Pressbooks Guide by Lauri M. Aesoph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
The CC licence permits you to retain, reuse, copy, redistribute, and revise this book — in whole or in part — for free, providing the author is attributed as follows:
If you redistribute all or part of this guide, you must include on every digital page (including but not limited to EPUB, PDF, and HTML) and as part of the copyright notice of a printed copy the following:
This guide can be referenced. For example, in APA citation style it would appear as follows:
Aesoph, L.M. (2016). Pressbooks Guide. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/pressbooks/ |
Visit BCcampus Open Education to learn about open education in British Columbia.
This is one of many support guides from BCcampus Open Education. It is designed to supplement the central resource: Self-Publishing Guide.
Welcome to BCcampus Open Education’s Pressbooks Guide. This support resource was written for open textbook authors who want to use this writing platform to create a new book, or instructors interested in customizing an existing open textbook.
BCcampus Open Education began in 2012 as the B.C. Open Textbook Project with the goal of making post-secondary education in British Columbia more accessible by reducing students’ costs through the use of open textbooks and other OER. BCcampus supports the post-secondary institutions of British Columbia as they adapt and evolve their teaching and learning practices to enable powerful learning opportunities for the students of B.C. BCcampus Open Education is funded by the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills & Training, and the Hewlett Foundation.
Open educational resources (OER) are defined as teaching, learning, and research resources that, through permissions granted by the copyright holder, allow others to use, distribute, keep, or make changes to them. We consider this publication—along with our guides, webinar slide decks, and other support materials—as a type of OER that trains faculty, staff, and students how to build, customize, and use open textbooks.
The BCcampus Writing Guidelines for Style and Tone and BCcampus Open Education Style Guide, along with the attached style sheet [Word file], were referenced during the copy editing and proofreading phases of this guide.
To ensure that standard barriers are addressed for maximum access by as many readers as possible, this guide meets the criteria laid out in the Checklist for Accessibility—including an Accessibility Statement—and is flagged as “Accessible” in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection.
This, like our other guides, is the result of collaboration between members of BCcampus Open Education and our colleagues in the B.C. post-secondary sector and beyond.
Thank you, Hugh McGuire, for creating Pressbooks. And thank you to your team—Zoe, JC, Apurva, Ned—for keeping it humming and providing excellent documentation for users.
Thanks to Lucas Wright from UBC and Josie Gray at BCcampus for your dedication to helping the rest of us understand Pressbooks.
And finally, thank you to Brad Payne, our lead developer and Pressbooks wunderkind, who has initiated and led the journey toward making Pressbooks the platform for writing open textbooks.
If you adopt this book, as a core or supplemental resource, please report your adoption in order for us to celebrate your support of students’ savings. Report your commitment at www.openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca.
We invite you to adapt this book further to meet your and your students’ needs. Please let us know if you do! If you would like to use Pressbooks, the platform used to make this book, contact eCampusOntario for an account using open@ecampusontario.ca.
If this text does not meet your needs, please check out our full library at www.openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca. If you still cannot find what you are looking for, connect with colleagues and eCampusOntario to explore creating your own open education resource (OER).
eCampusOntario is a not-for-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario. It serves as a centre of excellence in online and technology-enabled learning for all publicly funded colleges and universities in Ontario and has embarked on a bold mission to widen access to post-secondary education and training in Ontario. This textbook is part of eCampusOntario’s open textbook library, which provides free learning resources in a wide range of subject areas. These open textbooks can be assigned by instructors for their classes and can be downloaded by learners to electronic devices or printed for a low cost by our printing partner, The University of Waterloo. These free and open educational resources are customizable to meet a wide range of learning needs, and we invite instructors to review and adopt the resources for use in their courses.
Pressbooks is an authoring platform built on the popular WordPress publishing and blogging website. If you have used WordPress in the past, Pressbooks should feel familiar. Pressbooks allows you to create content once and publish it in many formats including a website, PDF document, EPUB (usable in most eReaders), MOBI (for Kindle readers), and various editable files.
This Pressbooks Guide does not replicate information provided by the Pressbooks Userguide published by Pressbooks.com. Instead, in parts and chapters laid out to mimic the steps an author might take to create or modify an open textbook in Pressbooks, it redirects readers to pertinent chapters in the Pressbooks Userguide, supplements it with additional information, and includes instructions specific to post-secondary faculty and staff working in British Columbia and the Yukon.
Each section of this guide begins with a list of topics covered in its chapters. Key terms, specific to Pressbooks and its features, are set in bold and defined in the text body as well as summarized in the Glossary. This guide does not come with an index. Instead, use the search field located in the top-right of each page in the online version to locate a specific topic. The URLs for all external links are provided by chapter for print users in Appendix B.
Pressbooks Userguide chapters are highlighted with a textbox containing the Pressbooks (PB) logo and a link to the material. (See example below.)
For more information, see Writing Directly in Pressbooks in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
When appropriate, chapters within this Pressbooks Guide are mentioned in a shaded textbook. (See example below.)
Links to chapters in other BCcampus Open Education guides and toolkits are also included in a shaded textbox to complement the Pressbooks material. (See example below.)
If information is missing about a specific feature, this is noted as “MORE TO COME” in a standard textbook. (See example below.)
Items to take note of are marked with “IMPORTANT.”
Finally, outstanding Pressbooks issues are identified and, if available, coupled with a temporary work around in coloured textboxes. (See example below.)
Issue to Note
The Pressbooks development community is very active and attentive to the needs of its users, and strive to keep and improve this platform for optimal functionality. As features are added or changed, the information in this guide will be updated, and noted on the Versioning History page. Go to the Pressbooks Updates page for upcoming and past upgrades, urgent issues, and the most current version of the BCcampus Pressbooks instance.
For more information, see:
BCcampus Open Education believes that education must be available to everyone; this means supporting the creation of free, open, and accessible educational resources. We are actively committed to increasing the accessibility and usability of the textbooks we produce.
The web version of the Pressbooks Guide has been designed with accessibility in mind by incorporating the following features:
In addition to the web version, this book is available in a number of file formats including PDF, EPUB (for eReaders), MOBI (for Kindles), and various editable files. Here is a link to where you can download this book in another file format. Look for the Download this book drop-down menu to select the file type you want.
While we strive to ensure that this resource is as accessible and usable as possible, we might not always get it right. Any issues we identify will be listed below. There are currently no known issues.
Location of Issue | Need for Improvement | Timeline | Work Around |
---|---|---|---|
The web version of this resource has been designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA. In addition, it follows all guidelines in Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility of the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition.
We are always looking for ways to make our resources more accessible. If you have problems accessing this resource, please contact us to let us know, so we can fix the issue.
Please include the following information:
You can contact us one of the following ways:
This statement was last updated on September 13, 2018.
Section Topics
This section describes the Pressbooks services in B.C., including:
BCcampus Open Education provides a self-serve instance of Pressbooks called “B.C. Faculty Pressbooks” for faculty and staff at post-secondary institutions in British Columbia and the Yukon.
