Configure home pages

If you are assigned either the Main Site Admin, Site Admin, or Content Creator role, you can configure home pages for libraries, collection sites, and kiosks.

Vega Discover customers can configure one home page, which also appears on your kiosks. Your home page can contain a maximum of five rows of content.

If you have Vega Discover Premium or if your library belongs to a consortium, you can configure a home page for each kiosk and collection site. Each home page can have a maximum of 20 rows of content.

Rows of content can contain the following components:

  • Cover carousel: cover images pulled from the selected Vega showcase.
  • Showcase group: cover images pulled from the selected showcase or an uploaded image.
  • Hero carousel: uploaded image for a larger ad banner that links to a showcase or URL.
  • Events: descriptions of up to three events that can link to URLs.
  • Authors: Syndetics image (when available) that links to the author page, or uploaded book covers that link to the details page and editable biography.

If you want to see your work as you go, log in to your staff account on another browser so you don’t have to refresh the Home Page Configuration Builder every time you make a change.

Scheduled content

You can either manually publish your home page content or you can schedule your content to automatically publish and expire on specific dates and times. You can also omit the end date so the content never expires.

If you have Vega Discover, you can configure a maximum of 10 rows of scheduled content. You can publish a maximum of five rows at a time.

If you have Vega Discover Premium, you can configure a maximum of 40 rows of scheduled content. You can publish a maximum of 20 rows at a time.

In draft view, you can arrange scheduled content in the order you want it to appear on the page.

On the Preview page, scheduled content includes the start and end dates and has a gray background.

For more information, see Example of scheduled content setup.

Image recommendations

You can use a free service such as Canva to create a template that’s the recommended size, and use their library of royalty-free images. You can find more royalty-free images on Pexels.

Innovative recommends the following image dimensions:

  • Showcase and hero images: 880 pixels wide by 320 pixels tall.
  • Author images: 296 pixels wide by 428 pixels tall.

Vega resizes and centers the images to fit the image space. Your image may appear cropped in the thumbnail. Preview the page to see how your image will look when it’s published.

The maximum file size is 3 MB.

WCAG 2.1 AA image accessibility guidelines

The following best practices help people with disabilities to effectively perceive, understand, and interact with visual content:

  • Text within images

    • Avoid including text within images whenever possible. Text within images can be challenging for screen readers and may not scale properly for users with visual impairments.

  • Contrast Ratio

    • If text is included in an image, ensure that there is sufficient contrast between the text and its background. The contrast ratio should meet the following criteria:

    • Normal text: Minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1

    • Large text (18 point or 14 point bold): Minimum contrast ratio of 3:1

  • Accessibility tools

    • Use accessibility tools or contrast checkers such as the WebAIM contrast checker to verify the contrast ratio between text and background color.

  • Alt text

    • When you upload an image, the system uses the name of the component as alt text. So, if you use text in an image, update the name of the component to include the desired alt text.

  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Vega Discover sites: go to the next step.
    • Vega Discover Premium and consortia sites: select a library, kiosk, or collection site from the list below the page title.
  3. In the Edit Homepage section, select Add Content.

    4. If you edit an existing home page, select Add More Content.

  4. Add components.

    5. Depending on the component, you can add one of your library’s published showcases, add a URL, or search for an author in Syndetics.

    1. Select Cover Carousel.
    2. From the Select Display Type section, select one of the following:
      • Plain
      • Styled (adds a drop shadow)
    3. In the Select Showcase section, search for a showcase and select it.

      4. As you type, Vega displays showcases that match your search.

    4. Under Showcase block title, change the name of the showcase if desired.
    5. Select an option under Show block title?
    6. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:

      7. If you want to Do this
      Publish manually
      • Select Publish now.
      Schedule the publication
      1. Select Scheduled.
      2. Select a start date and time.
      3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.

    7. Select from the following options:
      • Show resource titles?
      • Show contributor names?
      • Number items in carousel
    8. (Optional) Under Add a background image? select Yes and upload an image.

    1. Select Showcase Group.
    2. Select from the following:
      1. In the Select Showcase section, for each pill you want to use, do one of the following:
        • Search for an existing showcase and select it.

          • As you type, Vega displays showcases that match your search.

        • Select URL and enter a webpage URL.
      2. If you want to add another showcase, select Add Another Showcase.

