This guide will help you create a usable, readable and well designed guide for GVSU University Libraries. It lists standards, best practices, and guidelines to follow when creating and updating guides or webpages.

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. Linking to resources in the Rich Text Editor will not count in the LibGuides statistics report or with LibGuides built-in link checker. (Broken links in Rich Text boxes will show up in the Systems and Discovery Team's external report, though.)
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 UCLA's guide on using master boxes.
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 the Web Services Librarian or someone who's done a few guides to make sure you're not creating inaccessible or confusing content.

Adapted with permission from Best Practices for LibGuides at UCLA.