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SOCE Wordpress User Guide

1. Introduction

Your website runs on a Content Management System (CMS) called Wordpress. This document

outlines how to modify page content, news and photos on your website using the functions

provided by the CMS.

Before starting, it’s important to understand that Wordpress is split between two primary views:

1. Front End

2. Dashboard

The Front End is what your users will see (ie. the layout of the page, the content, etc). The

Dashboard is what you will log in to in order to change the content on the Front End. As you

make changes, you’ll want to switch to the Front End and refresh your page to make sure it

looks the way you intended. Sometimes the way things look in the Dashboard aren’t quite the

same as they way they look in the Front End.

What Can I Change?

Although Wordpress is a very powerful Content Management System, there are limits to what can be modified in the Dashboard. The following is a list of what can be modified through the Dashboard:

● Page Content ● News Posts ● Basic text Formatting for page content (bold, italics, size) ● Some sidebar content (see the Widgets section for more info) ● Images and other media can be added using the Add Media button when editing a

page. The following is a list of what cannot be modified directly through the Dashboard without knowledge of Web languages (HTML & CSS).

● Advanced text formatting (spacing, global colours) ● Page Layout ● Images that appear outside of main content area (ie. banners, logos, etc) ● Background colours

If there is a problem with the content or layout that cannot be modified, please contact SOCE at UniSA to discuss what can be done via soce@unisa.edu.au or 8302 4683

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2. Loading Website Front End

You will find your website at the following address, where <FOLDER> is the folder name

supplied to you:

http://communitywebs.org/<FOLDER>

For example, your site might be http://communitywebs.org/mywebsite. Once you do

this, you should see your website appear.

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3. Log in to your Wordpress Dashboard

To open up your Wordpress Dashboard is the same process as loading the Front End of your

site, except you need to add /wp-admin to the end of your URL:

http://communitywebs.org/<FOLDER>/wp-admin

For example, your Dashboard URL might be

http://communitywebs.org/mywebsite/wp-admin.

Once the page loads, you will be presented with a login page:

Enter the Username and Password supplied to you, then select Login. If successful, you will see

the Dashboard page:

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When working through this document, all of the administrative functions referred to can be found

on the left menu (shown above).

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4. Adding editors

Add editors of your website by clicking on Users in the left menu. You will then have the options

to view all users and add users. Note that you can change existing users’ passwords, but not

their usernames.

Fill in the fields and click on ‘Add New User’ to save.

4.1 Choose Role

Before saving the user, you’ll need to choose a Role.

We recommend adding ‘Editors’ as the highest level users for your website, but below is an

explanation of each:

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Role Description

Subscriber Low privileges, can only edit their own profile or comment on articles.

Contributor Can read, edit or delete posts, but cannot create their own

Author Can do everything the Contributor can, but can also publish their own news posts.

Editor Can manage all pages and news posts, as well as upload and delete media files.

Administrator Has full access to the website, including system settings and turning features on or off.

For a full explanation of adding users and description of roles, access the Wordpress Help - top

right corner of your screen when editing, or view this URL:

https://codex.wordpress.org/Roles_and_Capabilities

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5. Add or Edit Pages

To edit page content, start by choosing Pages from the left menu. This will bring up the Pages

screen (below). You can re-order your pages by clicking and dragging up or down from the left

side of the row, or click the page name to edit it.

Important: The websites that have been developed for you have likely been designed with a certain number of pages in mind. If you add too many extra pages you may find your layout breaks. Generally it’s best to edit your existing pages with new content rather than adding new ones.

5.1 Add New Page or Edit Existing Page

To edit an existing page, select it from the table shown, this will display the Edit Page screen.

To add a new page, choose Add New at the upper-left of the screen.

5.2 Enter Title and Content

On the next screen, enter a title and content for your page.

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Entering content can be done similar to the way you would do on a Word document. Use the

toolbar at the top of the content box to bold, italicise or align your text. Images and other media

can be added using the ‘Add Media’ button.