This is a free service.
When accessing this instance of Pressbooks, faculty and staff must use their institutional email address. A list of accepted email domains are below.
bcit.ca | camosun.bc.ca | camosun.ca | capilanou.ca |
cnc.bc.ca | cotr.bc.ca | douglascollege.ca | ecuad.ca |
jibc.ca | kpu.ca | langara.bc.ca | nic.bc.ca |
nlc.bc.ca | nvit.bc.ca | nwcc.bc.ca | okanagan.bc.ca |
royalroads.ca | selkirk.ca | sfu.ca | tru.ca |
ubc.ca | ufv.ca | unbc.ca | uvic.ca |
vcc.ca | viu.ca | yukoncollege.yk.ca |
The Sign up/Register page used to create an account says one must be a post-secondary faculty member, but post-secondary staff are eligible as well. Yukon faculty and staff are also eligible, and Yukon College is included in the “B.C. Institution” drop-down list on the account sign-up page. (See Pressbooks Accounts.)
Only public post-secondary institutions in B.C. (plus Yukon College) are listed on the drop-down list, but B.C. private post-secondary faculty and staff may use this Pressbooks instance as well. Those from a private college or university should contact the BCcampus Helpdesk for account set-up assistance.
Post-secondary faculty and staff from Ontario should email eCampusOntario at inquiry@ecampusontario.ca for Pressbooks help.
The Rebus Community provides Pressbooks access to post-secondary faculty and staff from post-secondary institutions around the globe, providing they are a member. To join, create an account at Rebus Community. Once that has been done, request access to a Pressbooks account by filling out the Rebus Community Press – Request for Access form.
Accounts are also available through the main Pressbooks website.
This chapter describes how B.C. post-secondary faculty and staff can create and manage an account with the BCcampus self-serve instance of Pressbooks.
Take note of two features on the Pressbooks home page before you create an account. (Refer to first screenshot at the beginning of this chapter.)
To create an account, go to pressbooks.bccampus.ca and select “Sign Up.”
Next, fill in the following fields:
You can also select “Register my book now.” This is the default setting and means that a book shell will be created in addition to setting up your account. The book shell can be used to create a new book or upload an existing book. If you don’t want to create a book yet, you may choose to register or create a book later. Then you can click “Next.” (See Add a New Book.)
During the account-creation process, you will be notified that your account must be activated before it can be used. To do this:
If activation is not completed within two days, you must create an account again.
Once the activation link is clicked, a Pressbooks page will open up that says: “Your account is now active,” along with your username and password. From this web page, you can choose to immediately log in or go back to the Pressbooks homepage (where you can also log in by clicking on “Sign In”). Alternately, you can select “Sign In” in the top-right corner of the web page to login to your account.
Within 5-10 minutes of account activation, you will also receive another email containing the username and password chosen for this account, along with a link to the login page on the B.C. Faculty Pressbooks website.
This email also contains a list of resources to help you use Pressbooks and informs that you have “been added to the PBNotifications mailing list in order to receive email notifications when there is a scheduled maintenance outage, system upgrade, or other significant change to the Pressbooks website.”
You are asked to contact the BCcampus Helpdesk (helpdesk@bccampus.ca) if you have questions.
For more information, see User Profile in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
BCcampus purges Pressbooks accounts that have been inactive for 12 months or longer and do not contain an active textbook. If an account contains private books, the BCcampus Helpdesk will contact the account owner with the email address used during account creation to inquire about the account and books.
At the bottom of this web page, notice a dark blue banner identified by the BCcampus OpenEd logo with links to “About” Pressbooks and “Help” for Pressbooks (circled in light green). These links will redirect you to information specific to this BCcampus instance of Pressbooks.
The black banner at the very bottom of the page is marked by “Powered by Pressbooks” and circled in light blue. These links redirect you to information and help provided by Pressbooks.com, the organization that developed this platform. If you need help, use the BCcampus help links and not those that redirect to Pressbooks.com.
See Changing Your Password in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Note: The profile page can also be accessed from Users > Your Profile on the Dashboard menu.
If you forget your password, you can request that a new one to be generated and emailed to you. The system does not allow you to retrieve an existing password; it must be reset. This is how:
If you forget your username, use the Lost your password? link to retrieve it. This features provides a lost username by entering the email address used to create an account. (See Reset a Password.)
Only Administrators of a book can add users to that book in Pressbooks. Here is how it’s done:
First, make sure the person you would like to add has a Pressbooks account. If they don’t, they will need to create one.
To add a user,
User roles include:
Dashboard Link | Administrator | Editor | Author | Contributor | Subscriber |
WP-Piwik | √ | x | x | x | x |
Organize | √ | √ | √ | √ | x |
Private/ Public setting (Organize) | √ | x | x | x | x |
Book Info | √ | x | x | x | x |
Appearance | √ | √ (but no “Themes”) | x | x | x |
Export | √ | √ | √ | √ | x |
Plugins | √ | x | x | x | x |
Media | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
Users | √ | x | x | x | x |
Tools | √ | √ | √ | √ | x |
Settings | √ | x | x | x | x |
Import | √ | √ | √ | √ | x |
Textbooks for PB | √ | √ | √ | √ | x |
Profile | x (see “Users”) | √ | √ | √ | √ |
The person who has been added will receive an email invitation and a link to the book. They will need to click a confirmation link in order to access the book.
For more information, see Users and Collaborators in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Section Topics
This section covers things that should be considered before setting up a book, as well as the building blocks used to create a book. Topics include:
For more information, see What is in a Book? in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
The first step to setting up a book is to consider how it will be made accessible, i.e. designing and setting it up in Pressbooks in such a way that as many readers as possible can enjoy and learn from it. See below for a list of specific elements to consider and how each can be addressed.
Element | Challenge | Solution |
---|---|---|
Colour | Physical: low vision, poor colour-contrast vision, colour blindness Technological: a device with a monochrome display or a black-and-white print copy | Colour Contrast |
Images | Physical: blind or low vision, colour blindness, cognitive disability Technological: black and white printer, poor Internet connection, monochrome display on device | Images |
Links | cognitive or physical disability, deaf or hard of hearing, blind or low vision | Links |
Math and Formulas | cognitive or physical disability, blind or low vision | Formulas |
Multimedia | Physical: cognitive disability, deaf or hard of hearing, blind or low vision Environmental: loud, difficult to hear or play media, lack of headphones Language: non-native English speaker | Multimedia |
Tables | cognitive disability, blind or low vision | Tables |
Use the Checklist for Accessibility to ensure that standard barriers are addressed for maximum access by as many readers as possible.
A book can be written in a variety of languages in Pressbooks including those that use a non-Latin alphabet. Font support is currently offered for the following languages:
For more information, see Languages in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Hypothes.is is a web annotation tool that allows collaboration between authors and editors, personal note taking and annotation, and engagement with readers. It can also be used as a teaching tool with students.
