Pressbooks Guide by BCcampus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
The CC licence permits you to retain, reuse, copy, redistribute, and revise this book — in whole or in part — for free, providing the author is attributed as follows:
The BCcampus Open Education Pressbooks Guide by Lauri M. Aesoph is used under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
If you redistribute all or part of this guide, it is recommended the following statement be added to the copyright page so readers can access the original book at no cost:
Download this book for free at B.C. Open Textbook Collection.
This guide can be referenced. In APA citation style, it should appear as follows:
Aesoph, L. (2016). Pressbooks Guide. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/pressbooks/
Visit BCcampus Open Education to learn about open education in British Columbia.
BCcampus Open Education believes that education must be available to everyone; this means supporting the creation of free, open, and accessible educational resources. We are actively committed to increasing the accessibility and usability of the textbooks we produce.
The web version of the Pressbooks Guide has been designed with accessibility in mind by incorporating the following features:
In addition to the web version, additional files are available in a number of file formats including PDF, EPUB (for eReaders), MOBI (for Kindles), upon request made to BCcampus Support.
While we strive to ensure that this resource is as accessible and usable as possible, we might not always get it right. Any issues we identify will be listed below. There are currently no known issues.
The web version of this resource has been designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA. In addition, it follows all guidelines in Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility of the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition.
We are always looking for ways to make our resources more accessible. If you have problems accessing this resource, please contact us to let us know, so we can fix the issue.
Please include the following information:
You can contact us one of the following ways:
This statement was last updated on February 5, 2021.
This is one of many support guides from BCcampus Open Education. It is designed to supplement the central resource: Self-Publishing Guide.
Welcome to BCcampus Open Education’s Pressbooks Guide. This support resource is for authors wanting to use the Pressbooks platform to write a new or customize an existing open textbook.
This guide is an ongoing resource to which information will be updated as needed. Each chapter includes a “Last update” posted at the top of the page and, because it is changed frequently, ISBNs are not provided for this guide in accordance with the ISBNs’ User Manual.
BCcampus Open Education began in 2012 as the B.C. Open Textbook Project with the goal of making post-secondary education in British Columbia more accessible by reducing students’ costs through the use of open textbooks and other OER. BCcampus supports the post-secondary institutions of British Columbia as they adapt and evolve their teaching and learning practices to enable powerful learning opportunities for the students of B.C. BCcampus Open Education is funded by the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training, and the Hewlett Foundation.
Open educational resources (OER) are defined as teaching, learning, and research resources that, through permissions granted by the copyright holder, allow others to use, distribute, keep, or make changes to them. Our support resources are openly licensed using a Creative Commons licence, and are offered in various e-book formats free of charge, or as printed books that are available at cost.
For more information about open education in British Columbia, please visit the BCcampus Open Education website.
This, like our other guides, is the result of collaboration between members of BCcampus Open Education and our colleagues in the B.C. post-secondary sector and beyond.
Thank you, Hugh McGuire, for creating Pressbooks and your team—Zoe, JC, Apurva, Ned—for keeping it humming and providing excellent documentation for users.
And thank you to Brad Payne who has initiated and led the journey toward making Pressbooks the platform for writing open textbooks.
Pressbooks is an authoring platform built on the popular WordPress publishing and blogging website. If you have used WordPress in the past, Pressbooks should feel familiar. Pressbooks allows you to create content once and publish it in many formats including a website, PDF document, EPUB (usable in most eReaders), MOBI (for Kindle readers), and various editable files.
This Pressbooks Guide (published by BCcampus) is designed to compliment the Pressbooks User Guide published by Pressbooks.com. It follows the steps an author might take to create or modify an open educational resource (OER) in Pressbooks. Each chapter points readers to the pertinent chapters in the Pressbooks User Guide, provides any additional information, and includes instructions specific to post-secondary faculty and staff working in British Columbia and the Yukon.
Each section of this guide begins with a list of topics covered in its chapters. Key terms, specific to Pressbooks and its features, are set in bold and defined in the text body as well as summarized in the Glossary. This guide does not come with an index. Instead, use the search field located in the top-right of each page in the online version to locate a specific topic.
This guide uses different types of textboxes to highlight different information.
Pressbooks User Guide chapters are identified by the Pressbooks (PB) logo and a link to the material. (See example below.)
For more information, see Edit Content with the Visual and Text Editors in the Pressbooks User Guide.
When appropriate, chapters within this Pressbooks Guide are mentioned in a shaded textbook. (See example below.)
Links to chapters in other BCcampus Open Education guides and toolkits are also included in a shaded textbox to complement the Pressbooks material. (See example below.)
If information is missing about a specific feature, this is noted as “MORE TO COME” in a standard textbook. (See example below.)
Items to take note of are marked with “IMPORTANT.”
Finally, outstanding Pressbooks issues are identified and, if available, coupled with a temporary work around in red textboxes. (See example below.)
Issue to Note
The Pressbooks development community is very active and attentive to the needs of its users, and they strive to keep and improve this platform for optimal functionality. As features are added or changed, the information in this guide will be updated. Go to the Pressbooks Updates page for upcoming and past upgrades, urgent issues, and the most current version of the BCcampus Pressbooks instance.
For more information about Pressbooks, see:
Section Topics
This section includes:
BCcampus Open Education provides a self-serve instance of Pressbooks called the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform for faculty and staff at post-secondary institutions in B.C. and the Yukon. This is a free service.
To create an account for the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform, faculty and staff must use their institutional email address. A list of accepted email domains are below.
If you are an instructor or staff member from a private post-secondary institution that is not listed here, contact BCcampus Support for account set-up assistance.
If you are at a post-secondary institution outside of British Columbia and the Yukon, you may be able to access Pressbooks through your local institution or regional organization. Review our list of Pressbooks Catalogues to see if there is a Pressbooks instance available for you.
The Rebus Community also provides Pressbooks access to faculty and staff from post-secondary institutions around the globe, providing they are a Rebus member. To join, create an account at Rebus Community followed by filling out the Rebus Community Press – Request for Access form.
Lastly, accounts are available through the main Pressbooks website.
For more information, see Register for a Pressbooks.com Account in the Pressbooks User Guide.
This chapter describes how B.C. post-secondary faculty and staff can create and manage an account on the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform.
Watch the following video or continue reading for step-by-step instruction on how to create a Pressbooks account.
Watch the video: Create a Pressbooks Account (2 minutes)
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_epvau0p4?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
To create an account, go to pressbooks.bccampus.ca and select “Sign Up” in the top right corner, or “Create an Account” further down the page.
Next, fill in the following fields:
You can also select “Register my book now.” This is the default setting and means that a book shell will be created in addition to setting up your account. The book shell can be used to create a new book or upload an existing book. If you don’t want to create a book at this point, you can choose to register or create a book later. Finish by selecting “Next.” (See Add a New Book.)
During the account-creation process, you will be notified that your account must be activated before it can be used. To do this:
If activation is not completed within two days, you must create the account again.
Once the activation link is clicked, a Pressbooks page will open up that says: “Your account is now active,” along with your username and password. From this web page, you can choose to immediately log in or go back to the Pressbooks home page (where you can also log in by clicking on “Sign In”). Alternately, you can select “Sign In” in the top-right corner of the web page to log in to your account.
Within 5-10 minutes of account activation, you will receive another email containing the username and password chosen for this account, along with a link to the login page on the B.C. Faculty Pressbooks website.
This email contains a list of resources to help use Pressbooks and informs that you have “been added to the PBNotifications mailing list in order to receive email notifications when there is a scheduled maintenance outage, system upgrade, or other significant change to the Pressbooks website.”
You are asked to contact BCcampus Support with questions.
For more information, see Update Your User Profile in the Pressbooks User Guide.
BCcampus purges Pressbooks accounts that have been inactive for 12 months or longer and do not contain an active textbook. If an account contains private books, BCcampus Support will contact the account owner with the email address used during account creation to inquire about the account and books.
For how to change or reset a password, see Change Your Password in the Pressbooks User Guide.
You can also watch one of the tutorial videos below:
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_gdyn1rg9?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_yb7b7lvo?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
If you forget your username, use the Lost your password? link to retrieve it. (See “Change a password.”)
Only Administrators of a book can add users to that book in Pressbooks.
To add a user:
User roles include:
Dashboard Link | Administrator | Editor | Author | Contributor | Subscriber |
WP-Piwik | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Organize | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Private/ Public setting (Organize) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Book Info | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Appearance | Yes | Yes (but no “Themes”) | No | No | No |
Export | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Plugins | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Media | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Users | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Settings | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Import | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Profile | x (see “Users”) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
For more information, see Users and Collaborators in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_t646omxb?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
The British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform is available at no cost to the faculty and staff in B.C. and the Yukon for the purpose of creating and revising open textbooks and other open educational resources (OER).
BCcampus does not hold the copyright to nor monitor the content created on this platform. It is the user’s responsibility to ensure that the material they add to textbooks and other resources developed in their account in this platform–including, but not limited to, text, images, videos, graphs, charts–does not infringe upon or induce the infringement of any third-party copyrights. Furthermore, it is expected that each user will adhere to the legal requirements dictated by the Creative Commons or other open-copyright licence assigned to material they use.
Readers and users of the content posted in the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform should direct questions regarding to the author of the work in question.
Section Topics
This section includes:
For more information, see What is a Webbook?, What is in a Book?, Numberless Chapters, Invisible Parts, and Customizable Section Labels, and Supported Browsers in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The first step when setting up a book is considering how it will be made accessible, i.e. designing and setting it up in Pressbooks in such a way that as many readers as possible can enjoy and learn from it. See below for a list of specific elements to consider and how each can be addressed.
Element | Challenge | Solution |
---|---|---|
Colour | Physical: low vision, poor colour-contrast vision, colour blindness Technological: a device with a monochrome display or a black-and-white print copy | Colour Contrast |
NEW: Admin Colour Scheme | Physical: low vision, poor colour-contrast vision, colour blindness for administrators working on a book in Pressbooks. | Administrator Colour Scheme |
Images | Physical: blind or low vision, colour blindness, cognitive disability Technological: black and white printer, poor Internet connection, monochrome display on device | Images |
Links | cognitive or physical disability, deaf or hard of hearing, blind or low vision | Links |
Math and Formulas | cognitive or physical disability, blind or low vision | Formulas |
Multimedia | Physical: cognitive disability, deaf or hard of hearing, blind or low vision Environmental: loud, difficult to hear or play media, lack of headphones Language: non-native English speaker | Multimedia |
Tables | cognitive disability, blind or low vision | Tables |
Use the Checklist for Accessibility to ensure that standard barriers are addressed for maximum access by as many readers as possible.
