Arena Nova

For Arena installations starting with version 4.0. there is a possibility to use Arena Nova for a smart and consistent user experience. Arena Nova is activated by Axiell. It includes several pieces of functionality that can be used as templates, for example featured spots, news articles and event articles. The following sections describe how you can make adaptations to suit your website.

Focus shortcuts

Focus shortcuts are positioned at the top of the start page to immediately catch the visitor’s attention and interest. You can choose to highlight certain parts of the library activity or pages on the library site.

Follow the steps below to edit a focus shortcut:

  1. Go to the start page. You find prepared examples of focus shortcuts.
  2. Click the edit icon for the article that you want to update.
  3. Change the header to the title that you prefer.
  4. Add 2-3 lines of catchy text as description text.
  5. Paste the link to the destination page – ideally you already have this page open in another browser tab.
  6. Select an image from Documents and media or upload a new image from your computer. Make sure that the image is not in high resolution (adapted for print) to avoid that the page loads slowly. Make sure to enter an Alt text for accessibility.
  7. Depending on the colors and brightness of the image, you may want to adapt the appearance of the text under Text color and gradient options. You can for example choose White text / Black gradient or vice versa – just try the different options to see which looks best with your selected image.
  8. Alternatively, you may want to use a background color instead of an image - if so, enter the RGB code of the color you want to use in hexadecimal format.
  9. Click Publish and refresh the page, to see that your focus shortcut has been saved and that the article is displayed the way you intended.

You can configure the order of the articles in the focus shortcut using the Order field. 1 is the largest image to the left. Make sure not to set the same value for the different articles – then the sorting will be made depending on the name of the article instead, and the order value has no effect.

That’s how it works-articles

That’s how it works-articles provide information about the library services that the library offers.

Some services can be described briefly and fits in a card without a link. Other services may need a more comprehensive description – then a link is a provided to another page with all details.

Follow the steps below to add a That’s how it works-article:

  1. Go to the page with the information about the library services.
  2. Click the + character in the asset publisher.
  3. Select That’s how it works in the list.
  4. Fill in a title, a summary and content.If you only enter a summary and no content, there will be no link to the full-page view of the article.
  5. If you want to link to another page from the That’s how it works-article, use the Link field. Fill in the label of the link under Link text.
  6. Select an image to be displayed in the full-page view of the article. Using an image is optional, but it enhances the article and the user experience. Select an image from Documents and media or upload a new image from your computer. Make sure that the image is not in high resolution (adapted for print) to avoid that the page loads slowly. Make sure to enter an Alt text for accessibility.
  7. Select Display Page among the options at the bottom – in this case, Article.
  8. Publish the article and refresh the page, to see that the article is displayed in the list.

News articles

The news articles can describe for example news and themes at the library. On the start page, you find the latest articles from the News category, with a link to the full-page view of the news article.

Follow the steps below to add a news article:

  1. Go to the start page.
  2. Click the + character in the asset publisher for news.
  3. Select Article in the list.
  4. Fill in a title, a summary and content.The summary is shown in the news list on the start page.
  5. Select an image to be displayed in the full-page view of the article. Using an image is optional, but it enhances the article and the user experience. Select an image from Documents and media or upload a new image from your computer. Make sure that the image is not in high resolution (adapted for print) to avoid that the page loads slowly. Make sure to enter an Alt text for accessibility.
  6. Select Display Page among the options at the bottom – in this case, Article.
  7. Publish the article and refresh the start page, to see that the article is displayed in the list.
  8. Click the article to see that the entire article is displayed in the full-page view.

Event articles

Event articles are used to describe events at the library that visitors can take part of, for example author readings, read-alouds of children’s books or internet classes for seniors.

Events are presented on the start page (the six next events) and on the events page (all coming events).

Follow the steps below to add an event article:

  1. Go to the events page.
  2. Click the + character in the asset publisher for events.
  3. Select Events in the list.
  4. Fill in a title for the event.
  5. Add a catchy yet descriptive text for the event under Content.
  6. Enter a start date, start time and end time. If the event lasts for several days, also add an end date.
  7. Fill in a location and an address.
  8. Select an image from Documents and media or upload a new image from your computer. Make sure that the image is not in high resolution (adapted for print) to avoid that the page loads slowly. Make sure to enter an Alt text for accessibility.
  9. Under Metadata, select categories such as location or target audience.
  10. Under Schedule, enter the end date of the event as Expiration Date.
  11. Select Display Page among the options at the bottom – in this case, Single event.
  12. Publish the article and refresh the events page, to see that the event is displayed in the list.

Branch articles

The branches that are part of the library site are listed on a page that is typically named Our Libraries. You can click a branch to see a full-page view of that particular branch.

Follow the steps below to add a new branch:

  1. Go to the page with the list of library branches.
  2. Click the + character in the asset publisher for the library branches.
  3. Select Branch.
  4. Fill in a title – the name of the library branch.
  5. Enter the address, zip code and city – this information is used to show the location of the library in Google Maps.
  6. Enter an email address.
  7. You can add links to Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, X and TikTok. If you add a link an icon will be displayed in contact information. You can also add a link to, for example, the municipality homepage.
  8. Select an image from Documents and media or upload a new image from your computer. Make sure that the image is not in high resolution (adapted for print) to avoid that the page loads slowly. Make sure to enter an Alt text for accessibility.
  9. Add a short but brisk description of the branch. The text shows in a text box in the full-page view of the branch.
  10. Under Opening hours, you can connect to Google Calendar or KIFI (Finland only).
    Google Calendar: enter the name of the calendar for the branch, such as Lagersberg library – Axiell configures the connection to Google Calendar when it’s time to activate the site.
    KIFI (Finland only): Enter the exact string from KIFI.
  11. Select Display Page among the options at the bottom – in this case, Branch.
  12. Publish the article and refresh the page, to see that the branch is displayed in the list.
  13. Click the article to see what the full-page view looks like. In case you want to update the description of the branch, just go back the list view and click Edit for the branch.

See also: Branch-specific information

FAQ articles

FAQs are the kind of questions that visitors often ask the library. FAQ articles can be used to collect these questions on a page in a clever format where questions and answers can be displayed in a compact and user-friendly manner. For questions as well as answers – less is more!

Follow the steps below to add a new FAQ article:

  1. Go to the FAQ page.
  2. Click the + character in the asset publisher for the FAQs.
  3. Select FAQ in the list.
  4. Enter a title – the question.
  5. Fill in the answer under FAQ – answer.
  6. Publish the article and refresh the FAQ page, to see that the question and answer are displayed in the list.

Image handling

There are many ways to optimize usage of images, but here are some recommendations that generally work well. The center of the image is automatically displayed which means that the height of the image is less important.

For background images that fill the entire web browser window, using images in 16:9 format with a width of 1920 pixels is recommended, since 1920 pixels is a common screen resolution.

For focus shortcuts and events, using images in 4:3 format with a width of 800 pixels is sufficient.

Image resources

”A picture is worth a thousand words!” Just image what a text together with an image can accomplish on your library site.

If you don’t have access to great images already – here are some examples of web sites where you can find free images to use.

Keep in mind that it’s good practice to acknowledge the photographer by referring their name when you use images that others have taken, ideally at the end of the article or next to the image if it is used in running text.

The images that you find online may be in high resolution, and then need to be compressed in order not to slow down your web site. You can use a tool such as Photoshop or GIMP, or go to the site below, to quickly and easily change the size of an image: