Pressbooks 101

Introductions to basic 'how-to' Pressbooks topics

L & S Learning Support Services

Amanda Larson, Steel Wagstaff

L&S Learning Support Services, UW-Madison

Pressbooks 101 by L & S Learning Support Services is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Contents

- Pressbooks 101

- Pressbooks Landing Page & Book Info

- Parts & Chapters

- Editing Interface

- Interactive Content: H5P

- Anchors

- TablePress

- LaTex

- Subscripts and Superscripts

- Examples

- Organization

- 1.1 One Page Organization

- 2.1 Multipage Organization

- 2.2 Multipage Organization

- 2.3 Multipage Organization

Pressbooks 101

Pressbooks Landing Page & Book Info

The landing page includes:

1. Title

2. Author

3. Contributing Authors

4. A short book description

5. A long book description

6. A book cover

7. Export Formats

8. Table of Contents – book content separated into Parts and Chapters.

9. Book Metadata – Name, Author, Publisher, Publication Date,
Contributing Authors, and Copyright.

10. Copyright Statement

The Landing Page

This image below[1] shows what a Pressbook’s landing page looks like. It has been labeled with numbers that correspond to the list above to provide a visual where each component displays on a published book’s landing page.

Book Info

The information that displays on the landing page corresponds with the Book Info and Export menu options in Pressbooks. Let’s start by examining the information that the Book Info page allows users to add to their Pressbooks Landing page.

To get to the Book Info page, click Book Info on the left side menu. At the top of the page, you’ll find the entry fields for (1) Title, (2) Author, and (3) Contributing Authors. As you scroll down the page you’ll find fields for (4) a Short Book Description, (5) a Long Book Description, (6) the upload field for your Book Cover, (9) Metadata Fields that will help librarians catalog your book, and (10) the Copyright Statement.

Exports

(7) Exports are generated from the Exports page. To get to the Exports page, click Exports on the left side menu. To set the exports for your books, users check the boxes for the formats they want their book to be available in. Commonly selected formats are PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and WordPress XML. After selecting the formats you want to use, click the Export button to generate the exports. Beneath the export button, you’ll find your export history which is handy to keep track of the formats and dates of past exports.

Table of Contents

Last but by no means least, is the (8) Table of Contents. The information displayed on the Table of Contents is automatically created as you create your textbook. It represents the Parts and Chapters that you’ve made. If you look at (8) on the Landing Page image you’ll see that it delineates between Parts and Chapters. Parts are treated like a heading with a larger bolded font. Chapters are treated like parts of a list with a normal font and slight indentation.

1. All images in this chapter can be clicked on to open a larger version. If the image is still smaller than you'd like, click it once more to load it at its full size. ↵

Parts & Chapters

Pressbooks uses a hierarchal structure to organize the content of your book. Each book comes with Front Matter, Parts, Chapters, and Back Matter.  The Front Matter and Back Matter can be customized, but not removed from your book. Parts and Chapters, however, can both be customized and removed from your book. Parts make up the top level of the structure of Pressbooks and Chapters nest underneath them.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

- Add a Part or Chapter

- Organize Parts and Chapters

Adding a Parts & Chapters

To add a new Part or Chapter to your book, start by clicking Text on the left side menu. This opens up the menu tray for your text.  Click Add Part (or Chapter) from the left side menu.

For a Part, it creates a new Part within your book and opens to a blank Part editor where you can enter a (1) title for your new Part, (2) text, and (3) licensing level for the Part.

On the right side menu, you’ll find the option to save your Part to your book, as well as the option to make your part hidden from the Table of Contents and Part Numbering by making it invisible.

For a Chapter, it creates a new within your book and opens to a blank Chapter editor where you can enter a (1) title for your new Chapter, (2) create the text, (3) set the author, (4) add Chapter metadata, and (5) set the license for the chapter.

On the right side menu, you’ll find options to select what Part your Chapter belongs in, Export Settings, the Publish options, and Chapter Types.