For more information, see Accessibility & Universal Design in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
You can now select a colour scheme that increases accessibility of the Pressbooks Admin interface. This colour scheme increases the colour contrast and underlines all links in the Pressbooks Admin interface. This will not affect the webbook or export files.
To enable, navigate to your profile in Pressbooks.
Under “Admin Colour Scheme” select “Pressbooks a11y” and save with the Update Profile button at the bottom, left of that page.
See “Admin Color Scheme” under Personal Options in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
A book can be written in a variety of languages in Pressbooks including those that use a non-Latin alphabet. Font support is currently offered for the following languages:
For more information, see Languages in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Hypothes.is is a web annotation tool that allows collaboration between authors and editors, personal note taking and annotation, and engagement with readers. It can also be used as a teaching tool with students.
While the tool is available as a browser extension that can be used on any webpage, Pressbooks allows building its capabilities into the pages of your webbook.
For more information, see Hypothesis for Webbook Annotation and Comments in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Comments and Review in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Once an account and book have been created in Pressbooks, the Dashboard or Dashboard page is where the account holder is directed after logging in. The account holder is also automatically assigned as the Administrator and has access to all functions listed on the Dashboard. Lesser roles, such as Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber, do not see/access all of these tools. (See Provide Access to Others.)
The Dashboard is also where an author will spend most of their time writing and where links to various tools and functions can be found. This chapter provides an overview of the Dashboard.
IMPORTANT: If you have been assigned a user role other than Administrator, you will not have access to the “Users” or “Settings” panels.
For more information, see Navigating the Pressbooks Menus in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The My Catalogue link in the top red toolbar allows you to create a new book, clone a book, and see and select all books in your Pressbooks Catalogue. (See Add a New Book and Clone a Book.) You can also locate the Dashboard for a specific book as follows:
On a book’s Dashboard, various tools are listed in the left-hand column Dashboard menu, the parts and chapters of the book are in the middle, and users who have access to the book are shown in a Users box on the far right.
For more information, see My Catalog in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Most major Pressbooks features are found on the Dashboard menu. These are described below.
Clicking on Organize reveals a drop-down list that provides links to these functions:
Notice too:
The Book Info page is where information about a book is added or edited, including book title, authors, editors, publisher, copyright owner/year/notice, licence type, descriptions of the book, keywords, and more. Much of the data entered on this page displays on the home page of the webbook and as part of the various exported file formats.
It is suggested that the author and/or publisher fills this page out as the book is being written and as information becomes available. This page can be updated as needed.
A Contributors link is also provided as part of the main Book Info link.
For more information, see Book Info in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
For more information, see Appearance in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The Appearance link provides access to the following:
Pressbooks core has created 20 themes, each with different styles (font, headings, etc.) and features. These can be viewed and activated from navigating to the Appearance tab in the Dashboard menu and clicking “Themes.” Scrolling over a specific theme option reveals a Theme details box that, when clicked, describes the theme.
The BCcampus instance of Pressbooks provides seven of the 20 themes. They are:
For more information, see Themes for Academic and Educational Texts and Theme Lock in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See New Theme Options in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
In Theme Options, you can customize the appearance and functionality of your entire book. There are four tabs on this page, with each affecting different parts of your book. It is suggested that Administrators “play” with these features during set up to understand how they work and to assist with decisions about which to use. Options include the following (by tab):
See Collapsible Subsections for Webbook in the Pressbooks User Guide |
See Enabling and Using Lightboxes for Images in the Pressbooks User Guide |
See Typography: Hyphens in the Pressbooks User Guide |
For more information, see New Theme Options in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Customizing Your Exports with Custom Styles in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The Export link provides access to the following:
This page offers a list of BUY link with various eBook stores and print-on-demand vendors.
This page lists the three plugins that can be activated within the BCcampus Pressbooks instance. (See Plugin Features.)
The Media tab is where all media for a book—images, videos, audio—are uploaded. Click “Add New” to upload media content or click “Library” to see and manage media you have uploaded previously. Media in the Library can be embedded or linked to in the content of your book. (See Images and Files and Media Attributions.) It has the following options:
For more information, see Media: Images & Best Practices and Image Editing in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The Users tab is where a book Administrator can add other people to their book. (See Provide Access to Others.) It has the following options:
See Search and Replace and Search and Replace in the Pressbooks User Guide |
The Settings tab contains numerous options for privacy and exporting and for displaying formulas with the MathJax tool (used for rendering mathematical formulas).
See Privacy Settings: Global and Chapter-level in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Math in Pressbooks in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_uirx28yx?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_6sa2crsu?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
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A book—or book shell—needs to be created in your Pressbooks account in order to:
A book can be created during initial account creation. (See Pressbooks Accounts.) However, if you skipped that step when creating your account, or if you need to create an additional book (your account can hold many books), here’s how to begin.
You will land on the “Create a new book” page where you will be asked to provide:
Once you have filled in all of the fields, click the Create Book button.
After clicking on the Create Book button, you will be redirected to your new book’s Dashboard. To get you started, Pressbooks creates a number of empty parts and chapters:
For more information, see Automatic Pages and Content and Table of Contents: Adding a Second Level in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_uota6df6?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
A book written in Pressbooks is made up of chapters which are grouped and ordered into parts. chapters are web pages or building blocks within which content is added. Parts are overarching sections that hold chapters.
Most of the open textbooks published by BCcampus use parts as chapters, and chapters as chapter sections. This is done to:
For an example, see the organization of the open textbook, Canadian History: Pre-Confederation.
For more information, see Parts in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_i6bbearg?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Chapters and Chapter Author and Subtitle in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_i6bbearg?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Front Matter in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Back Matter in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
To learn about standard layout for back matter, see Textbook Outline in the Self-Publishing Guide.
Pressbooks takes care of creating key elements for a book such as:
For more information, see the following in the Pressbooks User Guide: |
Word count is available for each chapter, each part, and for the entire book.
Word count is posted at the bottom of each chapter’s content body. Words in the chapter title field are not included.
Word count is posted at the bottom of each part’s content body. Words in the part title field are not included.
Word count for an entire book can be found at the top of the Organize page. Here is also where you can find the word count for all chapters selected for export.
Section Topics
This section includes:
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_g3vpzbhj?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
Books in Pressbooks are made up of chapters, the building blocks of content, and parts, which are organizational blocks that house those chapters. If you intend to have your book hosted in Pressbooks, it is best practice to work on the book directly in Pressbooks, rather than work in another application like Microsoft Word and then copy the content into Pressbooks.
When a chapter is opened, you will see the WYSIWYG toolbar, which contains three rows of tools that can be used to add and format content in the chapter.
Above the toolbar is the chapter-title field where the title of the chapter can be added and edited.
Underneath the chapter-title field is the permalink—the URL or web address for that chapter. This link is automatically generated when you add a title for a new chapter. Once the link has been created, it will not change unless you edit it.
You can edit a chapter’s permalink as follows:
1. Click the “Edit” button on the right side of the permalink.
2. This action opens the permalink field where a new or revised segment can be entered.
3. For example, “-different-title” can be added to the end of the permalink to better describe the chapter. To save the changes, click the OK button and save the page. To back out of this action, select “Cancel” located under the Permalink label.
It is recommended, as part of a book’s final review, that the author checks the permalinks of all parts and chapters to make sure they are relatively short and reflect the title of a chapter or part. Permalinks do not need to match a chapter or part title exactly.
IMPORTANT: Changing a permalink will break all internal links to that page in a book, therefore, be sure to locate and update affected links.
The editing view—accessed through the Organize tab on the Dashboard menu of a book—is used to add content directly in a chapter or part. From the editing view, you can choose to work in the Visual Editor or the Text (HTML) Editor and can switch back and forth between them when necessary. The Visual Editor lets you see formatting and styling as you work, and includes a comprehensive WYSIWYG toolbar with 32+ features at the top of the page. The Text Editor gives you the ability to edit and see your work in HTML. Fewer tools—14 in total—are available in this latter view.
For more discussion and screenshots of these editors, see Visual & Text Editors from the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The reader’s perspective is called the book view, or the webbook. To check this view while editing, use:
Pressbooks automatically saves work every five minutes. However, it is recommended that the Save button be regularly used as well. (See Revisions Tool.)
See The Importance of “Good Markup” in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
If you like to work on content without the distraction of the entire Pressbooks interface, click on the distraction-free writing mode (DFWM) button in the top-right corner of the WYSIWYG toolbar, and the left and right sides of the interface will fade out unless you move the mouse over the edges. To return to the original mode, click on the DFWM button again.
On the far right end of the WYSIWYG toolbar is another button called Toolbar Toggle. The default setting for each newly created chapter is for all three rows of features in the WYSIWYG toolbar to display. If you click on the Toolbar Toggle button, these three rows will collapse leaving just the top one. Click the button again to reveal all features.
In the second row of the WYSIWYG toolbar, there is a Special character button that gives you access to a large collection of special characters. To use, click on the Special character button, and locate the symbol you need. Click on it, and it will be inserted right into the text.
For more information, see Writing Directly in Pressbooks in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
This chart compares the three methods of importing content that is already in Pressbooks. While these import options can ultimately have the same result, they each have their own use case.
IMPORTANT: These import routines only work for books marked as “public,” and they may not work if the book has All Rights Reserved or a Creative Commons licence with a -ND (NoDerivs) restriction.
Import Option | What You Need | What This Option Does | When to Use This Option |
---|---|---|---|
Clone a Book |
|
|
|
Pressbooks/WordPress XML (.wxr or .xml) |
|
|
|
Web Page or Pressbooks Webbook (.html or URL) |
|
|
|
For more information, see Import and How to Get Your Book into Pressbooks in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Book Cloning in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
To find open textbooks hosted by colleges and universities in Canada and the U.S. that can be cloned, see Appendix B: Pressbooks Catalogues.