Do not directly cut and paste or copy text or images from Word documents into the

Wordpress editing interface/your website, as this will transfer coding that will interfere with

your web page. Instead, cut and paste text from documents/web pages into a text editor such as

Notepad (see programs > accessories if using a PC or the text editor in Mac).

Tip: If you see code in the content box, select the “Visual” tab on the upper right to ensure you’re in the visual editor.

5.3 Upload Images & Other Media (optional)

If you wish to add an image, or link to an uploaded document, you can do this by first placing

your cursor at the point you want the image or file to appear in the Content text box, then

selecting Add Media:

This will bring up the Media Browser:

Click Select Files to choose files from your computer to upload, or select the Media Library tab

to choose from files that have been uploaded previously. Once you upload an image, or choose

an existing one, select the Insert into page button to paste this into your text box:

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5.4 Edit Page Attributes (optional)

You may also want to change the attributes that appear on the right side (below). You can use

the Parent dropdown menu to make this page a child of an existing page. Use the Order text

box to set the order in which the page will appear in navigation menus (where lower numbers

appear first).

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5.5 Save Changes

Once you’re happy with your changes you can save them using the Publish box at the top-right

of the screen. If you’re creating a new page, select the Publish button (above left); if you’re

editing an existing page, select the Update button (above right).

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6. Editing News Posts

If your site also has a News section, then you will also want to be able to add, remove or edit

news posts too.

6.1 What’s the Difference Between Posts and Pages?

On the surface, Pages and Posts will look very similar, but they serve two different purposes:

● A Page is used for static content that is not likely to change often and is not related to

news or events (eg. About Us, Contact Us etc). A Page also will usually appear in the

primary navigation menu on every page.

● A Post is a news posts that offers information about a timely event and is generally only

viewable from a special News section on your website (eg. Volunteers Needed In

December, New Website Launched, etc)

If you create 5 Posts, they will all be organised under the News section of your website, for

example:

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Notice in the above example I have three News Posts: New Website Launched, Volunteers

Need in December, and Hello World. All three of these posts are grouped under the same page,

with the most recent post appearing at the top.

Also notice my site has three Pages: Home, News and Sample Page, which are listed on the left

sidebar. Each of these Pages are independent, whereas the Posts only appear on the News

Page.

6.2 Add New or Edit Existing Post

From the Dashboard choose Posts from the left menu, this will bring up the Posts screen:

To add a new Post, select the Add New button at the top of the page. To edit an existing Post,

select it from the table shown.

6.3 Enter Title and Content

On the next screen, enter a title and content for your Post, this works the same way as adding

content to Pages.

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6.4 Enter Categories

For news posts, it’s a good idea to add 1 or more categories using the Categories Metabox on

the right. Select 1 or more existing categories from the All Categories tab, or create a new

category by selecting the Add New Category.

If you’re unsure, you can add more categories later if needed.

6.5 Enter Tags

It’s also a good idea to add some tags to your post. These can be added using the Tags

Metabox on the right. Add a tag by typing them into the box, separated by a comma.

What’s the difference between a Category and a Tag?

A category is a high-level grouping, whereas tags are designed for specific concepts covered by an article within that grouping. For example, “Design Principles” might be a category, whereas “Colour” and “Shape” might be a tag.

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6.6 Save Changes

If you’re creating a new post, you’ll see the Publish box on the right, which allows you to save

your post as a draft, or publish it. If you’re editing an existing post, the Publish box will show an

Update button. Select Update, Publish, or Save Draft to save your changes (note that if you

choose Save Draft, the post will not show on the website).

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7. Global Options

In many cases, content and settings relating to global page elements – such as footer contnet –

is placed in a special GLobal Options area. You will find this by selecting Options from the left

menu:

If global options are available, they will appear on the right side of the screen:

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8. Accessing Help

There is a lot of help information available for Wordpress. To access this, explore the Help tab

at the top right hand of screen.

For other assistance with your website, contact the SOCE help desk at soce@unisa.edu.au.