5.3: Transcluding (or Reusing) a Page
Copying Content
One of the powers of the LibreTexts Bookshelves/Course Shell system is to share content without having to copy it. Content can be added to new pages in two ways: copying (also called "forking") and transcluding (also called "reusing"). The former is the typical copy and paste approach and effectively creates two copies of content that can be independently curated. This is useful for deviating the content from the original source. However, often the content may not need to be changed at all, and in this case, transcluding the content is ideal.
LibreTexts transcluding video tutorial on YouTube
Transcluding content keeps the content from the source page, and only mirrors this content to the new page. This helps to reduce clutter and facilitates effective curation of the libraries, a key aspect of the LibreTexts project. This is because typos can be changed in the source and these will immediately be updated in all transcluded pages as well.
Note that the section labels (e.g. Figure 11.2.4) will be updated in the transcluded pages based on the number given first in the transcluded page's title. So even though the content is mirrored from the original source, the section appears to fit seamlessly into other LibreTexts.
The remixer transcludes all content automatically by default and if you wish to change/edit the content you will fork it to produce a copy.
How to Transclude
- Navigate to the page on which you want to reuse content and open the page in Edit mode.
- Select Elements > Content reuse from the Editor toolbar.
- Use the Browse or Search tab to select your source page to appear in the Article to reuse field.
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Specify how much content you want to reuse:
- To reuse the entire page , leave the Reuse section unselected.
- To reuse only a section of a page , select the appropriate section from the Reuse section drop-down list. If reusing a section, the entire section will be reused, including any subsections. To include the title of a section, select the Show title checkbox.
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Click
Insert
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- Save the page to see your published content reuse.
- After you create a transcluded page in this way, it is a good idea to flip the "Transcluded" meta-tag under the page settings at the top of the page (often collapsed) to "yes".
From the perspective of the student reader, the difference between traditional copying (forking) and transclusion (reusing) is impossible to tell.
Best practices
It is best to transclude all content when a new text is created by remixing existing content UNLESS a specific need arises to edit the content. And this customization can be done one section at a time.
How to switch Transcluded content into Forked Content
A transcluded page can be swtiched to a forked page by clicking on the Forker option under page options. Alternatively, if the meta-tag is set on a trancluded page, there is a forker icon next to the title that will do the same thing.