Intro

Overview

SubjectsPlus is an open source tool, similar to LibGuides. You can create:
  • Subject, course and topic guides
  • Database A-Z list
  • Staff list
  • FAQ page
 
We are on version 4.6. 

Click here for the official informaton, including documentation.

University of Miami is a nice example of what can be done with SubjectsPlus.

Questions? Put in a ticket.

In case you want to see the 2018 SCSU user manual, it is here.
 

Tips

1 - Think about chunks of content that you want to reuse across guides and keep them in separate boxes.

2 - When copying content, watch for extra formatting in the code. It is safest to paste content into a plain text editor such as Notepad to get rid of extra formatting.

3 - Watch out for this delete button. You probably do not want to delete all your content!

screenshot of dangerous delete button

Instead look for the trash can in the box you want to delete:

screenshot of delete button in box

Example Boxes

Primo - widget or link

Search for Resources




More Options





Or you could put a link instead . . .

Search our Resources Here
(You can also log in with your StarID and renew books or request items.)

Image Card

MnPALS logo

Video

Embedding a specific FOD video

The easiest option is to do it as a link:
Watch this video: The Virus: What Went Wrong?

Using the video box for Youtube

RSS

The Latest from Wired

Loading ...

Link List

Databases

Migration

​Content

  • Add records
  • Build guides
  • In addition, if you want to use the staff section of your SubjectsPlus, please also enter your staff info (name, title, phone, email, picture, etc.)

Remember that there is a possibility to get crazy formatting when copying and pasting your content. It is safest to paste as plain text (look for the clipboard with the T icon in SubjectsPlus or copy from Notepad).

Use the API to get information from your old version

  • Enable API in Admin > Site Config
  • Copy the key from there
  • Instructions will be here: https://xyz.lib.minnstate.edu/api
  • For example, put in your key and correct proxy name and this will get all the database descriptions in xml: https://xyz.lib.minnstate.edu/api/database/letter/All/output/xml/key/api-key

Configuration

  • Is your proxy prefix correct? (https://xyzproxy.mnpals.net/login?url= in Admin>Config>Guides/Records)
  • If you want to use it, does your Primo widget work correctly? (Some people prefer to provide a link over to their Primo instead of a search box.)
  • Do your users have the right permissions for what they need to do?
  • Tweak your Sources if needed. More info here.

Keep your links current

Remember to periodically use a link checker tool to find links that have changed such as: https://validator.w3.org/checklink

​Analytics

You will get a monthly report via email from Matomo Analytics including:
  • Visits with average time/visit
  • Pageviews on your guides

Accessibility

Alt Text for Images

When adding an image, use the Alternative Text box:

Screenshot of Image Properties window
 
If you are going back to fix images you already added, click on Source and look for: img alt="" 

Put in your description, for example: img alt="Screenshot of security rules table" 
 
SubjectsPlus doesn't have a way to do image captions, but describing your image in text below the image helps people a lot and is best practice. You can use id="description" as they describe here.
 
Answers to all your questions about alt for different types of images: https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decision-tree/

Metadata Description

Add the metadata description, especially if you care about SEO.

When in a guide, go to the gear icon in the upper right to edit the guide metadata (description is on the right in the middle):

Screenshot of metadata window

​Headings

The SubjectsPlus interface doesn't have an easy button to click for headings. If you have any longer content where you want to have subheadings, you can put the html tags in manually. H1 is your page title and then your next biggest heading would be H2 and the ones under that would be H3 and so on. Click on Source and put the tags around the text that should be a heading, for example:

Here is an H2 Heading

 

Here is an H3 Heading

 

Read more about headings here: https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_hn.asp

​Learn More about Web Accessibility