        3. You can add a maximum of eight showcases that use cover pills.

      3. Under Showcase Block Settings, do the following:
        4. If you want to display Do this
        An icon from the library
        1. Select Icon from library.
        2. Select an icon.
        Images from the showcase
        • Select Images from showcase.
      4. Do you want to display a title for the showcase?
        • If yes, enter the title under Showcase block Title, and select Yes under Show block title?
        • If no, select No under Show block title?
      5. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:
        6. If you want to Do this
        Publish manually
        • Select Publish now.
        Schedule the publication
        1. Select Scheduled.
        2. Select a start date and time.
        3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.
      1. In the Select Showcase section, for each pill you want to use, search for a showcase and select it.

        2. As you type, Vega displays showcases that match your search.

      2. If you want to upload an image, select Upload Image.
      3. Select an overlay color.
      4. If you want to add another showcase, select Add Another Showcase.
      5. Do you want to display a title for the showcase?
        • If yes, enter the title under Showcase Block Title, and select Yes under Show block title?
        • If no, select No under Show block title?
      6. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:

        7. If you want to Do this
        Publish manually
        • Select Publish now.
        Schedule the publication
        1. Select Scheduled.
        2. Select a start date and time.
        3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.

      1. In the Select Showcase section, for each panel you want to use, search for a showcase and select it.

        2. As you type, Vega displays showcases that match your search results.

      2. Do you want to display a title for the showcase block?
        • If yes, enter the title under Showcase Block Title, and select Yes under Show block title?
        • If no, select No under Show block title?
      3. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:

        4. If you want to Do this
        Publish manually
        • Select Publish now.
        Schedule the publication
        1. Select Scheduled.
        2. Select a start date and time.
        3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.

      4. Do you want to display the titles of the showcases?
        • If yes, select Yes under Show showcase title for each panel?
        • If no, select No under Show showcase title for each panel?
      1. For each panel that you want to use, search for a showcase and select it.

        2. As you type, Vega displays showcases that match your search results.

      2. Select Upload Image.
      3. Browse for and select an image.
      4. Do you want to display a title for the showcase block?
        • If yes, enter the title under Showcase block title, and select Yes under Show block title?
        • If no, select No under Show block title?
      5. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:

        6. If you want to Do this
        Publish manually
        • Select Publish now.
        Schedule the publication
        1. Select Scheduled.
        2. Select a start date and time.
        3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.

      6. Do you want to display the titles of the showcases?
        • If yes, select Yes under Show title of showcases?
        • If no, select No under Show title of showcases?

    1. Select Hero Carousel.
    2. For each hero carousel you want to use, do the following:
      1. Select Upload image.
      2. Browse for an image and select it.
      3. Select from the following options:
        • If you want to add a showcase, select Showcases, and then search for the showcase you want to use.
        • If you want to link to a website, select URL, and enter the URL.
      4. If you want to add another showcase, select Add Another Showcase.

        5. You can add a maximum of five showcases or websites.

      5. Do you want to display a title for the showcase block?
        • If yes, enter the title under Title of showcase block, and select Yes under Show title of showcase block?
        • If no, select No under Show title of showcase block?
      6. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:
        7. If you want to Do this
        Publish manually
        • Select Publish now.
        Schedule the publication
        1. Select Scheduled.
        2. Select a start date and time.
        3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.
      7. (Optional) Under Add a background image? Select Yes and upload an image.

    1. Select Events.
    2. For each event that you want to add, do the following:
      1. If you want to add an image, select Image, and upload the image.
      2. In the Date box, select the date of the event.
      3. In the Title box, enter the title of the event.
      4. In the Description box, enter a description of the event.
      5. In the Time box, select the time of the event.
      6. If you want to add more information, enter it in the Additional Information box.
      7. If you want to add a link to a webpage, enter the URL in the Link to webpage box.
      8. Select an overlay color from the Select overlay color list.
    3. Under Would you like to show the title of event block? do one of the following:
      • If yes, enter the title under Title of event block, and select Yes under Show title of showcase block?
      • If no, select No.

    1. Select Authors.
    1. Select from the following display types:
      • 4 Books
      • 6 Books
    2. For each author, search for the author that you want to include in the showcase.

      3. If an author has multiple names, search for <last name>, <first name>. For example, a search for “Linda Sue Park” doesn’t return the Syndetics match, but “Park, Linda Sue” does.

    3. Do you want to use the Syndetics image?
      • If yes, select Yes under Use Syndetics image?

        • You can also edit the Syndetics-provided biography.