While the tool is available as a browser extension that can be used on any webpage, Pressbooks allows you to build its capabilities into the pages of your webbook.
For more information, see Hypothesis for Webbook Annotation and Comments in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Comments and Review in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Once an account and book have been created in Pressbooks, the Dashboard or Dashboard page is where the account holder is automatically directed after logging in. The account holder is automatically assigned as the Administrator and has access to all functions listed on the Dashboard. Lesser roles, such as Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber do not see/access all of these tools. (See Provide Access to Others.)
The Dashboard is also where an author will spend most time writing and where links to various tools and functions can be found. This chapter will provide an overview of the Dashboard.
IMPORTANT: If you have been assigned a user role other than Administrator, you will not have access to the “Users” or “Settings” panels.
The My Catalogue link in the top red toolbar allows you to add a new book, clone a book, and see and select all books in your Pressbooks Catalogue. (See Add a New Book and Clone a Book.) So if you’ve got more than one book, you can rapidly switch between them right here. You can also locate the Dashboard for a specific book as follows:
On a book’s Dashboard, various tools are listed in the left-hand column Dashboard menu, the parts and chapters of the book are in the middle, and users who have access to the book are shown in a Users box on the far right.
For more information, see My Catalog in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Most of the major Pressbooks features are found on the Dashboard menu. These are described below.
Clicking on Organize reveals a drop-down list that provides links to these functions:
Notice too the Add | Organize options inside the table of contents in the middle of the Dashboard. “Organize” is the same as the Organize tab on the Dashboard menu and “Add” allows the addition of a chapter.
The Users box on the right side also has an Add | Organize option. This is where an Administrator can add new users or organize existing users, i.e., change their role or remove access. (See Users.)
The Book Info page is where information is added or edited regarding your book, including book title, authors, editors, publisher, copyright owner/year/notice, licence type, descriptions of the book, keywords, and more. Much of the data entered on this page displays on the home page of the webbook and as part of the various exported file formats.
It is suggested that the author and/or publisher fills this page out as the book is being written and as information becomes available. This page can be updated as needed.
For more information, see Book Info in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
For more information, see Appearance in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
The Appearance tab provides access to the following:
Pressbooks core has created 20 themes, each with different styles (font, headings, etc.) and features. These can be viewed and activated from navigating to the Appearance tab in the Dashboard menu and clicking “Themes.” Scrolling over a specific theme option reveals a Theme details box that, when clicked, describes the theme.
The BCcampus instance of Pressbooks provides eight of the 20 themes. They are:
For more information, see Themes for Academic and Educational Texts and Theme Lock in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
In Theme Options, you can customize the appearance and functionality of your entire book. There are four tabs on this page, with each affecting different parts of your book. It is suggested that Administrators “play” with these features during set up to understand how they work and to assist with decisions about which options to use. Options include the following (by tab):
See Collapsible Subsections for Webbook in the Pressbooks Userguide |
See Enabling and Using Lightboxes for Images in the Pressbooks Userguide |
See Typography: Hyphens in the Pressbooks Userguide |
For more information, see New Theme Options in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Customizing Your Exports with Custom Styles in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
The Media tab is where all media for a book—images, videos, audio—are uploaded. Click “Add New” to upload media content or click “Library” to see and manage media you have uploaded previously. Media in the Library can be embedded or linked to in the content of your book. (See Images and Files.)
For more information, see Media and Image Editing in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
The Users tab is where a book Administrator can add other people to their book. (See Provide Access to Others.) It has the following options:
See Search and Replace in the Pressbooks Userguide |
The Settings tab contains numerous options for privacy and exporting and for displaying formulas with the LaTeX tool (used for rendering mathematical formulas).
See Privacy Settings: Making Parts of Book Private in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
The Import tool pulls content into Pressbooks from various file types. (See Add Content.)
The Textbook for PB (Pressbooks) panel contains tools for importing content from other open textbooks.
This page defines open textbooks and other OER, lists their benefits, and describes the 5 Rs behind the CC or open-copyright licence. A link is provided to the Textbooks for Pressbooks settings page.
The Search and Import tool allows you to import content (whether it be an entire book or individual chapters) from books in the same or other instances of Pressbooks. (See Search and Import a Pressbooks File.)
The Download Textbooks tool allows Pressbooks users to download open textbooks directly from the B.C. Open Textbook Collection. This is a feature unique to the B.C. Faculty Pressbooks instance.
A book—or book shell—needs to be created in your Pressbooks account in order to:
A book can be created during initial account creation. (See Pressbooks Accounts.) However, if you skipped that step when creating your account, or if you need to create an additional book (your account can hold many books), here’s how to begin.
You will land on the “Create a new book” page where you will be asked to provide:
Once you have filled in all of the fields, click the Create Book button.
After clicking on the Create Book button, you will be redirected to your new book’s Dashboard. To get you started, Pressbooks creates a number of empty parts and chapters:
For more information, see Automatic Pages: Title Page, Copyright and Table of Contents and Table of Contents: Adding a Second Level in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
A book written in Pressbooks is made up of chapters which are grouped and ordered into parts. chapters are web pages or building blocks within which content is added. Parts are overarching sections that hold chapters.
Most of the open textbooks published by BCcampus use parts as chapters, and chapters as chapter sections. This is done to:
For an example, see the organization of the open textbook, Canadian History: Pre-Confederation.
For more information, see Parts in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Chapters in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Front Matter in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Back Matter in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
To learn about standard layout for back matter, see Textbook Outline in the Self-Publishing Guide.
Pressbooks takes care of creating key elements for a book such as:
For more information, see the following in the Pressbooks Userguide: |
Word count is available for each chapter, each part, and for the entire book.
Word count is posted at the bottom of each chapter’s content body. Words in the chapter title field are not included.
Word count is posted at the bottom of each part’s content body. Words in the part title field are not included.
Word count for an entire book can be found at the top of the Organize page. Here is also where you can find the word count for all chapters selected for export.
Section Topics
There are many ways to add content to Pressbooks. This section describes these options, including how to:
Books in Pressbooks are made up of chapters, which are the building blocks of content, and parts, which are organizational blocks that house those chapters. If you intend to have your book hosted in Pressbooks, it is best practice to work on the book directly in Pressbooks as soon as possible, rather than work in another application like Microsoft Word and then copy the content into Pressbooks.
When a chapter is opened, you will see the WYSIWYG toolbar, which contains three rows of tools that can be used to add and format content in the chapter.
Above the toolbar is the chapter-title field where the title of the chapter can be added and edited.
Underneath the chapter-title field is the permalink—the URL or web address for that chapter. This link is automatically generated when you add a title for a new chapter. Once the link has been created, it will not change unless you edit it.
You can edit a chapter’s permalink as follows:
1. Click the “Edit” button on the right side of the permalink.
2. This action opens the permalink field where a new or revised segment can be entered.
3. For example, “-different-title” can be added to the end of the permalink to better describe the chapter. To save the changes, click the OK button and save the page. To back out of this action, select “Cancel” located under the Permalink label.