For information on the Source Comparison Tool, see Source Comparison for Cloned Books in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
There are many ways to obtain an editable copy of openly licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_7j0cvlrh?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
Another way to pull an existing open textbook into a Pressbooks account is by importing the Pressbooks file of the textbook. Before you begin, you will need an existing book shell to import the content into. (See Add a New Book.)
You will need to download the Pressbooks file (.xml) of the textbook that you want to import to your computer. For books in the the B.C. Open Textbook Collection, you can find these files in two different places.
Find the “Editable” link. | Opening this link will reveal all editable files available for the book. Download the Pressbooks file here. |
Find the “Readable” link. | Opening this link will reveal “Read this book online.” |
Once you access the online version of the book, its Pressbooks file can be found as follows:
To import the Pressbooks file:
Once the content has been imported successfully, you will be redirected to an Import page with a list of all the parts and chapters in the book.
Before you begin the import process, you can chose if you want the content you are importing to appear in the webbook by selecting “Show imported content in web.” If this check box is not selected, then all parts and chapters that you are importing will appear as drafts, meaning they will not be seen in the webbook. If you do select the check box, parts and chapters will appear in the webbook and the Show in Exports option for every part and chapter will be marked as yes, which makes sure that parts and chapters are included when a book is exported.
If you do not select this check box now, you will need to check the “Show in Web” and “Show in Exports” check boxes by each part and chapter after it’s been imported.
Once you have selected the parts and chapters you want to import, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Import Selection.” With a large book, the import process may take several minutes. Do not interrupt this process. If you decide that you do not want to import any content, click “Cancel.” This will cancel the import process.
Once the import routine has completed, you will be taken to the Organize view.
Based on the options selected during the import process you can see the following things:
Once you have finished the import process, check to make sure that chapters were placed in their correct parts. If there are any empty parts or chapters left over from the original book shell, you can delete them.
For more information, see How to Copy a Book, Change Your Book’s URL, or Export and Import Pressbooks XML in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
There are many ways to obtain an editable copy of openly-licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
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See Import from WordPress in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
You can also import a Pressbook webbook (or web page) using a URL (web address). Before you begin, you will need an existing book shell to import the content into. (See Add a New Book.)
To use this feature:
If importing a Pressbook webbook, the rest of the import process is the same as that for importing a Pressbooks/WordPress file.
There are many ways to get your own editable copy of openly licensed Pressbooks content. For more information, see Import Options for Pressbooks Content.
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_z7h8eay7?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
We understand that some authors prefer to work in the familiar environment of a Word document. Other times, when a group of authors is contributing to a book in Pressbooks, it makes sense for each writer to compose in Word and then allow the lead author to import the final drafts into Pressbooks. This approach allows for better control of a book’s content as only one person has control of styling. Finally, there are cases where people may wish to add existing openly-licensed content into Pressbooks from a Word file.
The Word import routine recognizes standard markup language for lists (bullets and numbers), headings, and textboxes. However, the Word import routine built into Pressbooks cannot include all markup language used in a Word document because there’s just too much of it. Formatting and layout created in a Word document that uses proprietary markup language (vs. standard markup language) is unlikely to make it through intact from the Word document into Pressbooks. This includes images added to a Word document using Smart Art.
For more information, see Import from Word (docx) in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
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See Copy Paste: Tried and True in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
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If you prefer to use Google Docs to write content, you can also transfer the final result into Pressbooks. To begin:
You can also copy and paste as you would from a Word document. (See Copy and Paste from Word.)
The ODT file is one option found in the suite of documents known as OpenDocument Format for Office Applications (ODF), or OpenDocuments for short. Other file types include a spreadsheet, a presentation document, and a chart.
To import this file type:
Part two of this import process is the same as that for importing a Pressbooks or WordPress file.
An OpenDocument Text (ODT) file is an open-source word-processing format. It is “compatible with Word and open source applications like OpenOffice and LibreOffice,” though formatting differences exist between the two and certain Word features are not available in ODT files.
An ODT file can be opened using Word. However, not all of its elements will work. See differences between the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format and the Word (.docx) format for more information.
For help using an ODT file, see the frequently asked questions posted by the OpenDocument online community.
An EPUB file can be used to import an open textbook into Pressbooks. Before you begin, you will need an existing book shell to import the content into. (See Add a New Book.)
To import this file type:
Part two of this import process is the same as that for importing a Pressbooks or WordPress file.
There are three types of links that are typically used in Pressbooks:
Internal links are used to improve navigation within a book. For example, you can insert a link to a specific chapter or use anchors to link to a specific section in a chapter. These links will work in all digital formats, including the webbook, Digital PDF, and EPUB files.
To insert an internal link:
Anchors allow you to link to a specific section of a book. For example, a table, heading, or image.
To set up an anchor:
Now you can set up the internal link to this anchor. Follow the steps for setting up an internal link described above. However, instead of searching for the chapter, search for the unique name your created for the anchor.
For information about how to link to different files, see Images and Files.
To link to an external website or file:
Not all students may be accessing a book via a digital copy. For those using a print copy, you will want to give them the full URL so they can find the website. For instructions on how to easily do this in Pressbooks, see the section on “Provide web address in print copies” in the Links chapter of the Accessibility Toolkit.
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_kz81fwah?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_t0bzulpi?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_nthliec8?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
Blockquotes are used for long quotations that must be placed in a stand-alone block of text without using quotation marks. The blockquote feature in Pressbooks is useful because it automatically formats the text according to blockquote requirements. For guidelines on when blockquotes should be used, check your chosen style guide.
The blockquotes feature is identified in the WYSIWYG toolbar by the double quotation mark icon. To use this feature:
In the webbook, the blockquote is indented and highlighted in gray.
A pullquote is a quotation that has been pulled from the body of a book or other piece of writing that highlights a key piece of information in a way that adds visual interest to that same book.
For more information, see Adding Pullquotes in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Add a bulleted list by selecting the Bulleted list icon from the WYSIWYG toolbar.
There are two ways to add a secondary-list level to a primary list:
An unlimited number of sub-lists can be created under a primary bullet list.
See Formatting Ordered Lists in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Tables & Textboxes in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Issues to Note
Styling tables can be a challenge when the CSS of a book overrides the HTML for individual chapters. For help with this issue, see Customizing your Exports with Custom Styles in the Pressbooks User Guide.
Formats affected | Feature | Problem | Work around |
---|---|---|---|
Webbook | Table cells with more than one paragraph | The first paragraph in each cell will have no extra space between lines. All additional paragraphs in the same cell will have extra space between the lines and the text will be larger. (Problem reported to WordPress.) | You have two options:
|
All formats | Table borders and caption display | After an update on December 21, 2018, borders were stripped out of many tables and table captions are displaying in light grey text below the table. | To fix a specific table, select all cells in the table. Click the Tables icon in the WYSIWYG toolbar, and click under “Cell” click “Table cell properties.” Under “Class” select “Border.” The following CSS will modify the display of all tables and table captions in a book. The CSS will need to be added to the Web, EPUB, and PDF Custom Styles (found under the Appearance tab in the Dashboard Menu):
|
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_p62p6k1b?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
Pressbooks allows you to upload and insert many different types of files and media into your book. When uploading media into Pressbooks, note the following:
See the following chapters in the Pressbooks User Guide: |
If your goal is to produce a book for both web and print delivery, image set up and placement must be considered. It is recommended that all images are centred and that image size is no more than 500 pixels wide and 600 pixels high.
Using a larger image can potentially push it to another page in the PDF—sometimes several pages away from its webbook position. One solution for this problem is to add page breaks to key spots in the book.
See Section Breaks, Page Breaks and Blank Pages in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Some authors choose to create a separate version, PDF, or other file type or different system such as InDesign, for print so that text and image layout for the web version can be more creative without having to take into account constraints needed for print.
See Media Attributions in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
In a book, you can link to files hosted the Pressbooks Media Library so people reading the book can access those files. This feature may be useful if you want to share files that will not display directly in Pressbooks, like PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint slides.
To add a link to a file in a book in Pressbooks, follow the following steps:
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_o43ki8kd?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_r5osz367?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_5f2373f9?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_h5b85jwp?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Tables & Textboxes in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Specialized textboxes include:
While it is recommended that these special textboxes be used as designed—metadata has been added to each textbox for optimal discoverability—the headings can be rewritten to better reflect the exact content added.
All textboxes available in the Textboxes drop-down list of the WYSIWYG toolbar are also available as sidebars. Here are characteristics to take note of:
Issues to Note
Formats affected | Feature | Problem | Work around |
---|---|---|---|
PDFs | Side bar textboxes | Sidebar textboxes that stretch between pages cause some text to become unreadable. | Avoid the use of long sidebar textboxes and check your PDF exports for this issue. |
Print PDF | Link text is not displayed as a link in the Print PDF | Add CSS for Link text in Print PDF – this will add an underline to all text marked as link text (links still won’t work). This CSS only needs to be applied to the PDF Custom Styles page under Appearance on the book’s Dashboard. .print a { text-decoration: underline;} |
For more information, see Customizing your Exports with Custom Styles in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Embedded Media & Interactive Content in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Many BCcampus open textbook publications post videos on YouTube for embedding in a textbook. This is done for a few reasons:
If you own the copyright for a video posted on YouTube intended for an open textbook, take steps to change the video’s licence from the default “Standard YouTube license” to the “Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).” (See How to Change the License of Your YouTube Video to Creative Commons.)
Not all videos from YouTube can be embedded into Pressbooks. YouTube videos have three privacy settings that account holders can select. Pressbooks can only embed videos set to “Public” (can be viewed by anyone) and “Unlisted” (can be viewed by anyone who has a direct link to the video). Videos that are set to “Private” (can only be viewed by video owner) cannot be embedded into Pressbooks. (See How to Upload a Video to YouTube for instructions on how to adjust privacy settings while uploading a video.)
Videos grouped in a playlist on YouTube are designed to play continuously in sequence. To prevent rollover for an embedded video taken from a playlist, use the URL found under the Share link found above the video description box. Highlight the URL by double clicking the link, then copy the URL by right clicking on the link and selecting “Copy.”
Here is an example of an embedded video:
Media 1: “Two Person Ladder 001” can be found online at https://youtu.be/WjDhFVfP8f0 |
To ensure videos are accessible to all students, they must be captioned. For more information about video accessibility, see the “Multimedia” chapter in the Accessibility Toolkit.
