Yale Library

Custom design and communications projects

Social media

General guidelines for YUL Facebook pages

  • Use clear, high quality photos, especially for your profile picture and cover image. These images should be a good visual reflection of the space, collections, resources, or services of the department or library that you are representing. For help with images, please contact the Library Communications Office.
  • Check your image and text after you’ve uploaded it to ensure that it appears as desired. Edits can be made to text but images will need to be re-uploaded if there is a problem.
  • If your image does not appear as desired, try cropping or resizing it in photo editing software such as Photoshop, Microsoft Office Picture Manager, or iPhoto before uploading it.
  • Choose the text summary in the “about” section carefully. It should state the simple mission of your department/library and ensure that there is organizational context. For instance, “X department is a part of the Yale University Library, specializing in…”
  • Have fun but be mindful that you are representing the Library. Facebook is a great tool for social networking, sharing images, and providing information about collections, services, and resources at the Yale Library.
  • Inform the Library Communications Office of the existence of the page, in the interests of mutual support and sharing.

Timeline cover

  • 851px x 315px
  • Use JPEG format
  • File size should be less than 100Kb
  • Use a clear, high resolution photo
  • Appropriately crop the image to be horizontal

Profile image

  • 180px x 180px
  • Displayed as 160px square, but you must upload at least 180px square
  • A very important image – it will be used as a tab for all your activity on Facebook
  • The image should look good when small
  • If uploading a larger image, be sure to crop it square before uploading. Larger images are preferable in multiples of 180 pixels square (360, 540, 720)

Tab cover

  • 111px x 74px
  • Keep these images simple.
  • You cannot change the photo tab, Facebook automatically uses your most recent photo upload.
Library holiday card example.

Wall photos

  • 403px x 403px
  • For clearest images, crop photos of 406px - 906px to be square. Facebook will then resize the image without any forced cropping
  • If you upload a horizontal photo at 403px wide, it will be shown in its entirety. Wider horizontal photos will have the edges cropped off.
  • The protocol for photos less than 403px wide varies. Sometimes Facebook will size the image up, sometimes not. Be sure to check how the image appears on the wall to make sure it looks good.
  • Vertical photos will be cropped from the top and bottom to make a square shape, but Facebook allows you to adjust the cropping once it’s on the wall.
  • Use clear, interesting images for your wall photos. You want to encourage visitors to click on the photo to see more images.

Photo Viewer (also called the ‘Light Box’)

  • 960px x 960px maximum
  • Photos you upload will appear at the size at which you upload them. This means that if you have a smaller or lower-quality photo that you’d like to display on Facebook, the photo viewer is the place to do so. By making the smaller image part of an album, rather than a wall photo or profile picture, you ensure that visitors will be able to have access to the photo without having Facebook distort the image to fit the pixel requirements for profile or wall photos. You can then use a larger, better quality image for the wall photo that, when clicked, will bring the visitor into the photo viewer where they can then click to see the lower quality photo in an appropriate size.
  • If you upload an image larger than 960px, Facebook will reduce the image so the longest size is 960px. The maximum upload size is 2048px square.
  • Though Facebook does reduce larger images, viewers are able to download the full size image.

Highlights or milestone posts

  • 843px x 403px
  • These photos take can take up the entire width of your Facebook page.
  • Photos less than 843px wide will be centered in the space.
  • These photos are excellent for breaking up the space.
  • Try uploading a variety of heights for greater diversity as visitors scroll down your timeline.
  • Be aware, though, that very skinny images will become small when displayed on the news feed.
Library holiday card example.

More information

Twitter

As with Facebook, this is a great channel though which to share thoughtful images and comments which communicate the resources, services, collections and happenings at the Yale Library. Ensure that the Twitter “bio” section (160 characters) makes clear that your department or library is part of the larger Yale University Library system.

More information