Organizing Chapters

The Text menu also offers you the option to organize your text. Click Organize from the left side menu, and you should see your text laid out like the screenshot below: (1) Front Matter, (2) Part, (3) Chapters, (4) Author, (5) Status – Published or Unpublished, (6) Show Title in the Part or Chapter, and (7) include in Export.

Pressbooks makes it easy to reorganize your book. You can change the position of any chapter by dragging and dropping them into the location you would like them to be. See a short demo below.

Editing Interface

When editing your chapters in Pressbooks, you have two options: you can use either the visual editor or the text editor.

By default, Pressbooks is set to the visual editor. The visual editor uses a What You See Is What You Get interface (often called WYSIWYG) similar to what you’d expect to see in your favorite word processing software. The text editor option uses a plain text editor style where you can directly edit the HTML code that creates your text in the Pressbooks environment.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

- View the Screen Options

- Expand your WYSIWYG Toolbar

You’ll also take a tour of the Visual Editor and Text Editor.

Screen Options

In the top right corner of the page, you’ll find the Screen Options tab. If you click this it will extend a tool tray with options that affects what you see on the editing interface of your Chapter page.  Under additional settings on this tool tray, you have the option to “Enable full-height editor and distraction free functionality.” This affects what shows up in your visual editor toolbar.

Extending the WYSIWYG Toolbar

If your toolbar looks like this:

You can click the Toggle Toolbar button to expand it.

Now that you have a fully expanded WYSIWYG Visual Editor Toolbar, you’re ready to a tour of it.

WYSIWYG Tour

WYSIWYG Visual Editor Tour

The WYSIWYG Editor Includes:

1. Screen Options

2. Visual Editor (WYSIWYG)

3. Text Editor (HTML)

4. Full Screen

5. Add Media & Add H5P

6. Text Formatting – Paragraph and Heading Styles, Bold Font, Italic Font, Bulleted List, Numbered List, Formats, Textboxes, Underline Text, and Strikethrough Text.

7. Block Quote

8. Paragraph Justification – Left, Center, Right

9. Links – Add a Link, Remove a Link

10. Toolbar Toggle –

11. Clear Formatting

12. Special Characters

13. Table

14. Footnote and Convert MS Word Footnotes

15. Textboxes – LO: Learning Objectives, KT: Key Takeaways, EX: Exercises and Critical Thinking

16. Anchor

17. Superscript and Subscript

This image below shows a fully extended toolbar in Pressbook’s WYSIWYG Visual Editor that has been labeled with numbers that correspond to the list above to provide a visual where each component displays on the toolbar.

Text Editor

By clicking the Text tab above the editor, you can quickly switch the text editor. This allows you to directly edit the HTML code for your content. Above the toolbar, you’ll still see the (1) Add Media & Add H5P buttons. The toolbar for the text editor offers (2) buttons for commonly used HTML tags. Clicking these buttons will insert the tags into the text editor.

The tags are fairly self-explanatory, but here’s a list of what they specifically mean:

- b – bolds the font

- i – italicizes the font

- link – inserts a link

- b-quote – inserts a block quote

- ins – inserts a date/time tag

- img – inserts an image from a URL

- ul – inserts and bulleted list

- ol – inserts an numbered list

- li – inserts a list item

- code – styles text as code

- Table – inserts a table

- more – inserts a ‘Read More’ tag

- close tags – automatically closes any open tags in your code

- fn – open and close footnote shortcode

- proofread – changes text to an easier to read proofreading style

Interactive Content: H5P

Another benefit to using Pressbooks to create a book is the ability to add plugins to customize your book and add interactivity. This chapter highlights the H5P plugin that allows you to create high-quality, interactive content using HTML5. H5P allows you to create interactive content like flashcards, image hotspots, and quizzes.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

- Activate H5P in your Pressbook instance

- Add H5P to your Chapter

- Create H5P and access H5P tutorials

Activating H5P

If your Pressbooks instance is missing an option for H5P Content on the left side menu, you can activate it for you book by navigating to Plugins also on the left side menu. This will display the list of plugins available for your book, beneath the option for H5P you’ll see a link to Activate it.