When including videos in Pressbooks, there are a few options for adding captions to videos:
Audio files posted in a repository, such as Sound Cloud, can be embedded in Pressbooks the same way that videos are embedded—using a URL.
Here is an example of an embedded audio clip:
Media 2: “Jess Mitchell” can be found online at https://soundcloud.com/wearecc/jess-mitchell |
For information on adding interactive activities to your Pressbook, see H5P for Interactive Material.
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_w87zi70t?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
If you have uploaded an image file which doesn’t need an attribution, such as a screenshot from the book you are writing, follow these steps to remove the attribution created by Media Attribution tool:
See Media Attributions in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Footnotes and (Chapter) Endnotes in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Glossaries in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_1niypl53?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
Pressbooks saves the previous 25 versions of each chapter and part in a book. These are useful for reviewing changes or returning to a past version of work.
To review previous versions of a chapter or part, open that part or chapter in the visual editor. Find the Status & Visibility box, which is located in the right sidebar, and click the Browse link that follows “Revisions.”
On the Compare Revisions page, the most recent version is posted beside the current version (which appears on the right). You can view older versions by moving the horizontal scroll bar positioned near the top of the page. At the top right of the screen, there is a Compare any two revisions option, which allows you to view any two versions side-by-side. If you find a version that you would like to restore, click the Restore This Revision button.
Deleted material is highlighted in red and new material is highlighted in green.
See Math in Pressbooks in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
In this guide, also see LaTeX Questions Answered and LaTeX Support.
Section Topics
This section answers both broad and specific questions about LaTeX in Pressbooks including:
LaTeX is a markup language and typesetting system commonly used in mathematical and scientific writing. It can be used to create documents from scratch or display equations in a web browser with the help of plugins, as is the case in Pressbooks.
Below is an example of what LaTeX can look like. This is a simple example, but LaTeX can be used to write much more complex expressions.
Use the formula to calculate the volume of a cylinder.
Use the delimiters to mark the boundaries between LaTeX and regular text. This is the simplest and best way in Pressbooks to write LaTeX expressions that will be rendered by MathJax. These shortcodes can be used to write in-line LaTeX expressions (i.e., in the middle of regular text) or to left-align a LaTeX expression written on its own line.
If you are using the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform, MathJax will be activated and ready to render whatever you write between these shortcodes into clean, readable mathematical expressions.
For example, we all know that is the Pythagorean theorem. Here it is again, on its own line and centred using HTML:
To see how to write this expression, follow the instructions in How do I view an expression as it appears in LaTeX markup?
Assuming you’re rendering your LaTeX using MathJax, there are technically two notation methods for writing LaTeX. You can either surround your LaTeX markup with or
$$…$$
. However, this second method comes with a catch.
$$…$$
notation centres a LaTeX expression and puts it on its own line, even if it is used in the middle of a sentence.
For example, the formula $$A=\dfrac{1}{2}bh$$ can be used to calculate the area of a triangle.
In editor view, this looks like For example, the formula $$A=\dfrac{1}{2}bh$$ can be used to calculate the area of a triangle.
This is great, except for one major caveat: LaTeX expressions written using $$…$$
delimiters do not render in PDFs. If you use this notation in the webbook version of your book in Pressbooks, your expression will render and appear as expected. But if you then export the webbook as a PDF, your expression will appear in the PDF as the original LaTeX markup, which is not particularly pretty or human readable.
Therefore, we recommend using for all LaTeX expressions if there’s a possibility that you will export your webbook to other formats. If you would like your expression to appear centred and on its own line, simply write it on its own line and centre it using
Shift + Alt + C
or the “Align centre” button on the visual editor toolbar.
Only those LaTeX commands that are supported by MathJax will work in the BCcampus instances of Pressbooks, as well as any other Pressbooks instances that rely on MathJax to render LaTeX.
See the Supported TeX/LaTeX commands page in MathJax’s documentation to view a full list of LaTeX commands that will work in Pressbooks.
A good way to learn how to write LaTeX is to examine original markup. MathJax makes it very easy to view equations as they were originally written.
To see how an equation appears as LaTeX markup, right-click it and select Show Math As > TeX Commands from the menu. This will trigger a small pop-up window that contains the equation written in LaTeX.
Another option is to right-click the equation and select Math Settings > Math Renderer > Plain Source. This will make the original markup appear in the book in place of a human-readable mathematical expression. To go back to the default setting that renders LaTeX in a human-readable way, select Math Settings > Math Renderer > CommonHTML.
Try this out on the following expression:
If you look at the Plugins tab in the dashboard of your book, you’ll see a plugin called WP QuickLaTeX, which allows you to render LaTeX as SVG images. QuickLaTeX used to be the plugin that rendered LaTeX equations in BCcampus books, but as of early 2020, we have switched over to relying on MathJax.
MathJax is a JavaScript display engine that turns math markup written in LaTeX, MathML, or AsciiMath into high-resolution, accessible equations. The plugin PB-MathJax is automatically turned on in books hosted in the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform. You won’t see it on the list of plugins because it is the default behaviour for books on this platform, and it can only be overridden if you turn on WP QuickLaTeX.
While both of these plugins can be used to render LaTeX equations, there are a few key differences between them, a few of which are noted in the table below.
Item | MathJax | QuickLaTeX |
Notation | Notation methods include and $$…$$ | Notation methods include , $$…$$ , $…$ , \(…\) and \[…\] |
Accessibility | Advanced accessibility features, such as the ability to collapse math, explore it in detail, and zoom in to a custom level. Can easily view in the web book the original LaTeX as it was written | Renders LaTeX as images with the original commands as alt text, which is not easily readable by humans (especially those unfamiliar with LaTeX) |
We recommend using MathJax, as it has far superior accessibility features to QuickLaTeX. For this reason, most of our LaTeX support will apply primarily to MathJax, not QuickLaTeX.
If your book is in the British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform, MathJax will automatically be integrated and turned on. QuickLaTeX will be available on the list of plugins, but will be deactivated by default. You’ll know that your book is using QuickLaTeX if you go to the Plugins tab and see that WP QuickLaTeX is activated, which would only happen if someone chose to activate it.
If QuickLaTeX is activated, it will override MathJax. If you would like to use MathJax instead (which is what we recommend), go to the Plugins tab, find WP QuickLaTeX, and click “Deactivate.”
Not necessarily. If the numbers, symbols and letters needed for an equation are available on a standard keyboard and can be entered in a clear manner, then LaTeX is not required. Instead, LaTeX can be reserved for complex formulas and equations, including fractions.
The Pressbooks User Guide makes this suggestion:
If LaTeX is a bit much for you or you’d rather look at other options, you can always use special characters, symbols, and the sub/superscript buttons on the toolbar to compose your equations.
If you are fluent in HTML+CSS, you can also look at constructing and formatting your formulas that way.
It can be tedious to make an attempt at an equation in LaTeX while working in Pressbooks, especially if you’re writing a particularly complex equation or you’re still getting the hang of LaTeX and need to trial and error a lot. You may find yourself repeatedly writing and hitting Preview. To avoid this, you can use an external LaTeX editor, which may be in the form of a web-based or desktop application.
The Interactive LaTeX Editor by Paul Lutus is a web-based editor that quickly renders LaTeX using up to three different renderers, including MathJax. This is particularly useful to Pressbooks users, since you can see exactly which commands do and do not work with MathJax. The editor also allows you to see examples of symbols, Greek letters, and common science and math expressions written in LaTeX.
MiKTeX is a free distribution of TeX/LaTeX. When downloaded, MiKTeX also comes with the editor TeXworks. This option is less ideal than Paul Lutus’s editor, as you must use some basic LaTeX document structuring for anything to compile correctly, which is not necessary in Pressbooks. However, all the bare-bones formatting you need is the following:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Write your equations here.
\end{document}
The advantage of MiKTeX is that, if you try to use a command from a package that is not currently being used by your installation of LaTeX, MiKTeX will offer to download it for you. This helps to circumvent some of the mystifying errors that can appear when you try out a command found online without realizing that it’s from a package that you need to explicitly call on.
If you are a Mac user, a recommended program is LaTeXiT. The graphical interface of this equation editor allows you just to focus on equations, which is great for beginners who don’t want to be bogged down in the details of document formatting, but the program also allows for further customization from those who do want to control things like what packages are used.
Lots! LaTeX allows you to write a wide variety of symbols, including Greek letters, arrows, operators, and relational symbols.
See the following table to learn the LaTeX commands for a selection of characters that can be found in the Pressbooks special character bank.
Character | LaTeX Command | Example |
---|---|---|
middle dot (·) | \cdot | |
ellipsis (…) | \dots | |
less-than or equal to (≤) | \le | |
greater-than or equal to (≥) | \ge | |
degree sign (°) | ^{\circ} | |
minus sign (−) | - (hyphen) | |
plus-minus sign (±) | \pm | |
division sign (÷) | \div | |
multiplication sign (×) | \times | |
angle sign (∠) | \angle |
There are far too many LaTeX symbols to list here in full. However, we can link to a number of symbol resources, some of which give examples of how these symbols may be implemented in context.
Be aware that not every command listed in these resources will work in Pressbooks. See the Supported TeX/LaTeX commands page in MathJax’s documentation to view a full list of LaTeX commands that will work in Pressbooks.
The page of LaTeX symbols on the Art of Problem Solving wiki is an excellent introduction to some of the most common LaTeX symbols. This page also links to a number of other helpful resources for LaTeX symbols that are also included here.
Detexify is a web-based application with two features: “classify” and “symbols.” The “classify” feature allows you to draw your desired symbol, which generates a list of suggested commands. The “symbols” feature is an alphabetical, searchable list of symbol commands.
Math Vault’s Comprehensive List of Mathematical Symbols [PDF] is a compilation of many symbols in higher mathematics. This guide provides the LaTeX for each symbol and a rendered LaTeX expression containing the symbol. The primary purpose of the guide is to help math students expand their mathematical vocabulary: LaTeX is included to help those who would like to communicate with others on forums and write documents in LaTeX during their studies. So this guide may be useful as a reference, but bear in mind that its focus is not on teaching LaTeX.
The Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) has an even more detailed resource called The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List [PDF]. This document is over 300 pages long and lists over 14,000 symbols, plus the LaTeX commands and packages required to create them. The table of contents divides the symbols into various broad groups, including body-text symbols, mathematical symbols, scientific symbols, and ancient language characters.
