Guide

Guide pages are useful when you want to group together a collection of connected pages, where there's no set process to be followed.

They are useful if you want to give someone a range of information on one subject. The user can use the 'Next' button to move through the guide.

Typical uses include:

• types of animal welfare licences
• changing a birth record
• coroners
• sheltered housing

If you want to group together pages where there is a set process - applying for a permit, for example - then use Step by step pages instead.

Examples in the wild

Dumfries & Galloway: Funded early learning and childcare

Woking: Health and safety at work

How to use

Please see this video guide by content designer Ben Hills-Jones.

Layout options

In February 2025 we included two new site wide layout options for guides:

• 'stacked' heading pattern
• vertical list of pages within a guide

See an example on our demo site.

This change follows best practice in the NHS design system.

To enable these changes:

1. Click on the 'Appearance' tab

2. Click on your active theme

3. Look for these new controls and enable the ones you want

If you can't see these controls, ask your dev to:

• check localgov_base and localgov_guides are up to date
• make these changes if you don't have the required access

It's best practice to try this on a dev site first, to ensure your guide pages look OK with the changes.