Once you’ve activated the H5P plugin, the option for H5P Content will be available on the left side menu.

Creating H5P

In order to create H5P and add it to your book, you have two options: 1) you can click Add New on the left side menu from under H5P Content, or 2) you can click Add H5P directly from the chapter you’re editing.

Creating H5P and Accessing Tutorials

After clicking Add New or Add H5P, you’ll be on the initial H5P interface where you’ll (1) create a title for the H5P activity, (2) select the type of H5P from the drop down menu, (3) make sure the option Create is bulleted or select upload to add an existing H5P to your book, and (4) select the display options for your H5P.

Once you’ve selected the H5P content type you want to create the interface for the content loads. You’ll use that interface to build your interactive content. Look for the blue “Tutorial available” link next to the content type dropdown box to get access to an in-depth tutorial from the H5P website. These tutorials will take you through the H5P creation process step by step, and often with video support. They’re a great resource to rely on while creating H5P for your book!

Anchors

Anchors are links on a page that bring you to a specific place on that page. They can be very helpful in structuring your Pressbooks chapters and drawing readers to specific content on your page with ease.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

- Make an anchor

- Link to an anchor

- Organize your chapter with anchor links

How to Make an Anchor

To make an anchor, place your cursor next to the place in the chapter where you’d like the anchor link to jump to when clicked by a user. Then click the Anchor button on the WYSIWYG Editor. It looks like this:

It will create an anchor field where you’ll type in the name of your anchor. It’s recommended that you make the name something short, contains no spaces, and is descriptive (so it’s easy to remember). For example, to make a series of anchors for this page, I would use make, link, and organize. They’re short and describe the sections of the page.

How to Link to an Anchor

On the Same Page

Linking to an anchor on the same page is as easy as creating a link in Pressbooks. There is only one extra step. Begin by highlighting the text you want the anchor to link to. (Where you want the user to click to go to the content where the anchor is). Then click the Insert/Edit Link button.

Then you’ll type in the name you gave the anchor in the previous step, proceeded by a hashtag. See below:

On a Different Page

If you want to create an anchor that links back to a different part of the book. You’ll make the anchor in the same way, but when you link to it you’ll want to include a full URL when you insert the link.

You’ll create the link, by highlighting the text and clicking on the link button, then you’ll want to type in the full URL of the chapter you are linking to with the #anchorname you created.

For example, if you were linking the #make anchor we created before on another page, it would look like this:

https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/pressbooks101/chapter/anchors/#make

How to Organize your Book with Anchors

You can also use anchors to organize the content within your Chapters. Using anchors you can build a Table of Contents style navigation section at the top of your chapter. You can see how this works in action in the One Page Organization[1] chapter of this book.

To do so, it’s recommended that you use headings for your sections and then place the anchors next to the section headings, so that they are accessible to readers using a screen reader. See the example below.

1. This is an example of an anchor that links to a different page. ↵

TablePress

TablePress is a free plugin for Pressbooks that allows you to create and manage tables in your book. It provides an interface that allows you to easily edit your table data with no HTML knowledge required. The tables you create in TablePress can contain any kind of data, even formulas! In addition, TablePress offers features like sorting, pagination, filtering, and more for readers.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

- Create a Table

- Edit a Table

- Insert a Table into your Chapter

- Export a Table

- Import a Table

Create a Table

To create a table, select TablePress from the left side menu, then click Add New Table from the TablePress Menu.

This selection will put you on the Add New tab. There you’ll see the options to Add New Table. Fill out the Table Name and Description Fields, then select how many rows and columns your table will have. The default is set to five rows and five columns. Then Click Add Table.

Edit a Table

TablePress will take you directly to the Edit Table interface once you’ve created a table, so that you can customize your table and its behavior in your book. You’ll see the information that you entered on the previous Add a Table tab under Table Information and you’ll see the Table ID and Shortcode.  Beneath that you’ll see the actual fields for your table where you will directly type the table content into the fields.