If you’re working with conversion factors, or any other kind of math that involves showing that something has been removed or cancelled out, crossing things out is essential.
Luckily, it’s very easy to cross something out in a LaTeX expression. Simply use the \cancel{x}
command, where x is whatever you want to cross out. This looks like:
Let’s put this command to use in the conversion of 10 metres to millimetres.
First, determine the conversion factor. Since there are 1000 mm in 1 m, our conversion factor will be .
Next, multiply the conversion factor by the original measurement of 10 m. Following the rules of cancelling out in fractions, we end up with:
By crossing out the metres, it is easier to see that we’ll end up with millimetres.
While this example was very simple and easy to understand, the \cancel{}
command is especially useful when converting between many different units. To demonstrate, here is an example from chemistry:
While the \cancel{}
command is most useful when using numerals, it can also be used to cancel out words:
In a prior example, we had , which is written as 10\cancel{\text{ m}}
. You’ll notice that the command is cancelling out the metre symbol as well as the space before it. But wouldn’t it be better to only cancel out the metre symbol?
Yes, it would be better — but this can be difficult.
Since LaTeX doesn’t recognize spaces written between its commands, the only way to insert a space is to use \text{ }
. If you have a numeral, then a unit of measurement, like in the case of 10 m, you need a space between the two.
The simplest way to write this in LaTeX is 10\text{ m}
, in which the space and the m are created using the same \text{}
command.
If you try to put the \cancel{}
command within the \text{}
command so that only the m is cancelled, this is what happens:
The \text{}
command prints out exactly what you write in its curly brackets. Therefore, if you try to insert a \cancel{m}
command within a \text{}
command, you’ll just print out “\cancel{m}”.
If you really want to make sure that the space isn’t cancelled out, you can use two separate \text{}
commands to write the space and the m:
Compare this to the original way we wrote it:
You can see that the difference is minute and that using two separate \text{}
commands for the space and the m is cumbersome.
You can use two \text{}
commands if you prefer, but when you’re writing a ton of conversion factors (like in a chapter on conversion factors in a math or chemistry textbook), this extra work will quickly add up.
Generally, we recommend writing 10\cancel{\text{ m}}
, because it’s a little simpler, and it’s doubtful that anyone would be able to tell the difference.
An array is a LaTeX environment that aligns items in columns. An array can be used to align equations or to create a table of sorts. Here is an example of an array:
When you begin an array, you must specify how many columns it will have and how each will be aligned: left, centre, or right. You can have as many rows as you like and do not need to declare this number at the beginning. You also have the option of inserting vertical and horizontal lines into your array.
Say that you wanted to show in detail how to solve the following equation for z:
A good way to display all the steps would be to put this equation into an array.
Before you write the array, it is necessary to determine how many columns there will be. Including symbols and values, there are five distinct elements in this equation (4z, +, 5, =, 25), so there should be five columns.
You start by writing the beginning of the array:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
The \begin{array}
command indicates the beginning of an array environment. The curly braces after this command hold the parameters for the array’s columns. These parameters are any combination of three letters: l
(left-align), c
(centre), and r
(right-align). An array can have as few as one column. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on the number of columns possible in an array, but at around 25 or 30 columns, the array will no longer easily display on a page.
For this array, the column parameters are rrrrr
, which creates five right-aligned columns. You may decide to shift things to the left or centre later, but you can start with everything right-aligned for simplicity.
Then, you insert the column dividers:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
&&&&
Since there will be five columns, there must be four column dividers, represented by ampersands. If you know ahead of time how many rows you need, it can be good practice to set up all your column dividers before you start inputting your values.
Now, insert the equation into your array:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25
Each character is in a different column, so everything will appear spaced out. Arrays are dynamic, meaning that they expand and change size to fit what they hold. If one column contained a larger expression, it would change the spacing in the array.
The last thing is to end the array:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25
\end{array}
The \begin
and \end
commands are used for most LaTeX environments.
Now, you have a complete array that will display like so:
Next, solve the equation. First, subtract 5 from both sides:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25 \\
&-&5&&-5
\end{array}
If you look at the plain source of this equation (by right-clicking and changing the Math Renderer setting to Plain Source), you’ll see that there is nothing in the first column of the second row. The first minus sign is in the second column, to align with the plus sign in the first row, and there is a 5 in the third column. The fourth column is empty, and the fifth column has a −5.
As you can see, it is not necessary to fill every spot in a row or column in an array: you can leave spots empty if you wish.
The other important thing to note is the \\
after the fifth column in the first row. This is the new-line command that is necessary before any new row in an array. You don’t need a new-line command at the end of the last line of your array. The new-line command can also be used outside of the LaTeX environment to insert a line break.
Now, add a horizontal line beneath the subtraction, using \hline
:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25 \\
&-&5&&-5 \\
\hline
\end{array}
The command \hline
stands on its own and does not require a new-line command after it. For our purposes, we will not consider it to be a row.
Now show the result of the subtraction:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25 \\
&-&5&&-5 \\
\hline
&&4z&=&20
\end{array}
The 4z has moved from the first column to the third, so that it is in the rightmost position before the equals sign, which is in the fourth column.
Now, divide each side of the equation by 4. Instead of adding a fourth row for that, you can turn the values in the third row into fractions:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25 \\
&-&5&&-5 \\
\hline
&&\dfrac{4z}{4}&=&\dfrac{20}{4}
\end{array}
You can either choose to do it this way, or to leave space between the third row and a fourth row that will display the division. This would look like so:
\begin{array}{rrrrr}
4z&+&5&=&25 \\
&-&5&&-5 \\
\hline
&&4z&=&20 \\ \\
&&\dfrac{4z}{4}&=&\dfrac{20}{4}
\end{array}
Note that two new-line commands were inserted at the end of the third row. This inserts an empty row before the new line for the fourth row in order to improve readability.
We will finish the version of the array that had fractions in the third row. The last thing to do is display the value of z:
\begin{array}{rrcrc}
4z&+&5&=&25 \\
&-&5&&-5 \\
\hline
&&\dfrac{4z}{4}&=&\dfrac{20}{4} \\ \\
&&z&=&5
\end{array}
Two new-line commands were inserted at the end of the third row because fractions are so tall that readability can be impeded if rows with fractions in them are left too close to others. Therefore, it is good practice to add two new-line commands at the end of any row containing fractions.
In this last iteration of the array, the alignment of the columns has shifted. The third row is now centred, so that the fraction on the left-hand side of the equation in the third row lines up with the values in the first and second rows more nicely. The fifth column is also centred for the same reason.
A final thing to know about arrays is that you can insert lines between columns, if you wanted to make a table of sorts. All you have to do is insert |vertical bars| between the column parameters at the beginning of the array.
For example, to achieve the following array, the column parameters were written as |c|c|l|
, which put lines on either side of each column:
To only produce lines between columns and not on the outside of the array, you would write c|c|l
.
However, it must be pointed out that tables can be created much more easily using the table button on the visual editor toolbar in Pressbooks. Tables created using HTML and the visual editor toolbar are also known to be accessible for screen-reader users.
For our purposes, “brackets” refers to (parentheses), [square brackets], {curly brackets}, and 〈angle brackets〉, as well as |vertical bars or pipes| and ||double pipes||.
There may be times when you want your brackets to appear larger than the standard size, such as when you have brackets around a fraction. Luckily, it is very easy to make your brackets match the size of whatever they are trying to contain.
Use the commands \left
and \right
to create brackets that will resize themselves to match what they surround.
For example, say you want to put parentheses around a fraction. If you use regular parentheses, the expression looks like this:
As you can see, the expression isn’t properly contained by the parentheses. Here’s what it looks like when you write \left(
and \right)
around the expression:
Just like that, the parentheses have resized themselves to fit around the fraction.
These dynamic brackets are not always necessary: if your bracketed expression is just a few alphanumeric characters, regular brackets will probably work just fine. But these commands are very useful for when you have a larger expression that you’d like to contain in brackets.
See the following table to learn how to write all the different kinds of brackets.
Bracket | LaTeX Markup | Rendered |
---|---|---|
(Parentheses) | (a-b) | |
[Square brackets] | [a-b] | |
{Curly brackets} | \{a-b\} | |
〈Angle brackets〉 | \langle a-b \rangle | |
|Vertical bars or pipes| | |a-b| | |
||Double pipes|| | \|a-b\| |
Now let’s see how to write each type of dynamic bracket:
Bracket | LaTeX Markup | Rendered |
---|---|---|
(Parentheses) | \left(\dfrac{a}{b}\right) | |
[Square brackets] | \left[\dfrac{a}{b}\right] | |
{Curly brackets} | \left\{\dfrac{a}{b}\right\} | |
〈Angle brackets〉 | \left\langle\dfrac{a}{b}\right\rangle | |
|Vertical bars or pipes| | \left|\dfrac{a}{b}\right| | |
||Double pipes|| | \left\|\dfrac{a}{b}\right\| |
For those types of brackets that require a command of their own and can’t just be written as is — such as the curly brackets, which must be written as \{x\}
— the syntax of the \left
and \right
commands can start to look a little confusing, especially when combined with other commands.
Just remember that the syntax goes \left
, symbol for the opening bracket, \right
, symbol for the closing bracket.
The correlation coefficient is a formula used to measure the strength of the relationship between the relative changes in two variables.
The following video describes how to write one version of the correlation coefficient:
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_lvwwa2rr?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
Note that the video says that the way to write the sigma in the equation is to use the command \Sigma
. While this will produce a sigma, another command that will do the same is \sum
. The \sum
command produces a larger sigma that is more suitable for such an equation.
No: if special characters are taken from the special character bank and used in a LaTeX command, the command won’t work. Instead, you must use an appropriate LaTeX command to insert the character. See What kind of symbols can I write using LaTeX? for links to resources that detail how to create many characters in LaTeX.
PDFs in general can be finicky, and LaTeX is no exception to this. If your LaTeX is not displaying properly in a PDF, but renders just fine in the web book, one possible cause is excess spaces between commands: PDFs will often not display LaTeX formulas that are written with more than one space in a row. (Note that this is only the case with LaTeX rendered with MathJax, not QuickLaTeX.)
