WordPress Basics for ILS

PROCESS: what do I need to do?

• login: link in lower right of every footer
• 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]