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general overview: updating Spec pages on the main Library website

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Michelle Shannon edited this page Sep 14, 2021 · 15 revisions

Important Note

This set of instructions is slightly different than other instructions. Since there are an infinite number of ways to edit the Spec website, these instructions offer a general guideline on how to begin editing. These pertain to the following examples of edits:

  • updating department hours or contact info
  • replacing images or videos
  • updating department policies

For instructions on specific edits, see updating the Accessions List and updating the Browse page.

checklist and a general overview of updating Spec pages on the main Library website

Step 1: fetch origin from the main-web-redesign_draft repository in GitHub Desktop

  1. open GitHub Desktop
  2. set "Current Repository" to "main-web-redesign_draft"
  3. set "Current Branch" to "main"
  4. click "fetch origin"

Step 2: open Visual Studio Code

  1. open GitHub Desktop and click "Open in Visual Studio Code." This will open the main-web-redesign_draft repository in Visual Studio Code.

Step 3: navigate to the Special Collections section of files

  1. open the "content" folder in the left-hand menu

  1. open the "special-collections" subfolder in the left-hand menu. All of the files in this subfolder are related to Spec webpages.

  • NOTE: to update pages or features that are generated by a csv spreadsheet, see instructions for updating the Accessions List. All csv updates will follow these instructions, just with a different spreadsheet.

Step 4 (optional): update existing pages

  1. if you simply need to update information on an existing page (for example, updating Reading Room hours), you'll just navigate to those pages, make your changes, hit CTRL + S, and run jekyll s in the terminal (like you would for the Harvester). This will take you to the library home page - you can navigate to the Spec home page like you normally would, or you can add /special-collections/ to the end of the URL (so it would be http://127.0.0.1:4000/special-collections/). Preview your changes, and then push them (like you would for the Harvester).

Step 5 (optional): create new pages

  1. if you want to create new pages that don't already exist, you need to create a new markdown file inside that "special-collections" subfolder of "content" and format the page how you want. Preview it in jekyll before pushing.
  2. if you want that new page to exist in the left-hand navigation menu on the Special Collection website, navigate to the "_data" folder in the left-hand menu of Visual Studio Code. Then navigate to the "config_pagesnav.yml" file inside that "_data" folder. Take a few moments to look at how the file is formatted - it's broken up into section (the top has the "About Section" and all of the dropdown menu items for that section). Remember that the green text are notes that the author wrote for other people to understand how the file is formatted.
  3. once you've familiarized yourself with the format, scroll down to the "SPEC section." Look at it against the current website navigation menu. How you want your newly-created page to be displayed in the nav menu will determine how you code it.

Step 6: push changes

Please refer to Step 14-16 of Checklist for a Blog Post with Objects Added to the Lumber Collection. The steps are the same.

Step 7: email Evan and Olivia

This is important! Unlike the Harvester, all changes that we make to the main Library website have to be approved and made live by Evan or Olivia. Email them both at the same time with this information:

  • you just pushed some changes to the main-web-redesign_draft repository
  • give a brief summary of what your changes are so they know what to look for
  • let them know if there's any timeframe when you need the changes by (if there's no rush on the request, let them know)
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