Configure themed home pages

If you have a Vega Discover Premium or Consortia license, you can configure themed home pages for libraries, collection sites, and kiosks.

Kiosks and collection sites that are configured for children automatically use the children’s theme to display a kid-friendly design. This includes an easy-to-read font, rounded corners, and Search Results page grid view as the default. They can also be limited to items in the children's collection.

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 include the following components:

  • Cover carousel: cover images pulled from the selected Vega showcase.

    • You can also upload a background image.

  • Showcase group: cover images pulled from the selected showcase or an uploaded image.

    • You can either use images from the showcase or use the icon library for cover pills. You can also use the custom pill to upload your own images.

  • Hero carousel: uploaded image for a larger ad banner that links to a showcase or URL.

    • You can also upload a background image.

  • Events: descriptions of up to three events that can link to URLs.

    • You can also upload background images and either vertically align the events or display them vertically offset from each other.

  • 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 in another browser so you don’t have to refresh the Home Page Configuration Builder every time you make a change.

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.

The following image dimensions are recommended:

  • Background images: 960 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall.
  • Showcase and hero images: 880 pixels wide by 320 pixels tall.
  • Author images: 148 pixels wide by 219 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.

Backgrounds for general public-themed sites

If your site is configured with the general public theme, you can add a background color and up to three watermark images in .png format. The maximum size for watermark images is 169 pixels wide by 136 pixels tall.

Themed home page configuration process

Follow this process to configure a home page:

  1. Create a kiosk or collection site.
  2. Select an audience theme for the site.
  3. Configure the themed home page.
  4. (Optional) Limit the content that appears in search results by either collection (Polaris) or location (Sierra).
  1. On the Site Configuration page, in the Actions column, select Options The Options icon. > Edit for the site you created.
  2. Select Interface configurations > Experience Settings.
  3. In the Audience Theme section, select one of the following:
  • General Public
  • Children

For more information, see Configure experience settings.

  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. Select a library, kiosk, or collection site from the list below the page title.
  3. In the Edit Homepage section, 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 Pick your background.

      2. The Watermarks page opens.

    2. Select a background color from the list.
    3. Select an image size for the watermark.

      4. The wireframe displays the approximate size of the images. You can try different sizes to see which size you prefer.

    4. Select Upload.
    5. Browse to select an image file in .png format.
    6. Select Open.
    7. Select Add watermark.
    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 Title of showcase block, change the name of the showcase if desired.
    5. Select from the following options:
      • Show title of showcase block?
      • Show resource titles?
      • Show contributor names?
      • Number of items in carousel
    6. Under Would you like to have a background image? do one of the following:
      • If yes, select Yes and upload the image.
      • If no, select No.
    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, select one of the following:
        • Icon from library (Vega Discover Premium and Consortia libraries only)

          • An icon library opens. You can either scroll or search to find an icon you want.

        • Images from showcase
      4. Do you want the icon to extend outside of the box?
        • If yes, select Out of box.
        • If no, select Inside the box.
      5. Do you want to display a title for the showcase?
        • 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?
      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 Title of showcase block, and select Yes under Show title of showcase block?
        • If no, select No under Show title of showcase block?
      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 Title of showcase block, and select Yes under Show title of showcase block?
        • If no, select No under Show title of showcase block?
      3. 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. 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 Title of showcase block, and select Yes under Show title of showcase block?
        • If no, select No under Show title of showcase block?
      5. 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 Custom Pill.
      2. For each pill that you want to use, browse for an image and select it.
      3. Under Search URL, enter the URL of the webpage you want to link to.
      4. 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?
    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?
    3. (Vega Discover Premium and Consortia libraries only) Do you want to use a background image?
      • If yes, select Yes under Would you like to have a background image? and upload the image.
      • If no, select No under Would you like to have a background 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.
    4. Under Offset placement, do one of the following:
      • If you want the event boxes to appear vertically aligned, select No.
      • If you want to the event boxes to appear vertically offset, select Yes.
    5. (Vega Discover Premium and Consortia libraries only) Do you want to use a background image?
      • If yes, select Yes under Would you like to have a background image? and upload the image.
      • If no, select No under Would you like to have a background image?
    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 Do you want to use Syndetics image?

        • You can also edit the Syndetics-provided biography.

      • If no, select No under Do you want to use Syndetics image?
    4. If you want to upload an image, select Upload Image, and then browse and select the image you want to use.
    5. Do you want to display a title for the showcase block?
      • If yes, enter a title under Title of showcase block, and select Yes under Would you like to show the title of showcase block?
      • If no, select No under Would you like to show the title of showcase block?.
    6. 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?
  5. Select Create Showcase Block.
  1. From the Settings menu, select Home page.
  2. 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. 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. 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. 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.

See also