Quickstart guide to WordPress
Logging in
The website may be edited by members of this course. Before you can create new posts, you will have to log in to the site. A login link can be found in the main menu of the site.
After you have successfully logged in with your Princeton netID and password, you should be taken to the WordPress editing interface called the Dashboard. You should also see a black bar across the top of your screen proving quick links to navigating in and out of the Dashboard and adding new content to your site.
Add a post
Content is generally added to a WordPress website in the form of Posts. Posts are what people generally think of with blog publishing, tending to be shorter, timely, and associated with the date they were composed. Posts are often displayed on the front of a blog in chronological order but can just as easily be reconfigured to be ordered by tag, author, or by category. WordPress also allows for the creation of Pages which are usually associated with more static content, such as an “About” page. Creation of Pages is usually restricted to site administrators such as the course instructors.
To add a Post to your website, select Post from the left hand menu while in the Dashboard, and then click on the Add New link. You will also find a button titled + New in the black bar across the top of the screen. Add a title and body for your post or page and click Publish to add it to the site. You can see how your new post or page looks on your site by clicking the Preview button or View Post.
You may also edit an existing post. Click on Posts in the left-hand menu to see a list of all the Posts. Hover your mouse over the title of the post you would like to edit and select Edit from the short list of links that appears.
Add tags and categories
WordPress allows you to attach tags and categories to posts. These serve similar, but slightly different functions. Posts can be grouped into Categories and displayed as a menu on your site. Tags are much more versatile, allowing you to label posts with descriptive words and allowing flexibility in how posts are organized, displayed, and discovered.. As a blog author, you can add any tags you wish to your posts, or you can select from any categories the site administrator may have added to the site. Tags and Categories may be added to your posts by going to the edit page for a particular post. In the right-hand sidebar of that page, you will find sections in which you can add tags and categories.
Adding images, documents, video, and audio
Just above the main text area in the post and page editing interface, you will find an Add Media button. Clicking that button opens a new window allowing you to upload and add images, audio, and video to the website and to insert media into your posts or page. Many types of files can be added the site, including images, video files, audio files, and PDFs. Media can be added from your computer, or selected from the collection of files you already have on the site (Media Library). You can also create an image gallery by selecting ‘Create Gallery’.
Logging out
To log out of your WordPress site, go to the top right corner of the Admin Bar and hover over your username. In the dropdown menu, you will see a menu option for you to log out. You can also use the Login / Logout link in the main menu of the website.