It is recommended, as part of a book’s final review, that the author checks the permalinks of all parts and chapters to make sure they are relatively short and reflect the title of a chapter or part. Permalinks do not need to match a chapter or part title exactly.
IMPORTANT: Changing a permalink will break all internal links to that page in a book, therefore, be sure to locate and update affected links.
The editing view—accessed through the Organize tab on the Dashboard menu of a book—is used to add content directly in a chapter or part. From the editing view, you can choose to work in the Visual Editor or the Text (HTML) Editor and can switch back and forth between them when necessary. The Visual Editor lets you see formatting and styling as you work, and includes a comprehensive WYSIWYG toolbar with 32+ features at the top of the page. The Text Editor gives you the ability to edit and see your work in HTML. Fewer tools—14 in total—are available in this latter view.
For more discussion and screenshots of these editors, see Using the Visual and Text Editors in Pressbooks from the Pressbooks Userguide. |
The reader’s perspective is called the book view, or the webbook. To check this view while editing, use:
Pressbooks automatically saves work every five minutes. However, it is recommended that the Save button be regularly used as well. (See Revisions Tool.)
See The Importance of “Good Markup” in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
If you like to work on content without the distraction of the entire Pressbooks interface, click on the distraction-free writing mode (DFWM) button in the top-right corner of the WYSIWYG toolbar, and the left and right sides of the interface will fade out unless you move the mouse over the edges. To return to the original mode, click on the DFWM button again.
On the far right end of the WYSIWYG toolbar is another button called Toolbar Toggle. The default setting for each newly created chapter is for all three rows of features in the WYSIWYG toolbar to display. If you click on the Toolbar Toggle button, these three rows will collapse leaving just the top one. Click the button again to reveal all features.
In the second row of the WYSIWYG toolbar, there is a Special character button that gives you access to a large collection of special characters. To use, click on the Special character button, and locate the symbol you need. Click on it, and it will be inserted right into the text.
For more information, see Writing Directly in Pressbooks in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
This chart compares the four methods of importing content that is already in Pressbooks. While these import options can ultimately have the same result, they each have their own use case.
IMPORTANT: These import routines only work for books marked as “public,” and they may not work if the book has All Rights Reserved or a Creative Commons licence with a -ND (NoDerivs) restriction.
Import Option | What You Need | What This Option Does | When to Use This Option |
---|---|---|---|
Clone a Book |
|
|
|
Search and Import |
|
|
The search feature is finicky and can be frustrating to use. Start with simple search terms, and be prepared to try different things. |
Pressbooks/WordPress XML (.wxr or .xml) |
|
|
|
Web Page or Pressbooks Webbook (.html or URL) |
|
|
|
See Book Cloning in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
For information on the Source Comparison Tool, see Source Comparison for Cloned Books in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
There are many ways to obtain an editable copy of openly licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
Another way to obtain a copy of content already in Pressbooks is through the Search and Import feature, which appears under the Textbooks for PB tab on the Dashboard menu.
This feature allows you to search for chapter or book titles in a given Pressbooks instance. From there, you can select which chapters or books you would like to import into your existing book.
To use this feature:
You can search any Pressbooks instance that has public, openly licensed content available, as long as you know the URL for that instance. To search another instance of Pressbooks, e.g., the BCcampus internal instance (opentextbc.ca) or another instance such as Open SUNY’s (milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/), click “manage the list of domains” on the Search and Import page.
You can also get to this page by clicking the Textbooks for PB link under the Settings tab on the Dashboard menu.
On the Textbooks for Pressbooks Setting page, you can add different Pressbooks instances that contain Creative Commons licensed materials to search against with the Search and Import feature. If you know the URL of another Pressbooks instance, you can add it as follows:
To return to the Search and Import page, scroll over the Textbooks for PB tab in the Dashboard menu and select “Search and Import” from the drop-down list.
All Pressbooks instances added to the Textbooks for Pressbooks Settings page will be available to search against with the Search and Import feature. However, you can only search one domain at a time.
In the below example, the following have been selected as search options:
This is the result of this search. Here and some things to notice:
To import, click “Start” (see arrow #4). The import can take several minutes, depending on the size of the file.
When the search is finished, it lands on the “Organize” page shown here. Notice that:
The disadvantage of using the Search and Import feature to import a whole book is the inability to select the chapters and parts wanted before importing. Instead, one must accept all chapters and parts as they appear in the original book and make changes after the import.
Issue to Note
When importing an entire book using the Search and Import feature, chapters and parts may be separated. In the below example, the chapters were taken out of their parts and added to the Main Body part that appeared when the book shell was created. The parts are listed after. We are aware of this problem and are working to resolve it.In the meantime, if this happens to you, you can use the drag-and-drop feature to reorganize the chapters and move them into their proper parts, and then delete the Main Body part when you are done.
There are many ways to obtain an editable copy of openly licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
Another way to pull an existing open textbook into a Pressbooks account is by importing the Pressbooks or WordPress file of the textbook. Before you begin, you will need an existing book shell to import the content into. (See Add a New Book.)
Note that although this page focuses on importing a book’s Pressbooks file, the same procedure can be followed when importing a WordPress file.
You will need to download the Pressbooks file (.xml) of the textbook that you wish to import to your computer. For books in the the B.C. Open Textbook Collection, you can find these files in two different places.
Pressbooks files are also found:
To import the Pressbooks file:
Once the content has been imported successfully, you will be redirected to an Import page with a list of all the parts and chapters in the book.
Before you begin the import process, you can chose if you want the content you are importing to appear in the webbook by selecting “Show imported content in web.” If this check box is not selected, then all parts and chapters that you are importing will appear as drafts, meaning they will not be seen in the webbook. If you do select the check box, parts and chapters will appear in the webbook and the Show in Exports option for every part and chapter will be marked as yes, which makes sure that parts and chapters are included when a book is exported.
If you do not select this check box now, you will need to check the “Show in Web” and “Show in Exports” check boxes by each part and chapter after it’s been imported.
Once you have selected the parts and chapters you want to import, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Import Selection.” With a large book, the import process may take several minutes. Do not interrupt this process. If you decide that you do not want to import any content, click “Cancel.” This will cancel the import process.
Once the import routine has completed, you will be taken to the Organize view.
Based on the options selected during the import process you can see the following things:
Once you have finished the import process, check to make sure that chapters were placed in their correct parts. If there are any empty parts or chapters left over from the original book shell, you can delete them.
There are many ways to obtain an editable copy of openly licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
You can also import a Pressbook (or another web page) using a URL (web address). Before you begin, you will need an existing book shell to import the content into. (See Add a New Book.)
To use this feature:
If importing a Pressbook, the rest of the import process is the same as that for importing a Pressbooks/WordPress file.