Beneath the Table Content area, you’ll find customization options for your table. Under Table Manipulation, you’ll find options to Insert a Link, Insert an Image, Advanced Editor, Hide/Show selected rows, Duplicate/Insert/Delete selected rows, Add Rows, Combine Cells, Hide/Show selected columns, Duplicate/Insert/Delete selected columns, and Add Columns.

Beneath the Table Manipulation section, you’ll find Table Options where you can customize the look of your tables. You can make the first row the table header, the last row the table footer, alternate background colors, highlight row options, and whether or not the table displays the table name and table description.

Beneath the Table Options section, you’ll find the Features of the DataTables JavaScript Query library where you can control the JavaScript customizations of your table like sorting, filtering, pagination, scrolling, and more!

To edit a table you’ve already made, select TablePress from the left side menu, and choose All Tables. Then mouseover the table you want to edit and an options menu will appear, select Edit.

Insert a Table into your Chapter

To insert a table, you have two options. You can copy the table’s Shortcode and paste it into the desired portion of your chapter. The short code looks like this:

Or you can click the TablePress button on the WYSIWYG editor, identify the table you want to include in your chapter, and click the Insert Shortcode button for that table.

Export  a Table

Exporting a table is easy. Click TablePress on the left side menu and select Export a Table. This will take you to the Export tab in TablePress where you can select the table you want to export from the list, or select all if you want to do a bulk export.

Next, then pick the file type you’d like export to, it opens a menu with the following options: CSV, HTML, or JSON, then click Download Export File.

You can also turn the file into a ZIP archive.

Import a Table

Importing a table is valuable, time-saving option whether you want to move a table you’ve already created or create a table from a existing file.

To import a table, click TablePress on the left side menu, and select Import a Table. You’ll see a screen similar to this one:

Click the Choose File button and select the file you’d like to import. You can import a CSV, HTML, JSON, XLS, or XLSX file and turn it into a table in Table Press.

Click the radio button that matches what you want to do: Add as a new table, Replace existing table, or Append rows to existing table, and then click Import.

Example Tables

[table id=1 /]

[table id=2 /]

LaTex

LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation. The brilliant thing about Pressbooks is that it allows you to use LaTex within your book to make mathematical, scientific, and technical notation.

In this chapter, you’ll learn:

- Where you can generate LaTex code

- How to take that code and use it in Pressbooks

LaTex Code

LaTex rendered looks like this:

If you want to create mathematical, scientific, and technical notation and formulas, but do not know how to code LaTex, we recommend that you go to:

http://www.hostmath.com/

There you’ll find a WYSIWYG interface where you can build your notation and then generate the LaTex code to copy and paste into your chapters. As you’ll seen in the screenshot below, the LaTex is in the top pane, and how the actual notation will display in your chapter is in the bottom pane. HostMath offers an easy drag and drop interface where you can build your LaTex with ease.

Putting LaTex in your Pressbook

If the code it generates does not automatically transfer itself into LaTex, you’ll need to add an opening tag and an end tag.

The opening tag is: $latex

The closing tag is: $

For example, I copied and pasted the code in the generator above, and it looks exactly the same. It doesn’t render into LaTex.

\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}

However, by adding “$latex” to beginning of the code, and a “$” the end of the code it now renders properly.

Turns into this:

Subscripts and Superscripts

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to use Custom CSS to make your subscripts and superscripts display properly within your book until they are corrected in the theme.

Subscripts and Superscripts

Currently subscripts and superscripts display like this:

Notice that the m3 is not displaying as a superscript. By adding some Custom CSS, we can make it look like this:

Adding Custom CSS

To add Custom CSS to your book, click Appearance and select Custom CSS on the left side menu (not in the themes).

It will provide you a field that looks like this:

Where you will type in the following:

Here’s a version you can copy and paste:

small, sub, sup {font-size: .83em}
sub             {vertical-align: sub}
sup             {vertical-align: super}

Then click Update Custom CSS and your book’s subscripts and superscripts will work properly.

Examples

Organization

Pressbooks offers two ways to organize the content of your textbook.

