Overview
To create news items or blog posts for a department's minisite, use WordPress Posts rather than Pages. In this guide, we explain how to work with minisite Posts as well as how to display or link to individual Posts from the minisite's Pages.
Creating a Post
Quick guide
- Log into WordPress.
- Click Posts (left menu) > Add New.
- In the "Add title" field, type the name of your Post.
- Click the + button and select Article Hero. This must be the first component for any Post.
- If you don't see this option, type Article Hero into the search, or click Browse all.
- You can now add any other component(s) to your Post.
- Once you are done with your draft, you can:
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Save the draft: Click Save draft.
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Save as pending review: Select the checkbox Pending review, and click Save as pending.
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Publish immediately: Click Publish. Click Publish again.
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Schedule for publication: In the "Publish" field, click Immediately and select a time and date. Click Schedule… and click Schedule again.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Log into WordPress.
- Click Posts (left menu) > Add New.
- In the "Add title" field, type the name of your Post.
- Click the + button and select Article Hero. This must be the first component for any Post.
- If you don't see this option, type Article Hero into the search, or click Browse all.
- You can now add any other component(s) to your Post.
- Once you are done with your draft, you can:
-
Save the draft: Click Save draft.
-
Save as pending review: Select the checkbox Pending review, and click Save as pending.
-
Publish immediately: Click Publish. Click Publish again.
-
Schedule for publication: In the "Publish" field, click Immediately and select a time and date. Click Schedule… and click Schedule again.
Adding a featured image
Setting a featured image
- Recommended upload size: 2000 x 1150px
- Final display size: 900 x 506 px
In the Settings panel, scroll down to "Featured image" and click Set featured image. You will have the option of uploading a new image or selecting an image from your Media Library.
If you don't see the Settings panel on the right side of your screen, click the gear icon at the top right.
Featured image vs no featured image
Featured image on a Post
If you set a featured image for a Post, it will display the image at the top of the webpage, above the Post's title and content.
Featured image on a Post preview or Post-related component
If you set a featured image for a Post, that image will appear as the Post's preview image on the News listing page as well as on Post-related components such as the Articles Carousel.
If you do not set a featured image for a Post, a generic yellow shield image will appear as the Post's preview image.
Adding an excerpt
Filling out an excerpt
In the Settings panel, scroll down to "Excerpt" and fill out the field under "Write an excerpt (optional)."
If you don't see the Settings panel on the right side of your screen, click the gear icon at the top right.
Excerpt vs no excerpt
If you fill out the excerpt for a Post, that excerpt will appear in the Post preview on the News listing page as well as for Post-related components such as the Articles Carousel.
If you do not fill out the excerpt for a Post, the excerpt area will simply remain blank.
Organizing Posts with categories and tags (aka topics)
Use categories and tags to help organize Posts into relevant groupings. Site visitors will then be able to use categories and tags (referred to as "topics") to filter your Posts if they are looking for specific content.
Categories vs tags
WordPress provides the following explanation to help you understand the difference between categories (general groupings) and tags (specific keywords):
Categories are best used for broad groupings of topics. For example, if you’re creating a site that reviews media, you might use categories such as Books or Film or TV.
Tags are much more specific topics that you want to use to associate related content. For example if you were creating a site that reviews media, you might want to use tags such as science fiction or horror or action adventure.
You can combine the two! For our review site example, you might be reviewing a romantic comedy. You can assign the broader category Film to the post, then give it some more specific tags such as romantic comedy, or even use the name of the actors and director as tags.
—https://wordpress.com/support/posts/categories-vs-tags/
Categories
Requirements
Every Post must be assigned to a category: you can pick an existing category or create a new category. When creating categories, try to choose general topics that can be used as a grouping for multiple Posts.
If you don't select a category for a Post, it will be assigned the default category, Uncategorized.
Assigning a category to a Post
In the Settings panel, scroll down to "Categories":
- To select an existing category, click the checkbox next to the category.
- To create a new category, click Add New Category.
If you don't see the Settings panel on the right side of your screen, click the gear icon at the top right.
Editing categories
- Click Posts (left panel) > Categories.
- The Categories screen displays. Use the left column to add a new category. Use the right column to edit existing categories: you can edit, rename, and delete a category by hovering over the category's name. Note that while you cannot delete the default "Uncategorized" category, you can rename it.
Tags (aka topics)
Requirements
Tags are optional and you can think of them as keywords. Tags help site visitors more easily find Posts that might be interrelated but live in separate categories. Posts can have one tag, multiple tags, or no tags at all.
Note that website visitors will see tags labeled as "topics" rather than as "tags."
Assigning categories and tags (topics)
Assigning a tag to a Post
In the Settings panel, scroll down to "Tags":
- To select existing tags, click the tag underneath Most Used.
- To create new tags, type in the Add New Tag field
If you don't see the Settings panel on the right side of your screen, click the gear icon at the top right.
Editing tags
- Click Posts (left panel) > Tags.
- The Tags screen displays. Use the left column to add a new tag. Use the right column to edit existing tags: you can edit, rename, and delete a tag by hovering over the tag's name.
Displaying Posts on other Pages
Displaying a listing of all Posts on one Page
The News Listing template allows you to automatically generate a list of all Posts on a single Page.
Displaying one or multiple Posts as one component on a Page
You can feature Posts within any minisite Page using one of the following components:
Additional information about Posts
Post Format
You may have noticed the Post Format field in the Settings sidebar when editing a Post. It's fine to keep this field set to Standard, as the other options are not used on the Dornsife WordPress website:
Sharing links
Social media sharing icons and links are automatically added when you add the Article Hero component to a Post. They are not editable: rather, when a website visitor clicks on one of the icons, the visitor will be given the option to sign into their own account and share the URL to your Post.
For example, if a visitor clicks the Twitter icon, they will be directed to sign into their Twitter account and then post the URL to your Post from their own account.
