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)
- did-you-know:
- 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]