This page contains site-specific instructions. For additional help with WordPress, see http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Lessons.
Creating an account
In the footer of all pages, there is link to Join; alternately, you can visit http://studentwork.prattsi.org/wp-signup.php. This will open up the registration area. You must use your Pratt email address while registering, and you will not be able to access the site dashboard until you confirm your account through email.
There are two options while registering: make an account or create your own site. If you are only here to make posts to the Research site, you will only need an account; if you are planning on creating a larger project with multiple pages/posts and its own theme, you can host it at this domain by creating a site.
Editing your profile
When you first create an account, you will be asked for basic information such as name, website, and bio. You can change these and the following fields by logging in and visiting Users > Your Profile:
- display name
- bio
- website
- social media links (e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+)
- picture (known as an avatar)
This information appears at the bottom of all posts on which you are listed as author.
Creating posts
Once you are logged, in you will be in an environment known as the dashboard. To create and publish a post you must go to the menu on the left side of the screen and locate the ‘Posts’ button near the upper left corner (see below). Click on the button to reveal the Posts menu. Click on the ‘Add New’ button (see below).
A few more details:
- Multiple Authors: This site supports multiple authors on all posts. Find the Authors box below the body of the post (you may need to enable it in Screen Options in the upper right). You can search for registered users to add to the post; their images, social media links, and bios will automatically be added when people view your post. If you wish to add an author who is not registered, ask them to register, then search for their username.
- Excerpts: Are automatically generated from the first 40 words of your post. If you wish to set the excerpt manually, find the Excerpt box below the body of the post (you may need to enable it in Screen Options in the upper right) and enter your content there.
- Links: You can easily add links to your post to provide access to more information. To link a word or phrase highlight it, then press the link button in the toolbar above the Body post area (it looks like a couple of links of chain).
- Footnotes: To create a footnote, type a square bracket, a number (the order does not matter), a period, a space, then the text or link you want to use as a footnote, and then another square bracket. It should look like this: [1. Tis is the footnote content.]. A plugin will automatically insert a link in your text to a footnote at the bottom.
- Media: All posts should have a large featured image and (optionally) images in the content as well as other media. To upload media, such as a picture or song, click on the ‘Add Media’ button above the Body post toolbar. This will open the media gallery uploader. To set a featured image, find the Featured Image box on the right (you may need to enable it in Screen Options in the upper right) and select an item from the media gallery or upload something new. Please note that if you have large video, audio, or presentation files, we recommend that you use a third-party content host and embed the media in the post.
- Google Files: Only site administrators can add embedded Google Drive files to posts. If you wish to embed a file, please share it with infosils@pratt.edu and notify the site administrator (csula@pratt.edu) with the file name and the URL of the post where the file should be embedded.
- Categories: Please check the category or categories appropriate for your post. If your post is for a class assignment, your instructor will tell you which category to select. Do not add categories, as this may interfere with site navigation. Please contact the side administrator (csula@pratt.edu) with further questions.
- Tags: You are encouraged to use as many tags as you like to describe the content of your post and help visitors navigate through the site. Tags should normally be single words separated by commas, except in rare cases where two or more are necessary. Find the Tags box on the right (you may need to enable it in Screen Options in the upper right) and begin typing; the autocomplete will suggest tags based on what other users have added. There is also a Suggest Tags box (you may need to enable it in Screen Options in the upper right), which can scan your post content and recommend tags.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): To help search engines find your content, you should set a single focus keyword that describes prominent content in your post. The site will automatically submit words such as “research,” “Pratt,” and “library and information science” to search engines. Your focus keyword should be something more unique that appears in the title of your post and multiple times in the body of your post. Find the WordPress SEO by Yoast box below the body of your post (you may need to enable it in Screen Options in the upper right) and set the focus keyword there. The plugin will perform an SEO check and give you feedback on the quality of the post’s SEO.
- Password protected: You can protect your post with a password so that it is only visible to people who have that password. Near the top right, find the Publish box, expand the Visibility options, select “Password protected,” enter your desired password, and click OK.
You can save a draft of your post to work on later by pressing the ‘Save Draft’ button in the Publish box to the right of the body. The ‘Preview’ button will let you see what your post will look like and the ‘Publish’ button will publish your post onto the site.
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