86 Web Distribution of Exported Files

Web Distribution Option

Pressbooks allows you to easily add download links to different formats of your book on the landing page of the web version of your book. By doing so, you can make the most recent exports of your book available to readers in a variety of formats, so they can choose whether to continue with the web version, or choose another format that better suits their needs. Once activated, this distribution option will look something like this:

How to Activate Distribution…

… At the Network Level

The first thing to know is that this option must be network enabled before you can use it, so if you’re working on a private network run by your institution, you may need to speak to the network administrator to have it enabled. To do so, they will need to:

1. Go to the Network Admin dashboard
2. Go to “Settings” –> “Sharing & Privacy”
3. Check the “Allow Redistribution” option
4. Save changes.

The redistribution option will now be available in all books on the network.

… At the Book Level

To enable it on an individual book, follow these steps:

1. In your book, go to “Settings” –> “Sharing & Privacy”
2. Find the “Share Latest Export Files” option
3. Select “Yes. I would like the latest export files to be available on the homepage for free, to everyone.”
4. Save changes.

Now, when you go to the landing page of your book, you will see links to the most recent batch of files you have exported. This does mean that if you export a single PDF, that it what will appear, so be sure to export all formats that you would like to make available in one batch when you are ready to publish.

Uses

Aside from the obvious benefits of offering different reading options for your readers, this option allows for some other cool uses:

• Files can be easily updated and re-exported as edits, updates or changes are made.
• Readers with specific support requirements for visual impairments can select the file format best suited to their needs.
• Formats like XHTML and XML can be made available to those looking to remix and adapt content, including a specific Pressbooks XML format that allows a book to be imported easily into a new Pressbooks book shell.