WordPress Basic Training

Purdue University CalumetApril 2014

What We Will Cover

• WordPress – Brief Overview• From Login to Logout• Basic Editing Tasks– Creating / Revising Content– Adding Images & uploading documents– Creating Links– Creating data tables

• Terminology

What About Accessibility?

• Seamless integration• Documents– MUST be accessible BEFORE they are uploaded– Support is available with quick turnaround

• Resource: Web Accessibility Web site

• Internet Explorer is a Diva– Compatibility Mode– Different versions behave differently– Editing issues crop up

• You can choose another– Mozilla’s FireFox– Google’s Chrome

A Word About Browsers

Why WordPress?

• Started out as blogging platform• Now a full-fledged Content Management

System (CMS)• Lots of features, plugins• Customizing• We can make it sing!

Content is Key (King? Queen?)

• What you put on your site matters!• Who is your audience?– Current or Future Students?– Faculty & Research Scholars?– Alumni and Donors?– Regulators?

• How can you best serve them?

Questions to ask yourself about Your Content

• Who is responsible for creating this?• What type of content are we publishing?• When will we publish this content?• Where will we publish it?

•WHY are we publishing this?

Posts & Pages & Media

Posts• Time-based Material

– Keeps updating– Transient

• Relational– Series of tutorials

• Part of Groups – Categories– Tags

Pages• Static Content

– Changes rarely if at all• Non-Relational

– Except for Parent / Child• Not Grouped

Media• Images, documents,

multimedia• Attachment pages

Logging In

• http://webs.purduecal.edu/yoursite/wp-login.php

Admin Toolbar

• Front side

• Back end

Your Workspace

• Customize Your Workspace– Profile• Color Scheme• Nickname• Password

– Dashboard– Screen Options – • On almost every page• Context

Profile

• DON’T check this box!• Adjust Color Scheme

• Nickname – sometimes appears on front end

• Password

Screen Options

Left Side Navigation

Back to the Content!

• You now have the basic lay of the land• You have been given some content to add• What’s next?• Think about the content!– (And think about your audience!)

Structure / Presentation

• How Content is structured / organized– Should it be a Post or a Page?– What does it contain?• text, • photos

– Proper use of headings, lists, tables (for data only!!!)

• How do we present it?– Styles, colors, look and feel

Differences & Similarities

Posts have…• Categories• Tags• Excerpts• Expiration Dates• Featured Images• Custom Fields• Templates – a few

Pages have…• Parents or Children• Order• Expiration Dates• Option to appear in the

menu bar• Templates – more than

Posts• Featured Images• Custom Fields

Which One to Choose?

• It Depends!• For Posts – Think News or Think Boxes– Current now– Irrelevant tomorrow or next week– Falls into Category

• For Pages – Think Forever, more or less– Current now and tomorrow– Doesn’t need updated often

Creating & Editing Posts & Pages

• How are they alike?– The WYSIWYG editor– Title– Publish – Featured Image– Custom Fields– Theme SEO settings– Layout settings– Revisions

Enter title here

• First thing you do

Heading & Link

Next Step – Add the Content

• Text editor – WYSIWYG (WIZ-ee-wig)– Works just like any other word processer

The Toolbar –Quick Reference

Paste …

Paste as Plain Text

• Paste from Word

Dialog Boxes

• Paste as Plain Text • Paste From Word

Text Formatting

Structure: Headings

• Give structure and shape to your page– Not just a BLOB of text

• Tips• Keep them short – 90 characters or so• Follow a logical order / hierarchy like an outline

– h1» H2

• H3• This is your visitor’s navigation

– Roadmap through the page

Structure: Lists

• If you have a series of short paragraphs, that’s a list

• Ordered:– When the order matters

like Step 1, Step 2• Unordered (bulleted) – When the order doesn’t

matter.

Insert / Edit Link

Insert Edit Link / Unlink

Link Dialog Box

• Either paste the URL in the box or

• Link to existing content with dropdown

Just say no to opening new windows!Please!

Open Link in new Window

What “open new window” looks like• In the editor’s window

• On the front end

Tips for links• Human readable text • Don’t use phrases that

convey no information as links such as:– Click here,– Here,– More,– Read more

• Do use text that makes sense out of context such as ‘degree requirements for BS in journalism’.

• Do make links long enough to make sense – think about the copy you write

• Don’t make links too long or too short. About seven words is a good maximum to aim for.

• Don’t use the actual link as your text– (i.e.

http://webs.purduecal.edu/creative/services/ )

– Use something descriptive such as Creative Services

Tables – For Data, not Layout

Table Cell Properties

Table Properties

Tables – the simpler the better!• Tables are read row by row, cell by cell• Think them through first– What if you couldn’t see the data?– How could you make sense of it?

• A few easy steps...– Caption– Summary– Header Rows – Header Cells / Scope

Table Properties

• Caption • Summary

Table Header Rows

• Highlight Header Row

• Choose Cell Type HeaderTable Header Cells

• Choose scope

Table Header Cell Scope

• Update all cells in the rowTable Header Row

Add Media

Upload / Insert Images, Multimedia(video/audio/ etc.) and

documents (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Insert Media from Library

Settings for Media

• Settings are on the right of the screen– Title– Caption– Alternate Text– Description– Attachment

Display Settings

Alternate Text

Graphic Text & Tips

• Alt text must = what’s on the graphic• Tip – – keep alternate text about the length of a Tweet –

140 characters• If you need to say more, create a separate page and link

the image to that page.

Upload Files

• Easy to do – maximum file size 2 megabytes• Not recommended from within Post or Page

– use Media Library to upload– Alternate text

Stays with image ifuploaded viaMedia Library

Upload via Media Library

Edit Media

• Add the Alternate Text here, in the library

I Know HTML

HTML Editor

HTML Editor Window

Preview your post

• Preview shows you what your post will look like

• Safe way of testing • No commitment

required!

Ready to Publish?• If you’re happy with the

way it looks.. • Choose your options

– Visibility- usually public– “Sticky” post– Publish now– Publish later– Publish last week!

• When you edit existing, Published content, the “Publish” button will read “Update”

For Posts: Categories

• Choose an existing category• Create a new one

For Pages: Attributes

• Parents• Templates• Order• Exclude Pages

Where to get help

• University Relations– Rob Peterson Ext 2097– Pam Riesmeyer Ext 2731

• Web Accessibility Web site• DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL US FOR HELP! • That’s why we’re here!