• Rich Text /HTML content item (like this embedded link) are not included in your assets library (Content > Assets), so any link updates must be done manually. Also, Rich Text/HTML content box links can only be reused by reusing the entire box it's in.
• Remember, reused or mapped links will automatically update when the original link is updated.

Using embedded links in Rich Text Boxes?

1. Review each of your guides for embedded links in Rich Text content boxes
2. Delete the embedded links
3. Reuse/map to existing assets (check for LG, Admin owned assets) or
4. Create new assets. 

Use, Reuse and/or Map Assets

Remember, reusing or mapping links will automatically update when the original link is updated.

If you’re adding links, databases, books from the catalog, widgets, or anything else, you can use one of the standard asset types for, you should use that asset type. This will help ensure you're optimizing the reuse of content throughout your guides.

Tips:

1. Use one of the asset types listed in the Add/Reorder drop down menu for all links (databases, books, widgets, etc.)

2. Reuse assets to reduce duplication. Choose the Reuse tab to find existing assets before creating a brand new asset. 

3. If creating a new asset, be sure to choose "Yes" when prompted. Note: You do not need to add the proxy prefix to any urls. They are automatically addressed when you choose Yes to the Use Proxy prompt. 

Updating Search Widgets

Please be aware that not all search widgets are working correctly with the new proxy link. A few things to note:

• Search Boxes are being reviewed and updated with new codes.
  • Please consider reusing/mapping to search widget boxes from the LibGuides Toolbox. 
  • If using a custom search widget that is not mapped/being reused, you will need to recreate the search box and update your widget with the new code
• Search widget boxes do not work well in Canvas, consider using a database assets instead.