There are many ways to get your own editable copy of openly licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
We understand that some authors prefer to work in the familiar environment of a Word document. Other times, when a group of authors is contributing to a book in Pressbooks, it makes sense for each writer to compose in Word and then allow the lead author to import the final drafts into Pressbooks. This approach allows for better control of a book’s content as only one person has control of styling. Finally, there are cases where people may wish to add existing openly licensed content into Pressbooks from a Word file.
The Word import routine recognizes standard markup language for lists (bullets and numbers), headings, and textboxes. However, the Word import routine built into Pressbooks cannot include all markup language used in a Word document because there’s just too much of it. Formatting and layout created in a Word document that uses proprietary markup language (vs. standard markup language) is unlikely to make it through intact from the Word document into Pressbooks. This includes images added to a Word document using Smart Art.
For more information, see Import from Word (docx) in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Copy Paste: Tried and True in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
If you prefer to use Google Docs to write content, you can also transfer the final result into Pressbooks. To begin:
The ODT file is one option found in the suite of documents known as OpenDocument Format for Office Applications (ODF), or OpenDocuments for short. Other file types include a spreadsheet, a presentation document, and a chart."OpenDocument," Wikipedia, August 6, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument (accessed August 14, 2018).
To import this file type:
Part two of this import process is the same as that for importing a Pressbooks or WordPress file.
An OpenDocument Text (ODT) file is an open-source word-processing format. It is “compatible with Word and open source applications like OpenOffice and LibreOffice,” though formatting differences exist between the two and certain Word features are not available in ODT files."Differences between the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format and the Word (.docx) format," Microsoft, August 17, 2015, https://support.office.com/en-us/article/differences-between-the-opendocument-text-odt-format-and-the-word-docx-format-d9d51a92-56d1-4794-8b68-5efb57aebfdc (accessed August 14, 2018).
An ODT file can be opened using Word. However, not all of its elements will work. See differences between the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format and the Word (.docx) format for more information.
For help using an ODT file, see the frequently asked questions posted by the OpenDocument online community.
An EPUB file can be used to import an open textbook into Pressbooks. Before you begin, you will need an existing book shell to import the content into. (See Add a New Book.)
To import this file type:
Part two of this import process is the same as that for importing a Pressbooks or WordPress file.
Section Topics
This section outlines several ways to improve and enhance content. Features covered include how to:
When working in Pressbooks, there are different types of links that you may be working with:
IMPORTANT: The unique ID used for an anchor is case sensitive.
For more information, see the following chapters in the Pressbooks Userguide: |
Blockquotes are used for long quotations that must be placed in a stand-alone block of text without using quotation marks. The blockquote feature in Pressbooks is useful because it automatically formats the text according to blockquote requirements. For guidelines on when blockquotes should be used, check your chosen style guide.
The blockquotes feature is identified in the WYSIWYG toolbar by the double quotation mark icon. To use this feature:
In the webbook, the blockquote is indented and highlighted in gray.
A pullquote is a quotation that has been pulled from the body of a book or other piece of writing that highlights a key piece of information in a way that adds visual interest to that same book.
For more information, see Adding Pullquotes in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
You can add a bulleted list by selecting the Bulleted list icon from the WYSIWYG toolbar.
There are two ways to add a secondary-list level to a primary list:
An unlimited number of sub-lists can be created under a primary bullet list.
See Formatting Ordered Lists in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Tables and Textboxes in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Issue to Note
In the last row of the WYSIWYG toolbar, there are three icons for specialized textboxes. Each of these is designed with special content in mind:
While it is recommended that these special textboxes be used as designed—metadata has been added to each textbox for optimal discoverability—the headings can be rewritten to better reflect the exact content added.
Specialized textboxes can also be added using the Textboxes drop-down list available in the second row of the WYSIWYG toolbar.
For more information, see Tables and Textboxes in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
See Tables and Textboxes in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
All textboxes available in the Textboxes drop-down list of the WYSIWYG toolbar are also available as sidebars. Here are characteristics to take note of:
Pressbooks allows you to upload and insert many different types of files and media into your book. When uploading media into Pressbooks, note the following:
See the following chapters in the Pressbooks Userguide: |
If your goal is to produce a book for both web and print delivery at the same time, image set up and placement must be considered. We recommend centring all images and keeping the maximum image size to a width of 500 pixels and height of 600 pixels.
If you use a larger image, there is a risk that it will be pushed to another page in the PDF—sometimes several pages away from its webbook position. One solution is to add page breaks to key spots in the book.
See Section Breaks, Page Breaks and Blank Pages in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Some authors choose to create a separate version for print, sometimes using a different system such as InDesign, so that text and image layout for the web version can be more creative.
Issues to Note
In a book, you can link to files hosted the Pressbooks Media Library so people reading the book can access those files. This feature may be useful if you want to share files that will not display directly in Pressbooks, like PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint slides.
To add a link to a file in a book in Pressbooks, follow the following steps:
See Embedded Media and Interactive Content in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
When a video is embedded on a book’s webpage in Pressbooks, it aligns to the left by default. This alignment can be adjusted as follows:
The PDF files (print and digital) exported from Pressbooks do not include the URLs for videos embedded in a book. In order to provide full access to these media for readers using printed copies of an online open textbook, it is recommended that URLs be provided for each embedded video.
Many BCcampus open textbook publications post videos on YouTube to be embedded in a textbook. This is done for a few reasons:
If you own the copyright for a video posted on YouTube intended for an open textbook, take steps to change the video’s licence from the default “Standard YouTube license” to the “Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).” (See How to Change the License of Your YouTube Video to Creative Commons.)
Not all videos from YouTube can be embedded into Pressbooks. YouTube videos have three privacy settings that account holders can select. Pressbooks can only embed videos set to “Public” (can be viewed by anyone) and “Unlisted” (can be viewed by anyone who has a direct link to the video). Videos that are set to “Private” (can only be viewed by video owner) cannot be embedded into Pressbooks. (See How to Upload a Video to YouTube for instructions on how to adjust privacy settings while uploading a video.)
Videos grouped in a playlist on YouTube are designed to play continuously in sequence. To prevent rollover for an embedded video taken from a playlist, use the URL found under the Share link found above the video description box. Highlight the URL by double clicking the link, then copy the URL by right clicking on the link and selecting “Copy.”
Here is an example of an embedded video:
Media 1: “Two Person Ladder 001” can be found online at https://youtu.be/WjDhFVfP8f0 |
Audio files posted in a repository, such as Sound Cloud, can be embedded in Pressbooks the same way that videos are embedded—using a URL.
Here is an example of an embedded audio clip:
Media 2: “Jess Mitchell” can be found online at https://soundcloud.com/wearecc/jess-mitchell |
See Embedded Media and Interactive Content in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
For information on adding interactive activities to your Pressbook, see H5P for Interactive Material.
