Your yearbook ladder is a digital way or visualizing the organization of your yearbook. You can use it to preview the order of your pages,  organize your yearbook tasks, assign pages to staff members, label your pages, and lock/unlock pages as you complete them.  In this article we will go over how to utilize the ladder to benefit your yearbook project.

Order of Your Yearbook

At the top of your ladder you will be your cover and the cover designer. Here you will see a preview of your cover designed (if you have not designed your cover yet you will see a white page with red text that says ).

To view a larger version with the production guides, click on “Preview/Approve Cover” to the right. You can also use the “Preview/Approve Cover” page to approve your cover if it is finalized and ready for production. Note: clicking on preview approve cover will not automatically approve your cover, it will just bring you to a preview of the cover, you have to fill out the cover approval form to actually approve your cover.

If you have designed endsheets in your yearbook you will see them below the cover. Click on “Design front/back endsheets” to design them. Note: if you do not see endsheets on your ladder you might not have the upgrade to design them. Please speak to your sales rep if you would like to design your endsheets.

Below the cover preview, you will see all of your pages listed starting with Page 1 in the top right. Click the blue “Design Page” button to go to the EDO page designer. If you have am Indesign account you will not see this blue button. Below page 1 you will see the rest of the pages in your book.

By clicking on “Page Numbering” at the top left of your ladder, you can turn your page numbering on and off. Next to the page numbering button is the Spell Check button, click spell check to spell check your whole book.

Ladder Organization Features (Note: ONLY Admins and users with permission can assign pages and edit details on the yearbook ladder.)

Each page has its own “Page Details”. The Page Details area includes functions for the following:

• Assign a Section to current page:
  • Opening
  • Dividers
  • Student Life
  • Academics
  • People Pages
  • Sports
  • Clubs & Organizations
  • Ads
  • Autographs
  • Closing
  • Other 
• Title: Give your page its own unique title
• Due Date: Assign a due date for tracking purposes
• Status of the page:
  • Blank Page- Automatic status if you have nothing on your page
  • Page Placed – Status if you have something on the page
  • Page Locked – Lock your page so no one can go in and edit it
  • Page Finalized – Change your page to finalize if you want to indicate that no more edits should be made to it.
  • Page Locked and Hidden- Lock your page and hide the preview from the ladder
• Assigned To: Assign your staff members to your page so they know they have to work on it. For more info on how to add staff click here.
• Page Notes: Write notes for the page if needed.

Click the blue Update button to update your page notes.

How to generate a PDF of your pages:

While on your yearbook ladder, at the top right of the page you will see a button that says “Preview yearbook”. Click on this button. You can flip through a digital copy of your yearbook, as well as email yourself a PDF of the yearbook. Click here to learn more about generating a PDF preview of your book.

Finalizing Yearbook Ladder for Production

When you are ready to finalize your yearbook ladder for final production do the following directly from your ladder:

1. Click on the red button “Submit for Production.”
2. Follow the steps to approve your pages, cover, delivery information, specs, and final payment method. (Note: Any link that reads “NOT SET – CLICK HERE TO APPROVE” needs to be addressed.)
3. Make sure any final outstanding payments have been made. [FINAL PAYMENT OUTSTANDING – CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT FINAL PAYMENT]
4. Click on any link that still needs approval before going to the “YEARBOOK ACCOUNT COMPLETION & FILE STORAGE” section.
5. Decide whether you wish to save your yearbook in our Vault ready for use in next year’s yearbook and name the file.
6. Review the final questions, add any additional comments/notes and fill in you name, phone number and email address to approve for final production.
7. Click the “APPROVE FOR FINAL PRODUCTION” button.

If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to call Support; we’ll be happy to assist you.

Note: Once the production approval form is submitted, your books will begin the production process and cannot be edited any further.
You do have the option to un-approve your yearbook if you need to make a change. This would require a fee and a delay in your delivery date. 

Assigning Pages To Your Yearbook Ladder And Approving For Production (Fotofusion, InDesign, Publisher users)

For all Fotofusion, InDesign, or other software users; once you have completed and are satisfied with the design of your yearbook you are ready to upload your pages to your ladder. Follow these steps to go on to approve your pages for final production.

1. Click the “Assign Page” link located on each individual page on the Yearbook Ladder.
2. A pop-up will appear that provides you with the list of your files from the Manage Uploads page.
3. Click on the file name that contains the page you want to assign to the ladder.
4. Previews of each page in that file will appear, click “Select Page” for the page that you want to assign.
5. Your individual page will be assigned to the ladder and you can continue assigning pages.
6. Once you have finished assigning your pages click the “Submit for Production” button.

Follow the previous steps from “Finalizing Yearbook Ladder for Production:” to complete submission.