- A chapter that displays as a single page.

- A series of chapters that function as individual pages.

These options each have their own strengths and weaknesses. In this section, we’ll look at both ways of structuring content, so that you can gauge which style will work best for your content.

One Page Organization

Pros

Cons

Takes advantage of popular web format (single scrolling page).

Some students may not like scrolling down a long page of content.

All chapter content is in one place.

Can look busy when filled with text, media, and activities.

All exercises are embedded throughout the chapter.

Not as easy to get back to prior content for review.

Multi-Chapters as Pages

Pros

Cons

Reads more like a traditional book.

Adds many “chapters” to the book.

Content is broken up into pieces so students can pick and choose what they look at.

Students may skip important content.

Exercises can be stand alone.

Needs structuring decisions to be made up front.

Next, we’ll take a look at both styles of structuring content in pressbooks.

1.1 One Page Organization

Most of this Pressbooks 101 is set up in the One Page style of Organization. Each chapter fills up a single page with all the text, media, and interactive content mingling throughout the page as necessary. This chapter is an example of this style of structure.

Contents:

- Section One – To Be

- Section Two – To My Reader

- Section Three – H5P

Learning Objectives

The verb To Be is essential in grammar. It is an auxiliary and irregular verb.
(We will see its use in combination with other verbs to express actions and behaviour in the Present Progressive form).

When expressed in its Affirmative form, the verb confirms something about the subject.

Learning Objectives

It is used as a linking word, between the subject and a complement or adjective, to provide further information about the subject itself.

The Affirmativeform of the verb To Be has this structure:
subject + verb to be.

SUBJECT

VERB TO BE

SHORT FORM*

I

am

I’m

You

are

You’re

He

is

He’s

She

is

She’s

It

is

It’s

We

are

We’re

You

are

You’re

They

are

They’re

*The short form is used in spoken language or in informal writing.

Examples

To Be is used with:

1. nouns

- I am a student.

- He is a lawyer.

- We are doctors.

2. adjectives

- I am tall.

- He is polite.

- Many people are happy.

3. prepositional phrases (or complements)

- My book is on the bed.

- There is a good movie on TV.

- There are eggs in the box.

To Be is used to talk about:

1. age

- You are 12 years old.

- He is 35 years old.

- We are 35.

2. price

- This coat is $100.

- This dress is $50.

- The books are $80 in total.

3. size

- A standard double bed is 5 feet wide.

- The dress is medium.

- The blue shoes are size 38.

4. shape

- The table is square.

- The building is rectangle.

- The tower is oval-shaped.

5. colour

- My hair is brown.

- His eyes are green.

- Our room is pink.

6. nationality

- I am from Greece.

- He is Italian.

- They are French.

To Be can also be used in short forms:

- You’re 12 years old.

- This coat’s $100.

- A standard double bed’s 5 feet wide.

Key Takeaways

To Be has a very basic structure, when it is in combination with other classes of words (nouns, adjectives, complements, etc.), it gives us more details about the condition of the subject.

To Be is used with:

1. nouns.

2. adjectives.

3. prepositional Phrases (or complements).

To Be is used to talk about the characteristics of the subject, for example:

1. age.

2. price.

3. size.

4. shape.

5. colour.

6. nationality.

The short form is used in spoken language or in informal writing. When the subject is a name or noun instead of a pronoun, we use the short form only with the third person singular.

For example: (“His eyes are green. / His eyes’re green.” > “Our room is pink. / Our room’s pink.”)

Exercises

The verb ToBe is one of the most commonly used auxiliary verbs in English. When used in its Affirmative form, the verb confirms something about the subject (when we are describing it). To be is often used with nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases.

The verb To Be in its Affirmative form has this structure:
subject + verb to be (e.g. I am an actress.)

For example:
— “I’m an actress.” = The verb confirms a characteristic of the subject.

NOTE: We use the short form in spoken language or informal writings.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.

