WordPress Basics for ILS

PROCESS: what do I need to do?

  • login: visit bates.edu/w
  • where’s my content? create or edit content [how-to]
  • update: press to save/publish content
  • review: always review your work, check all versions of content
    (if push-as used, always view ils/technology to check your work)

CONTENT TYPES: which one does what?

  • posts: only for how-to’s [how-to]
  • pages: static information about us, policies, staff [how-to]
  • news: time-sensitive information
  • sliders: only on ils home page, be aware they exist

CONTENT ELEMENTS: how do the parts fit together?

  • title: short, clear title
    examples:
    huh?: Configuring Thunderbird To Use Your New S/MIME Certificate
    good: File Management: Best Practices
  • permalink: becomes URL, automatically generated from title
    edit for clarity, depending on your title
    example:
    configuring-thunderbird-to-use-your-new-smime-certificate/
  • body: where the content goes
    –please DO NOT cut and paste directly from Word [why]
    visual vs html:
    –visual is a WYSIWYG, easier to see, sometimes less accurate [how-to]
    –html shows you the code, sometimes useful for tweaking specifics [allowed tags]
  • excerpts: a brief enticing summary of content (posts only!)
    –required by the theme in certain contexts [how-to]
  • upload/insert:
    –how you add multimedia to your content
    image, video, audio, media, form, flash

TEMPLATES: where is that content coming from?

  • List-Children: used for subnavigation, list of child pages as links [people]
  • Child-Content: used for pulling staff in to office pages [network]
  • Org-Chart: custom, just to create org chart, pulls office/staff content [org chart]

TAXONOMY: where will my content show up?

  • categories: large buckets for content (try to be mutually exclusive)
    think: is it plane, train or automobile
  • tags: cross referencing, with more specific words
    think: is it webmail, thunderbird or mutt
    think: is it about, install, tips or user-guide
    discussion: category: Secure, tag: security, is this an issue?
  • push-as:
    • did-you-know:
      purpose: to highlight key information for
      location: how-to page, left under search
      –short clear title (becomes a link to full post)
      –excerpt required: brief enticing summary of content
    • news: currently not being used
    • notice:
      purpose: for urgent news
      location: creates a red banner at top of how-to page
      –must be very short message, in body (title only seen on news)
  • make this post sticky:
    will “stick” the post to the top of category and tag lists (ILS only)
    use sparingly, or create “meta” posts that link to other posts

INTERFACE: how do I make that happen?

  • admin bar: common tasks in bar at top of window
  • screen options: allows you to customize what is displayed
    example: excerpt (posts only) may be hidden by default
  • quick edit: hidden feature, hover over post or page listing to see
  • filter: limit what the listing shows, by date or categories (posts only)
  • search: keyword search within posts or pages
  • column headers: click to sort listings, click again for reverse order
  • status: click All, Published, Sticky, Draft, Pending to limit results to that status

WORKFLOW: when is it going to be live?

  • published: visible to the public [how-to]
  • drafts: in process, not visible to the public
  • pending review: awaiting an editor to review and approve, not visible to the public
    –to approve a post, find it in the post list, quick edit, change status to published, update
  • schedule a post: to make it available in the future [how-to]

VISIBILITY: who’s allowed to see it?

  • password: anyone with the password may see the page
  • private: only visible to editors and admins, not searched, or in feeds

FUTURE TOPICS: what’s next?

  • shortcodes: simple ways to embed existing content [how-to]