See Footnotes and (Chapter) Endnotes in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
LaTeX is a programming language used for technical and scientific documents, but in small snippets, it can also be used to easily create formulas and equations in Pressbooks. Each character has its own code, and there are functions for common formatting as well."Equations and Formulas: How to Use LaTeX," Pressbooks Userguide, https://guide.pressbooks.com/chapter/equations-and-formulas/ (accessed July 25, 2018).
For more information, see Equations and Formulas: How to Use LaTeX in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Pressbooks saves the previous 25 versions of each chapter and part in a book. These are useful if you want to review changes or return to a past version of your work.
To review previous versions of a chapter or part, open that part or chapter in the visual editor. Find the Status & Visibility box, which is located in the right sidebar, and click the Browse link that follows “Revisions.”
On the Compare Revisions page, the most recent version is posted beside the current version (which appears on the right). You can view older versions by moving the horizontal scroll bar positioned near the top of the page. At the top right of the screen, there is a Compare any two revisions option, which allows you to view any two versions side-by-side. If you find a version that you would like to restore, click the Restore This Revision button.
Deleted material is highlighted in red and new material is highlighted in green.
Section Topics
This section defines plugins and describes how to:
Plugins are software components that can be added to an existing computer program, such as Pressbooks, in order to provide additional features."Plug-in (computing)," Wikipedia, June 24, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_(computing) (accessed August 10, 2018).
There are three plugins that account holders can activate for each book within their account: H5P, Hypothes.is, and WP Quick LaTeX. Only the Administrator for a book has the ability to do this. If you are the Administrator of more than one book, you will have to activate the plugins in each book you want them turned on in.
To activate these plugins:
The H5P plugin allows Pressbooks users to create interactive material, such as quizzes, timelines, drag-and-drop questions, and more. This free and open-source technology was first released in 2013."H5P," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H5P (accessed August 10, 2018). For more information, visit the H5P website.
For those who chose to use this plugin in a book, be aware that it is not meant to replace a graded or summative test. Instead, H5P activities are most useful for student self-quizzing and encouraging interaction with content.
Once this plugin is activated, two new tabs will be added to the book’s Dashboard menu: the H5P Content tab and the H5P link under the Settings tab.
Settings for H5P range from how the toolbar is controlled to whether to automatically share usage statistics with the H5P developers. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of this page if you make any changes.
The H5P Content tab is where you can create new H5P activities and manage activities that you created previously.
For more information, see H5P Interactive Content in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Enabling the WP Quick LaTeX plugin allows authors to type and publish native LaTeX syntax directly into the Visual Editor of book chapters in Pressbooks. No LaTeX installation is required.
When this plugin is activated, a QuickLaTeX link will be added to the Settings tab in the Dashboard menu.
There are five tabs for QuickLaTeX settings. The Getting started and About tabs provide additional information about this plugin. Under the Basic Settings tab, you can adjust things like font size and colour. The Advanced and System tabs include default settings recommended for most users.
For more information, see “QuickLaTeX” in the Equations and Formulas: How to Use LaTeX chapter of the Pressbooks Userguide. |
To learn how to use LaTeX, see LaTeX for Formulas.
Section Topics
This section describes how to remove some or all of a book. Instructions include how to:
Chapters can be deleted from any part in a book. To do this:
To restore a deleted chapter:
IMPORTANT: Items in the trash will be permanently deleted after one day.
For more information, see Chapters in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
To delete Main Body parts:
If the deleted part contains chapters, these will be moved to another part. If the deleted part was below the first Main Body part, the orphan chapter(s) will move to the first part. If the deleted part is the first Main Body part, the orphan chapter will move to the last part. Consider moving chapters to another part before deleting the part.
IMPORTANT: The front matter and back matter parts of a book cannot be deleted, but chapters within these parts can be added or deleted.
To restore a deleted part:
IMPORTANT: Items in the trash will be permanently deleted after one day.
For more information, see Parts in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Some of this text has been taken from Parts by Hugh McGuire, a chapter in the Pressbooks Userguide, and is used under a CC BY 4.0 International Licence.
To delete an entire book:
On the “Delete Book” page it says:
If you do not want to use your BC Open Textbooks book any more, you can delete it using the form below. When you click Delete My Book Permanently you will be sent an email with a link in it. Click on this link to delete your book.
Remember, once deleted your site cannot be restored.
To continue:
Section Topics
There are several tasks that need attention before publishing a book. The following are covered here:
See Book Info in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
Using information entered on the Book Info page, Pressbooks automatically generates a number of automatic pages, information blocks, and statements to provide licence and copyright information. (See Automatic Pages and Features.)
Although it may look different, this information will appear in all formats, including the webbook:
The home page of the webbook will contain the book title, subtitle, author, the licence type, and a licence statement. Farther down the home page will be the metadata for the book, including the book title, author, publisher, reviewer, translator, illustrator, licence type and licensing statement. Licence and copyright information is also listed at the end of every chapter.
PDFs will contain a title page providing the book title, subtitle, author, and publisher name and city. There will also be a copyright page that provides the licensing statement, which includes the book title, author, and licence type.
Here are some items to take note of:
See below for suggested language to use in the Copyright Notice field on the Book Info page for both a new and adapted open textbook.
Following the Copyright Holder and Copyright License fields, is the Copyright Notice field where information is provided about copyright, the licence, and related actions. Items that can be added are:
Here is a sample:
The CC licence permits you to retain, reuse, copy, redistribute, and revise this book—in whole or in part—for free providing it is attributed as follows:
Introduction to Korean by John Kim is used under a CC BY 4.0 International Licence
This textbook can be referenced. In APA citation style, it would appear as follows:
Kim, John. (2016). Introduction to Korean. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Available from [url].
Cover image attribution: Another hand mirror reflection by Frank Kovalchek is used under a CC BY 2.0 Licence.
The copyright notice for an open textbook that is an adaptation is similar to that of an original textbook, with a few exceptions. Items that can be added are:
Intermediate Korean is an adaptation of Introduction to Korean by John Kim, also copyrighted by John Kim. The original textbook, unless otherwise noted, was released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY) licence.
The new and revised material in this adaptation is copyrighted 2017 by the adapting authors Jane Green and Joe Smith and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA) Licence. The revisions and new material made to the original textbook are listed below.
In general, language was revised to improve flow, links to other chapters were added, spelling was corrected. Exercises for all chapters were revised to suit the more difficult material.
This textbook can be cited in APA citation style as follows:
Green, J. & Smith, J. (2017). Intermediate Korean. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Available from [url].
Cover image attribution: Another hand mirror reflection by Frank Kovalchek is used under a CC BY 2.0 Licence.
If you need a different licence for a specific chapter, scroll to the bottom of the chapter’s page in the visual editor and select one from the Copyright License drop-drop menu. This action will override the book licence for that page only.
Before filling out the Book Info page, add the names of all individuals who contributed to the textbook. This list can include the following: authors, editors, reviewers, illustrators, translators, and others.