Back to Contents

Read the short poem addressed “To My Reader”; listen to the Professor’s commentary and click on the portions of the text highlighted in yellow below:

Amis lecteurs qui ce livre lisez,
Despouillez vous de toute affection.
Et le lisant ne vous scandalisez,
Il ne contient mal ne infection.
Vray est qu’icy peu de perfection
Vous apprendrez, si non en cas de rire.
Aultre argument ne peut mon cueur elire.
Voiant le dueil qui vous mine & consomme,
Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escrire,
Pour ce que rire est le propre de l’homme.

https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/rawrtest/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2017/04/RabP2a.mp3

Back to Contents
H5P Activities:

Back to Contents

2.1 Multipage Organization

Learning Objectives

The verb To Be is essential in grammar. It is an auxiliary and irregular verb.
(We will see its use in combination with other verbs to express actions and behaviour in the Present Progressive form).

When expressed in its Affirmative form, the verb confirms something about the subject.

Learning Objectives

It is used as a linking word, between the subject and a complement or adjective, to provide further information about the subject itself.

The Affirmativeform of the verb To Be has this structure:
subject + verb to be.

SUBJECT

VERB TO BE

SHORT FORM*

I

am

I’m

You

are

You’re

He

is

He’s

She

is

She’s

It

is

It’s

We

are

We’re

You

are

You’re

They

are

They’re

*The short form is used in spoken language or in informal writing.

Examples

To Be is used with:

1. nouns

- I am a student.

- He is a lawyer.

- We are doctors.

2. adjectives

- I am tall.

- He is polite.

- Many people are happy.

3. prepositional phrases (or complements)

- My book is on the bed.

- There is a good movie on TV.

- There are eggs in the box.

To Be is used to talk about:

1. age

- You are 12 years old.

- He is 35 years old.

- We are 35.

2. price

- This coat is $100.

- This dress is $50.

- The books are $80 in total.

3. size

- A standard double bed is 5 feet wide.

- The dress is medium.

- The blue shoes are size 38.

4. shape

- The table is square.

- The building is rectangle.

- The tower is oval-shaped.

5. colour

- My hair is brown.

- His eyes are green.

- Our room is pink.

6. nationality

- I am from Greece.

- He is Italian.

- They are French.

To Be can also be used in short forms:

- You’re 12 years old.

- This coat’s $100.

- A standard double bed’s 5 feet wide.

Key Takeaways

To Be has a very basic structure, when it is in combination with other classes of words (nouns, adjectives, complements, etc.), it gives us more details about the condition of the subject.

To Be is used with:

1. nouns.

2. adjectives.

3. prepositional Phrases (or complements).

To Be is used to talk about the characteristics of the subject, for example:

1. age.

2. price.

3. size.

4. shape.

5. colour.

6. nationality.

The short form is used in spoken language or in informal writing. When the subject is a name or noun instead of a pronoun, we use the short form only with the third person singular.

For example: (“His eyes are green. / His eyes’re green.” > “Our room is pink. / Our room’s pink.”)

Exercises

The verb ToBe is one of the most commonly used auxiliary verbs in English. When used in its Affirmative form, the verb confirms something about the subject (when we are describing it). To be is often used with nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases.

The verb To Be in its Affirmative form has this structure:
subject + verb to be (e.g. I am an actress.)

For example:
— “I’m an actress.” = The verb confirms a characteristic of the subject.

NOTE: We use the short form in spoken language or informal writings.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.

2.2 Multipage Organization

Read the short poem addressed “To My Reader”; listen to the Professor’s commentary and click on the portions of the text highlighted in yellow below:

Amis lecteurs qui ce livre lisez,
Despouillez vous de toute affection.
Et le lisant ne vous scandalisez,
Il ne contient mal ne infection.
Vray est qu’icy peu de perfection
Vous apprendrez, si non en cas de rire.
Aultre argument ne peut mon cueur elire.
Voiant le dueil qui vous mine & consomme,
Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escrire,
Pour ce que rire est le propre de l’homme.

https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/rawrtest/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2017/04/RabP2a.mp3

2.3 Multipage Organization

H5P Activities: