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NYU Libraries LibGuides Style Manual

An evolving manual of best practices for creating and maintaining New York University LibGuides. This manual is maintained by the LibGuides Editorial Working Group.

About the Reusable Templates and Content Guide

The Reusable Templates and Content Guide provides commonly needed content, in the form of reusable boxes, for consistency of information and function across our LibGuides guide system.

Content includes:

  • Data Services resources
  • Chat box widgets
  • Catalog search box widgets
  • Hours and locations boxes
  • Search Tips
  • Wellness Exchange information

Suggest Content or Report Errors

If you would like to recommend some content to be added to the Reusable Templates and Content Guide, contact libguides-technical@nyu.edu.

How to Use Boxes from the Reusable Template and Content Guide

  1. Review the Reusable Templates and Content Guide to identify page and the name of the box you'd like to reuse.
  2. In your own guide, click the + Add Box - Column [#] link from the bottom of the column.
  3. Select "Reuse Existing Box Tab"
  4. In the Guide field, begin typing in "Reusable Templates and Content" and select "Reusable Templates and Content* by NYU Libraries".

Screen shot of the add a new box option in LibGuides with the tab "Reuse Existing Box" circled and the "Reusable Templates and Content" by NYU Libraries" option selected in the "Guide" field.

  1. In the Box field, find the page title that has the box want to copy. Note: All top level pages are listed first and in order as they appear in the Reusable guide, then subpages. Subpages will be displayed in this format [Parent Page Title] : [Subpage Title]. 

    For example, to add a catalog search widget, find the page heading: "Search Widgets: NYU Libraries Catalog Search Widgets (Official)" then select the particular search widget you want.  For example "Search NYU Libraries Resources".

Screen shot of the Add a New Box overlay with the "Search the NYU Libraries Resources" highlighted in the "Box Name" field dropdown.

  1. Leave the Box Name field blank, and the Box keep the name it has in the Reusable Guide. This is often preferable for consistent user experience.
    If you need to have a custom box name specific to your guide, enter that in the "Box Name" field.
  2. Choose a position for the box (defaults to "Bottom of the Column"). 
  3. Leave the "Copy" option unchecked so that it maps to the content in Reusable Guide. Note: If the box needs to be updated at some point in the future, you won't have to manually update all of your reused boxes.  An update made in the guide the box is mapped from will push to your Guide(s)) automatically.
  4. Select the "Save" button.
  5. Confirm that it's mapped by looking for the Recycle Icon

Screenshot of a box reused from another guide with a circle around the recycle icon indicating that the box is mapped to the source box.

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