To add contributors:
Pressbooks allows you to export a book into different file formats such as PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and more.Books published by BCcampus are exported in all available formats. Export options are found in the Export tab in the Dashboard menu.
See Export and PDF Export and Options in the Pressbooks Userguide. |
If a book has unnecessary blank pages in the PDF file:
IMPORTANT: This option is only available for the Digital PDF file, not the Print PDF version.
When exporting different file types, there are two PDF options to choose from:
Here are the differences between the two:
Characteristics | PDF (Print) | PDF (Digital) |
---|---|---|
Purpose | Designed for printing. Blank pages are inserted where expected for print outputs. Internal navigation links will not work. | Designed for reading on an electronic device and sharing online. Internal navigation links will work. |
Pressbooks Icon Colour | red | green |
File Name/Extension | print.pdf | |
Image Resolution | high (print quality: 300 dpi) | lower (web quality: 72 dpi) |
File Size | Larger | Smaller |
On the Export Settings page, a book Administrator has the option to receive validation error logs for exported files.
To enable this feature:
If errors are detected in any of the exported files, a validation error report—one for each file type that contains an error—is sent to the email associated with the Pressbooks account of the person who exported the files.
During the book creation process, the account holder is asked “Would you like your webbook to be visible to the public?” The default setting is “Yes,” though most authors decide to keep their book private during the writing process.
To change a book’s privacy setting, click the Organize tab in the Dashboard menu. The privacy options are displayed at the top of the Organize page.
If someone who has not been given access by the book’s Administrator attempts to read a “private” book, an Access Denied message appears. To give someone access to a private book, they will have to be added as a User. (See Provide Access to Others.)
To open a book to the public, go to the Organize page and select the Public radio button at the top of the page.
Section Topics
There are several ways to track statistics on how many people are using an open textbook and downloading files. This chapter describes three different methods:
Pressbooks Users have the ability to view statistics for each book that they are the Administrator of, thanks to the WP-Piwik plugin activated for the B.C. self-serve instance of Pressbooks.WP-Piwik is an open-source analytics tool for WordPress platforms.
Statistics are displayed in a couple of places within a book. WP-Piwik numbers for the last 30 days are found in an Overview box on the lower-right section of a book’s Dashboard. This box comes with a collapse arrow to hide the information.
To view detailed statistics, begin by selecting “WP-Piwik” from the Dashboard menu.
This action will reveal the Piwik Statistics page, which contains information about the webbook, such as the number of visitors that have looked it. See the Matomo Glossary for definitions of the metric terms used by this tool.
IMPORTANT: WP-Piwik was renamed WP-Matomo on January 9, 2018. The announcement blog explained that the name was changed “to ensure that Matomo does not/will not share its name with any other businesses unlike Piwik.Piwik PRO (https://piwik.pro/) is an example of a business that uses the label "piwik." We also want to protect the Matomo brand and for it to remain the open source community project name forever.” The label for this plugin in Pressbooks has not yet been changed.
BCcampus Open Education provides statistics for each textbook hosted in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection under the “open.bccampus.ca” tab on the Open Textbook Stats page.
A Download Stats button is provided for each book. There is also a link to the book in the collection to the left of each book title.
The Download Stats page for a book shows:
Most of the open textbooks that have been fully funded, managed, and published by BCcampus during the initial phase of the open textbook project are hosted on on BCcampus’ internal instance of Pressbooks (opentextbc.ca). For each of these textbooks, there are stats available for how often the webbook is accessed and how often the files on the webbook’s home page are downloaded. These statistics are found under the “opentextbc.ca” tab on the Open Textbook Stats page.
Section Topics
The support resources in this section are designed for the post-secondary sector in British Columbia and the Yukon. However, anyone is welcome to reference and adapt these materials. They include:
BCcampus maintains a Pressbooks Updates page to help keep the community informed of what’s going on with Pressbooks.
See Pressbooks Updates for information about the BCcampus instances of Pressbooks, including:
Information of about Pressbooks updates is also sent out through a Pressbooks email distribution list. Everyone who has created a Pressbooks account in the pressbooks.bccampus.ca instance of Pressbooks should be on this list. If you have a BCcampus Pressbooks account and are not receiving these emails (but would like to be), email helpdesk@bccampus.ca, and ask to be added to the PB Notifications distribution list.
BCcampus Open Education offers Pressbooks Training Webinars to post-secondary faculty and staff in British Columbia and the Yukon.
Webinars are scheduled every six to eight weeks during the fall and spring terms for a total of five or six each year. Each session is comprised of a one-hour Introduction webinar followed by a one-hour Intermediate webinar.
For faculty and staff who do not have experience using Pressbooks, it is strongly recommended they take the Introduction webinar before the Intermediate session. These two webinars are conveniently scheduled so they can be taken on the same day. Registrants are referred to this Pressbooks Guide and the BCcampus FAQs (see Main Topics: Pressbooks) as support resources and are encouraged to review these in advance of the class.
These webinars are not only learning opportunities for users, but also a chance for BCcampus Open Education to hear questions and receive feedback with the goal of improving the support materials we create and maintain for Pressbooks users.
These slides are released with a CC BY licence.
Below are recordings from past Pressbooks Training webinars.
Use the Pressbooks Feedback form to submit comments about the BCcampus instance of Pressbooks including feature suggestions, problems, or suggestions for improvement.
For administrators managing their organization’s Pressbooks instance, individuals who provide technical support, and developers who build and fix Pressbooks features, see below for support communities and resources:
This page contains a list of links to external resources referenced in this book for people who are using a print version. Links are listed by the parts and chapters in which they appear and are listed alphabetically. Internal links are not included in this list.
Pressbooks Definitions and Features
Administrator: The highest level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Administrators can add, edit, and delete parts and chapters, they can add and delete users, and they can delete a book. (See Provide Access to Others.)
Anchor: A unique, case-sensitive ID used to mark a spot within a Pressbooks book to create an internal link. Anchors can be inserted by clicking the Anchor icon in the third row of the WYSIWYG toolbar. (See Hyperlink Material.)
Appearance/Themes: A tab in the Dashboard menu where a book’s Theme, Theme Options, and Custom Styles can be changed. (See Appearance.)
Author: A level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Authors can write, edit, and publish their own parts and chapters, but not those of others. (See Provide Access to Others.)
back matter: A kind of part that comes at the end of a book after the main content. It can include chapters like a glossary, bibliography, and appendices. (See Back Matter: Add, Change, Organize.)
blockquotes: A tool found in the first row of the WYSIWYG toolbar that can be used to format long quotations. (See Blockquotes and Pullquotes.)
Book Info: A tab in the Dashboard menu where a textbook’s publication information can be added. It includes fields such as title, author, editor, book description, licence, and copyright information. (See Book Info Page.)
book view: See webbook.
chapter: The term used in Pressbooks to indicate a section within a part. You may also see chapters sometimes being referred to as a “post.” (See Chapters: Add, Change, Organize.)
