Introduction to Pressbooks
Introduction to Pressbooks
What is Pressbooks?
Pressbooks is a web-based authoring tool based on the WordPress authoring platform. If you’ve created a website using WordPress, you’ll find some similarities working with Pressbooks. Pressbooks allows you to create content once and publish it in many different formats (fig 1.). These export formats enable the resource to be easily imported and edited in different platforms such as WordPress, Wikis and even learning management systems. The formats appear at the bottom of the web version of the resource to allow other users to easily export and adapt the resource. These features will allow the resources we are developing to be used, adapted, contextualized and localized by different institutions and communities. Pressbooks will make the resource more available to different users by giving them the option of accessing it on the web, on their mobile devices or print it out as a PDF document. By designing each part of the resource as a standalone guide institutions will be able to select and adapt the sections to use, edit and adapt for their context. These features will allow the resources we are developing to be used, adapted, contextualized and localized by different institutions and communities.
Export Formats
| Print PDF | Allows documents to be easily shared while retaining the same visual formatting. It is page-oriented and has a static layout. Print PDF optimized for printing |
| Digital PDF | For digital PDF distribution |
| xHTML | This format allows the resource to used and edited in different systems |
| WordPress XML | These files can be imported into WordPress and the resources can be easily adapted into an interactive website. |
| EPUB | EPUB files are designed for portability. These files are used for most eBooks and other eReaders. The point of these files is not to provide editing capability, but to deliver a comprehensive package that contains all elements of a book including text and images — like a zipped package — to a device for reading. |
| MOBI | For Kindle eReader |
Why Pressbooks
For the creation of this Indigenization resource for BC, Pressbooks is a platform that allows us to create content that can be easily reused, and adapted by different institutions. In doing this the core resource can be easily localized for different regions and institutions. By using a modular design our goal is for different institutions to be able to put together a resource or set of resources, adapt it to their context and share it in ways that make it easy to access for students, instructors, staff, and the community. Pressbooks will make also make this resource more available to different users by giving them the option of accessing it on the web, on their mobile devices or print it out as a PDF document. .. We are excited about the potential of developing a living resource that can be adapted, built upon and shared throughout British Columbia.
- Easy to access files in different forms and easy to edit
- Easily accessed by users on the web, in print and on different devices
- Export in different formats
- Adapt and publish customized resource for different institutions and communities
- A website and a resource
- Indigenous fonts
