j.mu/libraries redirects to lib.jmu.edu, and University Marketing & Branding encourages us to use this URL on print materials for prospective students.
URLs & Page Titles
Make “friendly” URLs for all pages. Customize the URL with a short suffix that relates to the page title.
When creating or customizing a page URL, do not use capital letters or underscore. You can use dashes to show breaks between words if needed. Ex: (mypage or my-page, NOT my_page, MyPage, or my page)
Name of the page should be consistent both at the top of the page and everywhere it is referenced on our website, in emails, etc. whenever possible. (A shortened version of the page name is okay.)
Page titles must make sense to users without the context of our department. For instance, page title will show up as the clickable page name in a web browser search.
If you are considering renaming a page or changing a URL:
Consider the risks vs. benefits of changing the link (Is this a URL people are likely to see, or is it usually reached through a hyperlink? Will this URL be final, or might it need to change again? Has this existing link been distributed frequently by email, or is it mostly referenced online?)
Consider whether it is necessary to set up a redirect from the old URL to the new one.
Do a site search (site:lib.jmu.edu “[search term]”) to make sure all instances of the page name are updated on our site.
Check to be sure that existing email templates, PDFs, and handouts that reference the page have also been updated.
Notify staff that the link and/or page name needs to be updated in Canvas sites and past emails that will be reused.
Republish all the pages with links to that page. You may need to contact web admins outside our department.
It’s hard to catch all instances of a page name or link, so avoid renaming pages or reassigning URLs.
Creating a new page in LibGuides:
The first box on any page (other than the home page) should not be a “floating box” because they do not have a Page Title field. Page titles are reflected in both the side navigation and the first “box” on the LibGuide page.