      • If no, select No under Use Syndetics image?
    4. If you want to upload an image, select Upload Image, then browse to select the image you want to use.
    5. Do you want to display the author biographies?
      • If yes, select Yes under Do you want to show description?
      • If no, select No under Do you want to show description?
    6. Do you want to display a title for the showcase block?
      • If yes, enter a title under Block Title, and select Yes under Show block title?
      • If no, select No under Show block title?.
    7. Under Publish manually or schedule for later, do one of the following:
      8. If you want to Do this
      Publish manually
      • Select Publish now.
      Schedule the publication
      1. Select Scheduled.
      2. Select a start date and time.
      3. (Optional) Select an end date and time.

  5. Select Create Showcase Block.
  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Vega Discover sites: go to the next step.
    • Vega Discover Premium and consortia sites: select a library, kiosk, or collection site from the list below the page title.
  3. In the Edit Homepage section, select the up or down arrows to move the component where you want it.

    4. If you make changes to a published page, the showcase row status changes to Unpublished.

  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Vega Discover sites: go to the next step.
    • Vega Discover Premium and consortia sites: select a library, kiosk, or collection site from the list below the page title.
  3. In the Edit Homepage section, select the pencil icon Pencil icon.
  4. Make the changes.

    5. You can only make changes to the selected component type.

  5. Select Update Showcase Block.

    6. If you make changes to a published page, the showcase row status changes to Unpublished.

  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Vega Discover sites: go to the next step.
    • Vega Discover Premium and consortia sites: select a library, kiosk, or collection site from the list below the page title.
  3. In the Edit Homepage section, select the trash can icon Trash can icon for the component you want to delete.
  4. On the confirmation window, select Delete.
  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Vega Discover sites: go to the next step.
    • Vega Discover Premium and consortia sites: select a library, kiosk, or collection site from the list below the page title.
  3. Select Preview.
  4. Do one of the following:
    • To make changes, select Back to Draft.
    • To publish the home page, select Next, and then select Publish.
  5. After you publish the home page, select the thumbnail image to open the page.
  1. On the Home page, in the Edit Homepage section, select Edit The Edit icon. for the content you want to schedule.
  2. Select the component that you want to schedule.
  3. Under Publish manually or schedule for later? select Scheduled.
    4. If you want to publish content that Do this
    Goes live on a specific date
    1. Select a start date and time.
    2. (Optional) Select an end date and time.
    Never expires
    1. Select a start date and time.
    2. Leave the end date and time blank.
  4. Select Update Showcase Block.

Configure events for libraries that have Vega Program

If your library uses Vega Program, you can integrate it with the Home Page Configuration Builder in Vega. After you configure Vega Program, you can either create static events manually or you can link to events you created in Vega Program. You can create up to three static events.

Dynamic events automatically update with events that match the selected filters.

If an event in Vega Program has a background image, the image is included on the home page with an opaque overlay to ensure that the event information is readable.

  1. Select Events.
  2. Select Static.
  3. For each event that you want to add, do the following:
    1. If you want to add an image, select Image, and upload the image.
    2. Do one of the following:
      3. Do you want to use Vega Program data? Do this
      Yes
      1. Select Yes.
      2. Select a category.
      3. Select an event.
      4. Select Save Selection.

        5. Vega fills the event information from Vega Program.

      5. If you want to make changes, select Reconfigure.
      No
      1. Select No.
      2. In the Title box, enter the title of the event.
      3. In the Description box, enter a description of the event.
      4. In the Start date and time box, select the date and time of the event.

        5. After you select the hour, use the right arrow icon to select minutes.

      5. In the End date and time box, select the date and time the event will end.
      6. If you want to add more information, enter it in the Additional Information box.
      7. If you want to add a link to a webpage, enter the URL in the Link to webpage box.
      8. Select an overlay color from the Select overlay color list.
  4. In the Block Title box, enter a title for the event.
  5. Under Would you like to show the title of event block? do one of the following:
    • If yes, enter the title under Title of event block, and select Yes under Show title of showcase block?
    • If no, select No.
  6. If you want to add a background image, select Yes and upload the image.
  7. If you want the events to show as vertically offset, select Yes for the Offset placement option.
  8. Select Create Showcase Block.

  1. Select Events.
  2. Select Dynamic.
  3. Select Configure.
  4. From the left panel, select filters to see examples of events.
  5. Select Save Selection.

See also