For example, the equation looks fine in the web book:
But here’s a screenshot of what it looks like in the PDF:
You are not required to put spaces between LaTeX commands in order for them to be rendered in a readable way: equations are appropriately spaced automatically. However, it is common to insert spaces to make equations more readable for humans working in the back end. If you choose to add single spaces between commands for your own readability as a LaTeX writer, be sure to search for excess spaces using the Find feature in your browser and delete them.
Another possible reason for LaTeX not rendering properly in a PDF export is the delimiters used to distinguish LaTeX from regular text.
There are two kinds of delimiters that can be used to mark the boundaries between LaTeX and and regular text: and
$$…$$
. The former delimiters can be used for in-line equations (i.e., those that appear in the middle of a sentence), and the latter can be used for standalone equations that appear centred on their own line.
Unfortunately, equations written using $$…$$
delimiters do not render in PDFs. Any LaTeX formulas you write using these delimiters may appear in the web book, but they will appear in the PDF exactly as they appear in editor view in Pressbooks.
To demonstrate, this equation has been written using delimiters:
This equation has been written using $$…$$
delimiters:
$$A=\dfrac{1}{2}bh$$
And here is a screenshot of a similar section of code in a PDF export:
For this reason, it is best practice to only use delimiters. If you would like your equation to appear centred and on its own line, simply write the equation in a new paragraph and manually centre it using the “Align centre” button or the shortcut
Shift + Alt + C
.
If there are no excess spaces in your commands and you’re using delimiters, there may be a problem with MathJax, the engine that renders LaTeX in Pressbooks.
You can check to see if MathJax is working properly by going to Settings > MathJax on the Pressbooks dashboard. You should see a big integral at the top of the page, like this:
The MathJax settings page says, “If you can see a big integral, then PB-MathJax [the MathJax plugin] is configured correctly, and all is well.”
However, if there’s a problem with MathJax, you may see this at the top of the page:
If you see unrendered LaTeX instead of an integral, there is something wrong with the plugin for the BCcampus instance of Pressbooks. Please contact latexsupport@bccampus.ca as soon as possible to let us know about the problem.
Section Topics
This section includes:
Plugins are software components that can be added to an existing computer program, such as Pressbooks, in order to provide additional features.
There are three plugins that account holders can activate for each book within their account: H5P, Hypothes.is, and WP Quick LaTeX. Only the Administrator for a book has the ability to do this. If you are the Administrator of more than one book, you will have to activate the plugins in each book you want them turned on in.
To activate these plugins:
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_z77w2lv1?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
The H5P plugin allows Pressbooks users to create interactive material, such as quizzes, timelines, drag-and-drop questions, and more. This free and open-source technology was first released in 2013. For more information, visit the H5P website.
For those who chose to use this plugin in a book, be aware that it is not meant to replace a graded or summative test. Instead, H5P activities are most useful for student self-quizzing and encouraging interaction with content.
Once this plugin is activated, two new tabs will be added to the book’s Dashboard menu: the H5P Content tab and the H5P link under the Settings tab.
Settings for H5P range from how the toolbar is controlled to whether to automatically share usage statistics with the H5P developers. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of this page if you make any changes.
The H5P Content tab is where you can create new H5P activities and manage activities that you created previously.
H5P activities are included when a book in Pressbooks is cloned. (See Clone a Book.)
For more information, see H5P Interactive Content, Embedded Media & Interactive Content and Using Math in H5P Activities, the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Issue to Note
Feb 28/20: Attribution for H5P items currently do not come over with the H5P items when a book is cloned. Pressbooks is looking into this problem.
See QuickLaTeX in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Third-Party Plugins in The Pressbooks Network Manager’s Guide. |
Section Topics
This section includes:
Chapters can be deleted from any part in a book. To do this:
To restore a deleted chapter:
IMPORTANT: Items in the trash will be permanently deleted after one day.
For more information, see Chapters in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_i6bbearg?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
To delete Main Body parts:
If the deleted part contains chapters, these will be moved to another part. If the deleted part was below the first Main Body part, the orphan chapter(s) will move to the first part. If the deleted part is the first Main Body part, the orphan chapter will move to the last part. Consider moving chapters to another part before deleting the part.
IMPORTANT: The front matter and back matter parts of a book cannot be deleted, but chapters within these parts can be added or deleted.
To restore a deleted part:
IMPORTANT: Items in the trash will be permanently deleted after one day.
For more information, see Parts in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_i6bbearg?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Delete a Book in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Section Topics
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_swecu272?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_g3vpzbhj?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Book Covers for Ebooks and Print-on-Demand in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
See Book Info and Copyright Page in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The DOI field on the Book Info page displays this information in the Metadata section of the webbook homepage.
Using information entered on the Book Info page, Pressbooks generates a number of automatic pages, information blocks, and statements that provide licence and copyright information. (See Automatic Pages and Features.)
Although it may look different, this information will appear in all formats.
The home page of the webbook will contain the book title, subtitle, author, the licence type, and a licence statement. Farther down the home page will be the metadata for the book, including the book title, author, publisher, reviewer, translator, illustrator, licence type and licensing statement. Licence and copyright information is also listed at the end of every chapter.
PDFs will contain a title page providing the book title, subtitle, author, and publisher name and city. There will also be a copyright page that provides the licensing statement, which includes the book title, author, and licence type.
Here are some items to take note of:
See below for suggested language to use in the Copyright Notice field on the Book Info page for both a new and adapted open textbook.
Following the Copyright Holder and Copyright License fields, is the Copyright Notice field where information is provided about copyright, the licence, and related actions. Items that can be added are:
© 2017 J.M. Smith.
The CC licence permits you to retain, reuse, copy, redistribute, and revise this book—in whole or in part—for free providing the author is attributed as follows:
Sample Textbook by Jane Margaret Smith is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
This textbook can be referenced. In APA citation style, it should appear as follows:
Smith, J.M. (2017). Sample Textbook. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Available from https://opentextbc.ca/sample/
Cover image attribution:
Maple Leaf Structure by Steve Jurvetson is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
The copyright notice for an open textbook that is adapted is similar to that for an original textbook, with a few exceptions. Items to add are:
Intermediate Sample Textbook is an adaptation of Introduction Sample Textbook by Jane Margaret Smith, also copyrighted by Jane Margaret Smith. The original textbook, unless otherwise noted, was released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
The new and revised material in this adaptation is copyrighted 2019 by the adapting authors John Green and Terry Brown and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence. The revisions and new material made to the original textbook are listed below.
In general, language was revised to improve flow, links to other chapters were added, spelling was corrected. Exercises for all chapters were revised to suit the more difficult material.
This textbook can be referenced. In APA citation style, it should appear as follows:
Green, J. & Brown, T. (2019). Intermediate Sample Textbook. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Available from https://opentextbc.ca/intermediatesample/
Cover image attribution:
Maple Leaf Structure by Steve Jurvetson is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
To assign a chapter-specific licence, see “Chapter Copyright License” under “6. Chapter Metadata” of Chapters in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_rtxfkgqn?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Contributors in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Pressbooks allows you to export a book into different file formats such as PDF, EPUB, and more. (Books published by BCcampus are exported in all available formats.)
Pressbooks stores the last three exports of each file format. You can sort exports by file format, size, and date exported, as well as, “pin” any files that you do not want to be deleted. Export options are found on the Dashboard menu.
See Export, PDF Export & Options and Ebook (EPUB) Exports, and How to Test Your Ebooks in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
For more information, read the July 27, 2021 posting: Goodbye, MOBI exports!
If a book has unnecessary blank pages in the PDF file:
IMPORTANT: This option is only available for the Digital PDF file, not the Print PDF version.
For more information, see Section Breaks, Page Breaks and Blank Pages in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
When exporting different file types, there are two PDF options to choose from:
Here are the differences between the two:
Characteristics | PDF (Print) | PDF (Digital) |
---|---|---|
Purpose | Designed for printing. Blank pages are inserted where expected for print outputs. Internal navigation links will not work. | Designed for reading on an electronic device and sharing online. Internal navigation links will work. |
Pressbooks Icon Colour | red | green |
File Name/Extension | print.pdf | |
Image Resolution | high (print quality: 300 dpi) | lower (web quality: 72 dpi) |
File Size | larger | smaller |
Links | absent | present |
For more information, see Export Validation Logs in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_mslwfk6y?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
During the book creation process, the account holder is asked “Would you like your webbook to be visible to the public?” The default setting is “Yes,” though most authors decide to keep their book private while writing.
To change a book’s privacy setting, click the Organize tab in the Dashboard menu. The privacy options are displayed at the top of the Organize page.
If someone who has not been given access by the book’s Administrator attempts to read a “private” book, an Access Denied message appears. To give someone access to a private book, they will have to be added as a User. (See Provide Access to Others.)
To open a book to the public, go to the Organize page and select the Public radio button at the top of the page.
For more information, see Privacy Settings: Global and Chapter-level in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_1lv6zlf7?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
See Catalogs in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
The Pressbooks Directory was added as a feature on December 2, 2020 and includes open textbooks from BCcampus’s two Pressbooks instances (British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform and BCcampus Open Publishing).
See How to Use the Pressbooks Directory in the The Pressbooks Network Manager’s Guide. |
The Pressbooks Open Source project, creator of the Pressbooks Directory, understands that incomplete books are included in the directory providing they meet the criteria for inclusion. In fact, incorporating in-progress books in the directory was an intentional choice in hopes that authors and educators would network with each other about subjects that interested them.
See Directory opt-out for an individual book with book-level settings (book admins) in the The Pressbooks Network Manager’s Guide. |
See Directory opt-out with network settings (network managers) in the The Pressbooks Network Manager’s Guide. |
A request we often hear from instructors is that they would like to add an open textbook to their institutional learning management system. With course cartridges (also known as IMS Common Cartridge or just Common Cartridge), you can do just that.
Some of the open textbooks in the BCcampus open textbook collection are available as course cartridges. Course cartridges are designed to be imported into your institutional LMS, which allows your learners to access open textbook content without having to leave the LMS. It also gives instructors some limited customization opportunities in that you can reorder chapters of the book within your LMS or hide textbook content that is not relevant to your learners using the functions within your LMS.
A course cartridge is a standardized way of packaging and exchanging digital learning materials based on the IMS Thin Common Cartridge web links standard. The course cartridge is a special file that can be downloaded from the textbook and imported into your institutional LMS course shell. The course cartridge contains links to the online version of the textbooks with each link leading a student to a section or module within the textbook. Since these links appear as modules in your LMS, you can adjust them like a module in your LMS setting specific release dates for them, deleting content you are not using, or rearranging them to customize the course content for your students.
