Reusing content helps add consistency to your LibGuides. It also saves you time! Why type a paragraph about Search It if you've already made a box about Search It in a previous guide? Why spend time taking new screenshots if you've already uploaded these images to your guide?
LibGuides v2 allows for even more reuse of content. You can still reuse pages and boxes (see the information below), but now you can also easily reuse Assets as well. For more on reusing Assets, review Reusing Assets on the Assets page of this guide.
You can also find reusable content on the Best Practices LibGuide. Look in the Boilerplate tab to find boxes about common resources (for example, Search It). You can also find some links and boxes to reuse in the Links & Boxes tab.
Click on Add Box for the column you would like to add the box to.
Click the Reuse Existing Box tab in the popup window.
Select or fill out the following:
Guide - Choose the guide that contains the box you want to reuse
Box - Select the box you want to reuse
Box Name - If you're mapping this box to the original, you won't be able to change the box title. However, if you're making a copy, you can change the box name.
Position - Decide where your box should appear
Draft mode - if your guide is published, but you're not ready to share this box with the public, use Draft Mode! The box will only be visible in edit mode.
Copy - You will be able to make changes to this version of the box. If left unchecked, you will not be able to make any changes.
Click on the + (plus sign) to add a new page.
Click on the Reuse Existing Page tab in the popup window.
Select or fill out the following:
Guide - Choose the guide that contains the page you want to reuse.
Page - Select the page you want to reuse.
Page Name - You can change the name of the page, even if you are mapping this page to the original.
Position - Select top level page (it's own tab), or sub-level page (it will appear in a drop-down menu of an existing page's tab).
Draft mode - if your guide is published, but you're not ready to share this page with the public, use Draft Mode! The page will only be visible in edit mode.
Copy - You will be able to make changes to this version of the page. If left unchecked, you will not be able to make any changes.
Whenever possible, reuse assets like links, databases, widgets, and books from the catalog. This saves you time and keeps our list of assets from becoming gigantic and difficult to maintain.
For more information about using assets, refer to the Assets page of this guide:
To reuse an asset, simply go to the "Reuse Existing" tab on the screen that opens when you add an asset to one of your LibGuides boxes. Here's an example for reusing a Widget:
You can then search for the asset you want to reuse. and position it in your LibGuide box
Important note: Please don't check the "copy" box unless you want to make substantial changes
Again, if you aren't making substantial changes to the asset, don't make a copy of the asset.
Having said all of that, creating a copy can be a useful shortcut if you want to create an asset that uses code or significant content available in an existing asset.