WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) platforms you can install on your digital.brynmawr.edu domain in order to create a blog or a website.
When to use WordPress
- WordPress is currently one of the most popular web-publishing options in the world -- as of 2022, at least 65% of websites built using a CMS and 43% of all websites were built with WordPress.
- A rich ecosystem of developers creates and maintains thousands of WordPress plug-ins, themes, tutorials, and learning materials.
- WordPress was designed for blogging as well as web page development, and is a good choice for sites that need blog features such as "posts," author attribution, collaborative authoring and editing, and reader comments.
- Note that there are two ways to get a WordPress site at Bryn Mawr:
- Install WordPress on your digital.brynmawr.edu domain if you want complete flexibility to install any theme or plugin you like and are willing to assume the risks of and responsibility for updating, securing and backing up your website yourself.
- Create a site on the LITS-managed WordPres multisite, blogs.brynmawr.edu, if you need a basic blog or website that will be maintained and functional over a long period of time, can be easily passed on to other people in the college community, and do not need to install special themes or plugins.
Build a WordPress site
Before you start, you will need access to the following:
The basic processes for building a WordPress site on digital.brynmawr.edu and blogs.brynmawr.edu are very similar, but there are two key differences:
- You log in differently. For a site on digital.brynmawr.edu, you need to log in using the administrator username and password you created when installing WordPress site. You can do this from the Applications page of your digital.brynmawr.edu Dashboard/CPanel or from your site itself, if you choose to make the Login link visible.
- Logging in brings you to the WordPress Dashboard, click on the side menu options to:
- Create and manage Posts, Media and Pages (See WordPress: Basics and WordPress: Embedding videos and other media content in blogs)
- Moderate Comments (See WordPress: Moderating comments (and spam) in WordPress)
- Change your site's Appearance (See WordPress: Working with WordPress themes)
- Configure Settings (See WordPress: Privacy settings for your blog)
- Add and manage Users (See WordPress: Adding users to your blog and WordPress: User roles for blogs)
- Install and activate Tools and Plugins.
Prefer video? See WordPress's Getting to know the WordPress dashboard tutorial and others in the Getting Started series.
- You can install and activate additional themes and plugins:
- Click Appearance and choose Themes to view and activate currently installed themes; click Add New to install others from the WordPress theme repository. See WordPress's guide on Choosing and Installing Themes for more information.
- Click Plugins to view and activate/deactivate currently installed plugins; click Add New to install others from the WordPress plugins repository. See WordPress's guide on Choosing and Installing Plugins for more information.
Warning: As with any software, themes and plugins need to be kept up-to-date to continue working and remain secure against hacking. If you want long-term stability with minimum maintenance, stick with themes and plugins that are widely used and have a history of being well-maintained. If you want to experiment with newer and less tested themes and plugins, be prepared to routinely monitor your site and find new solutions if something stops working. Always delete themes and plugins you aren't using to reduce your site's security vulnerabilities.
Questions?
If you have any additional questions or problems, don't hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!
Phone: 610-526-7440 | Library and Help Desk hours
Email: help@brynmawr.edu | Service catalog
Location: Canaday Library 1st floor