Chapter Author: A field found in the Chapter Metadata box at the end of each chapter. It is used when a chapter author is different from the book author.
Chapter Metadata box: A collection of fields at the bottom of each chapter where information can be changed for a specific chapter when it differs from the rest of the book.
Clone a Book: An action that allows users to copy or clone a book in any instance of Pressbooks, as long as it has been made public. (See Clone a Book.)
comments: A feature that an author can use to solicit feedback from readers. This option is disabled, book-wide, by default. (See Comments.)
Contributor: A level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Contributors can only write and edit their own posts.(See Provide Access to Others.)
Copyright Notice: A field on the Book Info page in Pressbooks where licence type, copyright holder, and related information are added. (See Book Info Page.)
copyright statement: Copyright information that is added to the Copyright Notice field on the Book Info page in Pressbooks.
Custom Styles: An area in Pressbooks where the CSS of a book can be customized in web, PDF, and eBook formats. It is accessed from a book’s Dashboard menu under the Appearance tab. (See Custom styles.)
Dashboard: An area in Pressbooks where an user can work on a specific book. This is where a book’s content is hosted and where users will find links to various tools and functions. It is also where a user is automatically directed after logging in. (See The Dashboard.)
Dashboard menu: The left-hand navigation column which lists links to a variety of tools and features in a textbook.
Distraction-Free Writing mode: A button at the top right of the WYSIWYG toolbar that allows users to hide the side bars when working in the Pressbooks editor for a distraction-free writing experience. The sidebars return by clicking the Distraction-Free Writing mode button again or by mousing over the sidebars. (See Special features.)
Download Textbooks: A page found under the Textbooks for PB tab in the Dashboard menu that allows Pressbooks users to download open textbooks from the B.C. Open Textbook Collection. This feature is unique to the B.C. Faculty Pressbooks instance.
edit view: What a user sees when working in the Pressbooks editor. See Text (HTML) Editor and Visual Editor.
Editor: A level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Editors can add, edit, manage, and publish posts, even those of others. (See Provide Access to Others.)
Exercises (EX button): A textbox option available in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar used to add exercises or problems as part of a Pressbooks part or chapter. It is recommended that this textbox be restricted to this usage because of the related meta tags. See textboxes.
Export: A tab in the Dashboard menu used to export a book into different file formats such as PDF, EPUB, and MOBI. (See Export Files.)
Footnotes (FN button): An option in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar for creating footnotes. (See Footnotes and Endnotes.)
front matter: A kind of part, placed at the beginning of book content, that contains content like introductions, dedications, prefaces, and acknowledgements. (See Front Matter: Add, Change, Organize.)
Import: A tab in the Dashboard menu where content is imported into Pressbooks from other sources such as Word, EPUB, and HTML files. (See Add Content.)
instance: A self-contained version of Pressbooks administered by a particular group. Different instances of Pressbooks may have different features, or may be reserved for particular users. A Pressbooks instance is also called a “domain” or “network.”
Key Takeaways (KT button): A textbox option available in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar used to summarize key points in at the end of a Pressbooks part or chapter. It is recommended that this textbox be restricted to this usage because of the related meta tags. See textboxes.
LaTeX: A programming language built to input, format, and display mathematical and scientific formulas. (See LaTeX for Formulas.)
Learning Objectives (LO button): A textbox option available in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar used to list the learning outcomes for a Pressbooks part or chapter. It is recommended that this textbox be restricted to this usage because of the related meta tags attached. See textboxes.
Main Body: The default label given to a part found in the central portion of a book. It can be relabeled as needed.
Media: A tab in the Dashboard menu that contains a library where imported images, videos, and files are stored for the purpose of embedding or linking in the book. Media can also be added to the Media Library by clicking the Add Media button above the main content in the Pressbooks editor. (See Media.)
My Catalogue: Found in the top, red navigation bar; it displays and allows selection of other books found in a Pressbooks account. (See My Catalogue.)
Order: The field used to determine the order in which parts are displayed.
Organize: Tool used for adding, editing, assigning types, and reorganizing content into parts and chapters. This tool can also be used to select chapters for exporting, display a title (Show Title), and make a textbook private or public. (See Organize.)
parts: Overarching sections in Pressbooks that hold chapters. A book is made up of chapters which are sequentially ordered in parts. (See Parts.)
permalink: Another name for a chapter’s URL or web address. (See Chapter title and permalink.)
pullquotes: A quotation that has been pulled from the body of a book, or other piece of writing, that highlights a key piece of information in a way that adds visual interest to a book. (See Blockquotes and Pullquotes.)
reader view: See webbook.
Settings: A tab in the Dashboard menu that contains numerous options such as privacy, exporting, and displaying formulas with the LaTeX tool. (See Settings.)
source book: A book used to clone a copy. (See Clone a Book.)
Special character button: A button in the WYSIWYG toolbar that reveals a table of special characters that can be inserted into a Pressbooks page. (See Special features.)
Subscriber: The lowest permission level that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Subscribers can only read posts. (See Provide Access to Others.)
target book: The destination book into which a cloned/source book is copied. (See Clone a Book.)
Text (HTML) tab: The HTML editor view in Pressbooks that allows editing of content as plain text HTML.
Textbooks for PB: A tab in the Dashboard menu that provides tools for working with content from other open textbooks. (See Textbooks for PB.)
textboxes: A drop-down list of textbox options in the WYSIWYG toolbar. There are a number of standard and educational textbox options that can also appear as sidebars. (See Textboxes.)
Theme Options: An page under the Appearance tab on the Dashboard menu where Administrators can select different appearance and formatting options. (See Theme Options.)
Toolbar Toggle: A toggle button on the WYSIWYG toolbar that will show/hide advanced tools, such as textboxes, headings, special characters, footnotes, superscript, and subscript. (See Special features.)
Visual tab: The visual—WYSIWYG—editor view in Pressbooks which allows you to see how content will be formatted in different exported files and webbook. See WYSIWYG.
Users: A tab in the Dashboard menu where an Administrator can add and delete Users in a book and change permissions. Users can have any of the following roles: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, or Subscriber. (See Users.)
webbook: The online version of a book authored in Pressbooks.
WYSIWYG toolbar: The three rows of tools and formatting options available in the Pressbooks Visual Editor. (WYSIWYG is the acronym for “what you see is what you get”.)
This page provides a record of changes made to this toolkit. Each set of edits is acknowledged with a 0.1 increase in the version number. The exported files for this toolkit reflect the most recent version.
If you find an error in this toolkit, please fill out the Report an Open Textbook Error form.
Version | Date | Change | Details |
1.0 | March 29, 2016 | Open creation of this guide is added to the B.C. Open Textbook Collection | |
1.1 | September 11, 2018 | Completion of guide | Updates and changes log [Word file] |
1.2 | September 27, 2018 | Updated Pressbooks for B.C. and the Yukon page. | Added information about our intention to allow faculty at private post-secondary institutions to create Pressbooks accounts. |