While you do have some flexibility to rearrange chapters or sections of the book from within your LMS, you cannot edit the contents of the book as the common cartridge does not make a copy of the book in your LMS. For example, you won’t be able to edit the text of the book or add, edit or remove specific images within the book.
Also, the availability of course cartridges varies by book. Not all books in the BC Open Textbook Collection are available as course cartridges. To see if the book you are interested in has a Common Cartridge file available check our Common Cartridge book list at the bottom of this page. If a Common Cartridge file is not available for a BCcampus-published textbook, contact BCcampus Support.
On the book page in our collection, you will find the download link for the Common Cartridge file under the book cover image to the right of the page in the Get This Book section. Click the Readable link in the Get This Book section of the textbook you are interested in.
This will expand a menu of possible format options the book is available in. Look in the list for a format called Common Cartridge. Click the Download button and save the file to your own computer. The file will have a file extension of .imscc designating it as an IMS Common Cartridge file.
Once you have the cartridge saved on your computer, log in to your LMS.
The method for uploading the cartridge, and the options you have when uploading the cartridge, will vary depending on what LMS you use at your institution. Below are instructions for the most common LMS’s in use in the BC higher education sector; Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas and Brightspace. While these should work for you, each LMS can be configured slightly differently and if the process does not work for you, ask your institutional LMS support for assistance.
Course cartridges can be imported into Moodle course shells using the same process as a Moodle course restore.
https://video.bccampus.ca/id/0_3glpydie?width=608&height=402&playerId=23448552
To add a book to your Canvas course:
After you’ve imported the file, the course will populate with the structure of the book.
The Parts, as well as Front Matter and Back Matter sections will appear as modules, and Chapters within those sections will appear as items within the module. Instructors or instructional designers can then intersperse these weblinks with other content, like quizzes, within the LMS.
When a student clicks on a chapter, a live version of that chapter in the public webbook will display within the LMS interface. Users can use LMS navigation tools to move to other content or activities within the module or the course.
For instructions on importing a course cartridge, refer to the Brightspace documentation on importing IMS Common Cartridge packages.
For Blackboard instructions, refer to the Blackboard support documentation Common Cartridge Course Packages.
1. Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition
2. Accessibility Toolkit (FRENCH): CB Trousse d’outils d’accessibilite pour les
3. Accountability and Repairing Relationships: Training and Facilitation Guide
4. Active Bystander Intervention: Training and Facilitation Guide
5. Advanced English
6. Barbering Techniques for Hair Stylists
7. Basic HVAC
8. Basic Kitchen and Food Service Management
9. Basic Motor Control
10. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Course Pack 1
11. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Course Pack 2
12. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Course Pack 3
13. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Course Pack 4
14. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Course Pack 5
15. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Course Pack 6
16. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Reader 1
17. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Reader 2
18. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Reader 3
19. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Reader 4
20. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Reader 5
21. BC Reads Adult Literacy Fundamental English Reader 6
22. British Columbia in a Global Context
23. Building Blocks of Academic Writing
24. Business/Technical Mathematics
25. Canadian History: Post-Confederation – 2nd Edition
26. Canadian History: Pre-Confederation
27. Capacity to Connect: Supporting Students’ Mental Health and Wellness
28. Clinical Procedures for Safer Patient Care
29. Composition and Literature: A Handbook and Anthology
30. Concepts of Biology-1st Canadian Edition
31. Consent & Sexual Violence: Training and Facilitation Guide
32. Database Design-2nd Edition
33. Electronic Commerce: The Strategic Perspective
34. English Literature: Victorians and Moderns
35. Environmental Biology (OpenOregon)
36. Ethics in Law Enforcement
37. Evaluating Sexualized Violence Training and Resources
38. FLO Facilitation Guide (do not need to upload to SOLR)
39. Food Safety, Sanitation, and Personal Hygiene
40. Global Women’s Issues: Women in the World Today, extended version
41. Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals
42. Hair Colour for Hair Stylists: Level 2
43. Human Resources in the Food Service and Hospitality Industry
44. Human Security in World Affairs: Problems and Opportunities – 2nd Edition
45. Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
46. Introduction to Psychology-1st Canadian Edition
47. Introduction to Sociology – 2nd Canadian Edition
48. Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC – 2nd Edition
49. Introductory Algebra
50. Introductory Business Statistics with Interactive Spreadsheets – 1st Canadian Edition
51. Introductory Chemistry-1st Canadian Edition
52. Key Concepts of Computer Studies
53. Let’s Talk About Suicide: Raising Awareness and Supporting Students
54. Mastering Strategic Management 1st Canadian Edition
55. Math for Trades: Volume 1
56. Math for Trades: Volume 2
57. Meat Cutting and Processing for Food Service
58. Media Studies 101
59. Modern Pastry and Plated Dessert Techniques
60. Modern Philosophy
61. Nationalism, Self-determination, and Succession
62. Nature of Geographic Information
63. Nutrition and Labelling for the Canadian Baker
64. Open Pedagogy in the Trades
65. Pattern Development – Sheet Metal Level 1
66. Physical Geology – 2nd Edition
67. Plain Language Best Practices
68. Presentation Software
69. Principles of Social Psychology-1st International Edition
70. Psychology – H5P Edition
71. Project Management
72. Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers
73. Pulling Together: A Guide for Front-Line Staff, Student Services, and Advisors
74. Pulling Together: A Guide for Leaders and Administrators
75. Pulling Together: A Guide for Researchers, Hiłḵ̓ala
76. Pulling Together: A Guide for Teachers and Instructors
77. Pulling Together: Foundations Guide
78. Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements
79. Research Methods in Psychology – 2nd Canadian Edition
80. Student Success
81. Supporting Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities & Mental Illness
82. Supporting Survivors: Training and Facilitation Guide
83. Understanding Ingredients for the Canadian Baker
84. Vital Sign Measurement Across the Lifespan – 2nd Canadian Edition
85. Working in the Food Service Industry
86. Workplace Safety in the Food Service Industry
87. Writing for Success 1st Canadian Edition
For more information, see Common Cartridge Files with Web Links in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
Canvas instructions from Pressbooks User Guide by Book Oven Inc. (Pressbooks.com) and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
It cannot be assumed that students and other readers will automatically know how to read and navigate a textbook built with Pressbooks. The below video, by KPU instructor Christina Page, should help.
Section Topics
For those with Administrator access to a book in Pressbooks, detailed statistics are available. To view, begin by selecting “WP-Piwik” from the Dashboard menu.
This action will reveal the Piwik Statistics page, which contains information about the webbook, such as the number of visitors that have looked it. See the Matomo Glossary for definitions of the metric terms used by this tool.
IMPORTANT: WP-Piwik was renamed WP-Matomo on January 9, 2018. The announcement blog explained that the name was changed “to ensure that Matomo does not/will not share its name with any other businesses unlike Piwik. We also want to protect the Matomo brand and for it to remain the open source community project name forever.” The label for this plugin in Pressbooks has not yet been changed.
BCcampus Open Education provides statistics for each textbook hosted in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection under the “Collection” tab on the Open Textbook Stats page for the past four months.
Listed to the right of each book title are stats for various formats and views. These, and the book title, also include a reorder arrow that sorts information as follows:
The open textbooks that have been funded and published by BCcampus are hosted on on BCcampus’ internal instance of Pressbooks (opentextbc.ca). Also, for each book, there are stats on how often the webbook is accessed and how often its files are downloaded. This information is found under the Pressbooks tab on the Open Textbook Stats page.
Section Topics
This section includes:
See BCcampus Events for dates and times
In this webinar, learn how to use Pressbooks to create and share open educational resources with students and fellow educators. Pressbooks is an online self-publishing tool available to all post-secondary faculty and staff in B.C. and the Yukon (https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/). It allows you to create educational resources that can be easily shared, maintained, and accessed across multiple devices, downloaded, or printed.
View recording for the October 9, 2018 session for Pressbooks Intermediate 3 webinar.
Download the slides for the how to find, cite and attribute OER session here.
All slides and recordings listed on this page are released with a CC BY licence.
The below list of videos are from the BCcampus OpenEd Pressbooks Video Tutorial Series. These videos are also embedded throughout this guide.
If you have specific questions or need help using LaTeX within a project, send a request for an individual or group tutoring session by emailing latexsupport@bccampus.ca.
BCcampus maintains a Pressbooks Updates page to keep the community informed.
See Pressbooks Updates for information about the BCcampus instances of Pressbooks, including:
Information about Pressbooks updates is also shared through the PB Notifications distribution list. Everyone who creates a Pressbooks account in pressbooks.bccampus.ca instance, is added to this list. If you have a BCcampus Pressbooks account and are not receiving these emails, contact BCcampus Support.
For administrators managing their organization’s Pressbooks instance, individuals who provide technical support, and developers who build and fix Pressbooks features, see below for support communities and resources:
Several post-secondary institutions in Canada, the United States, and throughout the world have established their own instances of Pressbooks. And many, host a catalogue of open textbooks and other OER within those instances. Several of these are listed below alphabetically by province and territory (Canada), state (the U.S.), and the rest by country.
Lansing Community College: The OpenLCC OER Development Library
In 2020, OpenStax converted the editable versions for some of their books to Google Documents. These files are restricted to instructors who must create an instructor/educator account with OpenStax in order to gain access. Once this account has been approved, verified instructors must go to the Instructor resources section of the targeted book where they may request access to the document by section through its Customization Form.
Note: Not all OpenStax books include an editable version. OpenStax editorial team selects which resources to develop based on the needs and demands of a wide range of educators using their textbooks.
While OpenStax textbook content is openly licensed, the OpenStax and OpenStax CNX names, logos, and book covers are not and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.
The following Pressbooks support resources are also available from various post-secondary institutions across Canada and the U.S.
Pressbooks Definitions and Features
Administrator: The highest level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Administrators can add, edit, and delete parts and chapters, they can add and delete users, and they can delete a book. (See Provide Access to Others.)
Anchor: A unique, case-sensitive ID used to mark a spot within a Pressbooks book to create an internal link. Anchors can be inserted by clicking the Anchor icon in the third row of the WYSIWYG toolbar. (See Hyperlink Material.)
