Step 8: Add Additional Pages with Descriptive Links

Now that your homepage is in good shape, let's move on to the additional pages of your Site. You now have mastered the skills for creating sections; adding headings, subheadings, and body text; adding color or a decorative image to the background of a section; duplicating and moving sections; and creating text in two columns. Whew! You've learned a lot. Let's keep building on these skills.

Descriptive Links

Using a website tool makes it easy to add links to other websites that are useful for students. However, when you include a link, be sure to format it as a descriptive link, as opposed to pasting the entire link/URL onto your site.  Descriptive links are accessible to users who use screenreaders and they are also logical and easy to read, in general.

• This is link to a website but it is not formatted as a descriptive link (bad):  https://www.msjc.edu/counseling/index.html Links to an external site.
• This is a link to the same website that is formatted as a descriptive link (good): Counseling Department Links to an external site.

View this 2-minute video to learn how to create descriptive links in Google Sites:

https://youtu.be/A23QkdFb9yk Links to an external site.

Add Additional Pages

To get started with this step, take a look at your Google Site, which should still open on your screen in edit mode. The far right column includes the Insert panel -- that's where you located but Button feature, remember? Now we are going to explore the Pages panel, which is also on in the far right column.

1. Select the Pages tab at the top of the far-right column.
2. In the Pages panel, you will see a list of all the pages within your site. Right now, there is only one page: Home.
   
3.  There are two ways to create a new page. You may select the + icon at the bottom of the right column to add a new, blank page. Or you may duplicate an existing page. For this step, you will duplicate your homepage. 
   • Hover your mouse over Home in the Pages panel
   • Select the 3 dots at the right and choose Duplicate page. 
     
4. In the Name field, enter Course Essentials and select "Done."
5. In the upper right corner of your site, you will now see Home and Course Essentials listed. This is your site's navigation menu. You can tell that you are currently on the Course Essentials page because it appears in boldface. Take a moment to click on Home and then back to Course Essentials. You will notice that both pages are exactly the same because you chose the Duplicate Page option.
6. Click on Course Essentials (check to be sure it is in boldface text). 
7. Select the title text in the header and change it to Course Essentials.
8. Proceed with editing this page. 
   
   • To delete a section, click on the background of the section and select the trashcan icon in the left column.
   • To delete an item within a section (like your video), select the item and choose the trashcan icon in the toolbar above the item. 
   • Remember to utilize the Duplicate feature when it is helpful and simply drag/drop the duplicated content in a new location.
9. Add the following sections and any other key course information to the Course Essentials page:
   • Course description
   • Course outcomes or goals ("goals" is a term that will be recognizable to more students)
   • Textbook information 
   • Required and recommended software and/or hardware.
10. When you are done with the Course Essentials page, repeat the steps above and create two more pages titled Grading, Policies, and Support for You.  Edit those three pages and be sure to also customize the text in the title header.

Let's check your progress

View this 1-minute video to compare your site with the progress we've made so far.