The banner at the top of the class page helps your students to situate themselves in Schoolbox and draws them in to the page. We’ve seen some amazing banners on different class pages in our time - they really speak to the personality of the teacher and the subject at hand. Of course, we’ve also seen some that are a bit… boring. Another problem we’ve come across is banners that just take up too much room on the page.
So, here’s some tips to ensure you get that great first impression on your class page.
Finding an image
If you don’t already have the perfect image to use, make sure you follow these steps to ensure your Google-fu is on point and you can locate something great.
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Type in something to search for - it could be as simple as the name of your subject: EG Chemistry.
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Refine the search by using the images tab and selecting ‘Tools’, then ‘Usage rights’, then ‘Labeled for reuse’. That way you can locate an image that won’t have any copyright issues.
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Make sure you try a couple of different search terms to maximise your chances of finding something perfect.
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If you look for your search term with the word “pattern” (eg “Chemistry pattern”), you should get some interesting results that would sit well inside the banner.
Manipulating your image
Once you’ve located your image, it’s time to put it in a tiles component which will become the banner for your page.
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Add a tiles component to the very top of your page.
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Click on “add a tile”.
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You may want to include some written text in your banner, like the name of the class, the teacher, or both. If so, use the ‘Title’ section to add the text - but remember the colour needs to contrast with the image you will be adding.
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Scroll down to the ‘Background’ section, drag in the image you selected, then click ‘Save’.
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Now you can modify your Tile Layout. Change the ‘tiles/row’ to 1, then choose the ‘Custom Ratio’ from the ‘Ratio’ drop down box.
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Select 16 for the ‘Width Ratio’ and 2 or 3 for the ‘Height Ratio’, then hit ‘Save’.
Adjusting the image ratio will give you the best size for a banner. Unless your image already has this ratio, the top and bottom will automatically be cropped so just the middle of your initial image will be showing. If you end up with an image that doesn’t look great in this size, why not try the search tips above to look for something new?
If you’re interested in great design in Schoolbox, keep an eye on Schoolbox Help. We have a webinar up our sleeves that may pique your interest!