Sites at Penn State is a website-building platform powered by WordPress for Education. You can use it to build sites for a range of purposes, including portfolios, educational projects, blogs, clubs, departments, research groups, courses, and more. Sites is available to faculty, staff, and students. Read on for tips on developing great websites with Sites at Penn State!
1: Choose between a traditional website or blog.
A traditional website is a collection of files accessible via a web address, organized around a specific theme or topic, and typically managed by an individual or organization. Two common types of traditional websites are informational sites and ePortfolios. You can utilize static informational websites to share details about an organization or course and convey key messages to visitors. An ePortfolio can be created to submit assignments, reflect on your learning, showcase a body of work, or highlight academic and professional accomplishments.
A blog, whether created by a single author or multiple contributors, combines text, digital images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and various media relevant to its theme. While many blogs are primarily text-based, others focus on specific media, such as art (art blogs), photography (photoblogs), videos (vlogs), music (MP3 blogs), or audio content (podcasts). You can use blogs to facilitate discussions with classmates about course content or to reflect on course readings. They enable bloggers to collaborate and share their insights, skills, and perspectives on a particular topic or theme.
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2: Select a theme for your site.
The theme of your site is a set of template files and style sheets used to define the appearance and presentation of a website. Sites offers over 100 themes to choose from, each is customizable to meet the needs and purpose of your site. Sites theme options provide a user-friendly interface that allows you to customize various aspects of your website’s appearance and functionality without needing to write code. The theme options enable you to maintain consistency in design, create a unique site appearance, and enhance functionality in a straightforward way.
Learn more:
- WordPress Classic Themes (Video, 4m 52s)
- Sites at Penn State: Customize your Site
3: Customize your site to meet your needs.
The main thing to remember when you are creating your site is that you are in complete control over your site’s layout with Customization Options. After activating a WordPress theme, you can use the site editor to personalize everything—from text and images to colors, fonts, and the layout of all elements. You can also customize the site’s title, manage users, adjust site visibility, and configure menus and social links.
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4: Add extra features with widgets and plugins.
Want to enhance the features and functionality of your site? Add widgets and plugins for extensive customization, allowing you to build a site that suits your needs. Widgets are elements you can place in different areas of your site, such as sidebars and footers, to add functionality. Plugins, on the other hand, are software tools that integrate with your Site at Penn State to provide additional features. They expand your site’s capabilities, making it possible to create diverse websites, such as eCommerce stores, portfolios, and directories. Plugins are organized alphabetically and include documentation links for easy reference. Always be sure to read the documentation to plugins carefully to ensure complete understanding of how it changes the functionality of your site.
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5: Keep it or delete it.
Each site you create can be saved, exported, or deleted as needed.
Saving your WordPress site involves regularly updating and managing content to ensure all changes are preserved and visible on your live site. WordPress offers intuitive tools for saving drafts, scheduling posts, and publishing updates. Every time you click the “Publish” button, your content and changes are saved.
Deleting a WordPress site is a simple three-step process that permanently removes all content and settings. This can be done through the WordPress dashboard, where you’ll find options to delete the site entirely.
Additionally, your Sites at Penn State content can be exported to an external host for use elsewhere.
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