Appearance/Themes: A tab in the Dashboard menu where a book’s Theme, Theme Options, and Custom Styles can be changed. (See Appearance.)
Author: A level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Authors can write, edit, and publish their own parts and chapters, but not those of others. (See Provide Access to Others.)
back matter: A kind of part that comes at the end of a book after the main content. It can include chapters like a glossary, bibliography, and appendices. (See Back Matter: Add, Change, Organize.)
blockquotes: A tool found in the first row of the WYSIWYG toolbar that can be used to format long quotations. (See Blockquotes and Pullquotes.)
Book Info: A tab in the Dashboard menu where a textbook’s publication information can be added. It includes fields such as title, author, editor, book description, licence, and copyright information. (See Book Info Page.)
book view: See webbook.
chapter: The term used in Pressbooks to indicate a section within a part. You may also see chapters sometimes being referred to as a “post.” (See Chapters: Add, Change, Organize.)
Chapter Author: A field found in the Chapter Metadata box at the end of each chapter. It is used when a chapter author is different from the book author.
Chapter Metadata box: A collection of fields at the bottom of each chapter where information can be changed for a specific chapter when it differs from the rest of the book.
Clone a Book: An action that allows users to copy or clone a book in any instance of Pressbooks, as long as it has been made public. (See Clone a Book.)
comments: A feature that an author can use to solicit feedback from readers. This option is disabled, book-wide, by default. (See Comments.)
Contributor: A level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Contributors can only write and edit their own posts.(See Provide Access to Others.)
Copyright Notice: A field on the Book Info page in Pressbooks where licence type, copyright holder, and related information are added. (See Book Info Page.)
copyright statement: Copyright information that is added to the Copyright Notice field on the Book Info page in Pressbooks.
Custom Styles: An area in Pressbooks where the CSS of a book can be customized in web, PDF, and eBook formats. It is accessed from a book’s Dashboard menu under the Appearance tab. (See Custom styles.)
Dashboard: An area in Pressbooks where an user can work on a specific book. This is where a book’s content is hosted and where users will find links to various tools and functions. It is also where a user is automatically directed after logging in. (See The Dashboard.)
Dashboard menu: The left-hand navigation column which lists links to a variety of tools and features in a textbook.
Distraction-Free Writing mode: A button at the top right of the WYSIWYG toolbar that allows users to hide the side bars when working in the Pressbooks editor for a distraction-free writing experience. The sidebars return by clicking the Distraction-Free Writing mode button again or by mousing over the sidebars. (See Special features.)
Download Textbooks: A page found under the Textbooks for PB tab in the Dashboard menu that allows Pressbooks users to download open textbooks from the B.C. Open Textbook Collection. This feature is unique to the B.C. Faculty Pressbooks instance.
edit view: What a user sees when working in the Pressbooks editor. See Text (HTML) Editor and Visual Editor.
Editor: A level of permissions that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Editors can add, edit, manage, and publish posts, even those of others. (See Provide Access to Others.)
Exercises (EX button): A textbox option available in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar used to add exercises or problems as part of a Pressbooks part or chapter. It is recommended that this textbox be restricted to this usage because of the related meta tags. See textboxes.
Export: A tab in the Dashboard menu used to export a book into different file formats such as PDF, EPUB, and MOBI. (See Export Files.)
Footnotes (FN button): An option in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar for creating footnotes. (See Footnotes and Endnotes.)
front matter: A kind of part, placed at the beginning of book content, that contains content like introductions, dedications, prefaces, and acknowledgements. (See Front Matter: Add, Change, Organize.)
Import: A tab in the Dashboard menu where content is imported into Pressbooks from other sources such as Word, EPUB, and HTML files. (See Add Content.)
instance: A self-contained version of Pressbooks administered by a particular group. Different instances of Pressbooks may have different features, or may be reserved for particular users. A Pressbooks instance is also called a “domain” or “network.”
Key Takeaways (KT button): A textbox option available in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar used to summarize key points in at the end of a Pressbooks part or chapter. It is recommended that this textbox be restricted to this usage because of the related meta tags. See textboxes.
LaTeX: A programming language built to input, format, and display mathematical and scientific formulas. (See LaTeX for Formulas.)
Learning Objectives (LO button): A textbox option available in the Pressbooks WYSIWYG toolbar used to list the learning outcomes for a Pressbooks part or chapter. It is recommended that this textbox be restricted to this usage because of the related meta tags attached. See textboxes.
Main Body: The default label given to a part found in the central portion of a book. It can be relabeled as needed.
Media: A tab in the Dashboard menu that contains a library where imported images, videos, and files are stored for the purpose of embedding or linking in the book. Media can also be added to the Media Library by clicking the Add Media button above the main content in the Pressbooks editor. (See Media.)
My Catalogue: Found in the top, red navigation bar; it displays and allows selection of other books found in a Pressbooks account. (See My Catalogue.)
Order: The field used to determine the order in which parts are displayed.
Organize: Tool used for adding, editing, assigning types, and reorganizing content into parts and chapters. This tool can also be used to select chapters for exporting, display a title (Show Title), and make a textbook private or public. (See Organize.)
parts: Overarching sections in Pressbooks that hold chapters. A book is made up of chapters which are sequentially ordered in parts. (See Parts.)
permalink: Another name for a chapter’s URL or web address. (See Chapter title and permalink.)
pullquotes: A quotation that has been pulled from the body of a book, or other piece of writing, that highlights a key piece of information in a way that adds visual interest to a book. (See Blockquotes and Pullquotes.)
reader view: See webbook.
Settings: A tab in the Dashboard menu that contains numerous options such as privacy, exporting, and displaying formulas with the LaTeX tool. (See Settings.)
source book: A book used to clone a copy. (See Clone a Book.)
Special character button: A button in the WYSIWYG toolbar that reveals a table of special characters that can be inserted into a Pressbooks page. (See Special features.)
Subscriber: The lowest permission level that a user can have in a book in Pressbooks. Subscribers can only read posts. (See Provide Access to Others.)
target book: The destination book into which a cloned/source book is copied. (See Clone a Book.)
Text (HTML) tab: The HTML editor view in Pressbooks that allows editing of content as plain text HTML.
Textbooks for PB: A tab in the Dashboard menu that provides tools for working with content from other open textbooks. (See Textbooks for PB.)
textboxes: A drop-down list of textbox options in the WYSIWYG toolbar. There are a number of standard and educational textbox options that can also appear as sidebars. (See Textboxes.)
Theme Options: An page under the Appearance tab on the Dashboard menu where Administrators can select different appearance and formatting options. (See Theme Options.)
Toolbar Toggle: A toggle button on the WYSIWYG toolbar that will show/hide advanced tools, such as textboxes, headings, special characters, footnotes, superscript, and subscript. (See Special features.)
Visual tab: The visual—WYSIWYG—editor view in Pressbooks which allows you to see how content will be formatted in different exported files and webbook. See WYSIWYG.
Users: A tab in the Dashboard menu where an Administrator can add and delete Users in a book and change permissions. Users can have any of the following roles: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, or Subscriber. (See Users.)
webbook: The online version of a book authored in Pressbooks.
WYSIWYG toolbar: The three rows of tools and formatting options available in the Pressbooks Visual Editor. (WYSIWYG is the acronym for “what you see is what you get”.)
This page lists major changes to this guide with each marked with a 0.01 increase in the version number. Because new information is continuously added to this guide, content updates do not appear on this page. Instead, a “Last update” textbox is posted at the top of each chapter. Additional files (e.g., PDF, ePUB) are provided upon request made to opentext@bccampus.ca.
Version | Date | Change |
1.0 | March 29, 2016 | Open creation of this guide is added to the B.C. Open Textbook Collection |
1.01 | September 11, 2018 | Completion of guide. Updates and changes log [Word file] |
1.02 | September 27, 2018 | Updated Pressbooks for B.C. and the Yukon page with account information for B.C. private post-secondary institutions. |
1.03 | October 9, 2018 | Updated the following Pressbooks webinar recordings: Introduction and Intermediate 3. |
1.04 | October 17, 2018 | Updated info about discontinuation of Pressbooks webinars and upcoming Pressbooks Tutorial videos. Added info about new features as part of Oct 18 upgrade: media attributions and cover generator. |
1.05 | November 15, 2018 | Corrected Hyperlink Material chapter. |
1.06 | December 21, 2018 | Updates to the Guide based on a December 21 Pressbooks Update |
1.07 | January 17, 2019 | Embedded 34 tutorial videos and added more info about the Dec 21 update. |
1.08 | March 29, 2019 | Updated BCcampus contact info |
1.09 | April 11, 2019 | Added section called “When should LaTeX be used” to “LaTeX for Formulas” chapter. |
1.10 | June 5, 2019 | Updated email domains for self-serve account creation to “Pressbooks for B.C. and the Yukon” chapter |
1.11 | June 6, 2019 | Search and Import feature description removed from Import Options chapter. “Search and Import” chapter deleted. Book theme changed from Open Textbook to Clarke. |
1.12 | July 2, 2019 | Guide converted to an ongoing resource with “Last update” boxes added to each chapter. Exported files available by request only. |
1.13 | August 20, 2019 | Appendix B: Pressbooks Catalogues added. |
1.14 | October 8, 2019 | Appendix C: OpenStax Textbooks in Pressbooks added. |
1.15 | November 13, 2019 | Appendix D: Other Pressbooks Resources added. |
2.0 | February 28, 2020 | The entire Pressbooks Guide was reviewed and updated. This was promoted by a major upgrade to the BCcampus Pressbooks instances on January 23, 2020. |
2.01 | April 16, 2020 | The Pressbooks User Guide was reviewed to ensure that relevant content was referenced (and, when missing, added) to this Pressbooks Guide. |
2.02 | March 17, 2021 | New section added: LaTeX Questions Answered |
2.03 | November 2, 2021 | Added a section on how to add captions to videos in Videos, Audio, and Interactive Media. |
2.04 | November 17, 2021 | Revised Provide Access to Others as Administrators can now create new Pressbooks accounts for people as long as they are using an institutional email address. |
2.05 | November 19, 2021 | Rewrote Hyperlink Material to address new ways to insert internal links and to add content on linking to files and external sites, which is no longer covered in the Pressbooks User Guide. |
2.06 | April 19, 2022 | Deleted the “Links by Chapter” section in the back matter since it is no longer necessary. |