Knowledge Base

Mugo FAQs – How to Create Banners and Featured Cards

If you'd like to have a PDF version of this FAQ with screenshots included, see the attached file

Banners are the big images with text and links that appear at the top of your home page. You can use banners to promote eResources or events, to announce important news, to promote particular programs, and so on. You have a few that were automatically created by Mugo when your site was copied over. NLLS will be providing some to help get you started. But you can also make your own! 

Featured cards are similar to banners in that they are images with text and links that can be used for promotion, but they take the format of a row of squares lower on your home page. 

There are two steps to consider here: making the banner or featured card, and then selecting it for display.  

Making the Banner or Featured Card

1. Log in to the back-end of the site. Ask your consultant if you need support with this step. Along the left-hand side, click on “Media Library”.
2. In this area, expand “Library Sites” and “NLLS” along the left-hand side to find your library name. If you click on your library name, you’ll see a variety of folders including “Banners” and “Featured Cards”.  

Banners - Make Your Own! 

1. Click on the “Banners” folder and then “Create new subitem”. Select “Banner” from the drop-down list. Here are the fields to fill out:  
2. Title: this text will appear on the public site as the largest text on the image.  
3. Description: will appear as maller text below.
4. Image: If you don't have an image of your own to use, you could try searching for copyright-free images online. https://www.pexels.com/ is a good place to start. You could also design something in Canva.  
5. CTA Text: “CTA” basically means “a button” in this context. So, the CTA text will be the text on the button, e.g. “Check it out!”  
6. CTA Colour: the colour of the button
7. CTA Internal Link: here you can link to another part of the site, such as a program page or a booklist.  
8. CTA Link: You can leave this blank if you’re using an internal link instead – but if you were linking to an external site through a URL, you could paste that in here.  
9. Text Orientation: where it’ll appear on the banner
10. Blend Background Color: this option creates a color underlay behind the text – it generally makes it easier to read.  
11. Once you’re done, click “Send for Publishing”.  
12. The banner is now ready to go – but it isn’t visible on the site yet! Read further to find out how to make it appear.  

Special Note: Check out the Canva templates that we've created to help you in making your own banners so that you know the dimensions will work. Visit the Mugo Website Training folder in Teams to find these, or ask your consultant for support.

Featured Cards  

1. Follow a similar set of steps as with the banner – click on the appropriate folder in the Media Library, click “Create new subitem” and select “Featured Card”, etc.  
2. In the following screen, the steps noted above largely apply (Title, CTA Text, etc). Note that you can ignore the “Code” area.  

Displaying Banners or Featured Cards  

Once you have a banner or featured card that you want to display on your home page, the next step is to head over to Content Structure and the home page editing area.  

1.  Within Content Structure, we are headed to the same area where you update your hours and contact details. Click on your library name, and then click on the blue “Edit” button off to the right-hand side. Follow these steps if you need further support (https://nlls.libanswers.com/faq/212670).  
2.  In the home page editing area, click on “Layout” at the bottom of the list that appears off to the left-hand side.  
3.  Expand “Banner Carousel” to add banners, or “Featured Cards” to add featured cards.
4. Click “Add item” in the resulting area, and it’ll take you over to the Media Library within that screen. Click on the appropriate folder and find your banner or featured card. Click on the check box beside the right file, and then click the blue “Select” button.
5. When you’re done, click “Send for Publishing” in the top-right corner.