Creating a Web Site with WordPress

WordPress is open source, free blogging and website creation software that allows users to easily create professional looking and highly customizable websites without needing any web coding or HTML knowledge. Site creation and management is done entirely via a web interface so no special software is needed to create a site, and it can be edited from any computer with an internet connection. For more information on the features of WordPress, please see http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Features.

Getting a WordPress site

SSCC Members can request a WordPress site here: https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/sscc_jsp/account/wordpress/. Your site URL will be http://ssc.wisc.edu/~username (you can also customize this location).

WordPress uses a separate account from your regular SSCC account. Once your site has been set up, you will receive an email with login information. You will be prompted to reset your password on first login.

The files for your site will be stored in Z:\PUBLIC_web\ (unless you chose a custom location).

Setting up your WordPress site

You can access the WP site administration Dashboard at http://ssc.wisc.edu/~username/wp-admin. The Dashboard is where you create table and manage your site. For more information on the administration options for your site, please see http://codex.wordpress.org/Administration_Panels.

By default your site title is set to your full name, with “My SSCC Homepage” as the tagline. This can be changed by going to Settings -> General.

Updating WordPress

It is your responsibility to keep your WordPress site up to date. Outdated versions of the WordPress software may have security problems that put your site content and the SSCC web server at risk. When a new version of WordPress is available, a link will appear at the top of your Dashboard as in the image above. You can also check for updates by clicking Dashboard -> Updates on the navigation panel to the left.

A word of caution about updating:  If you use plugins or custom themes, check that they will work with the new release before updating or you may lose their functionality. You can check compatibility by searching for your individual plugins at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/.

When you update WordPress you'll be asked for the following information:

Hostname: www.ssc.wisc.edu

Username: Your SSCC username

Password: Your SSCC password (note: this may be different than the password used to access the WP Dashboard)

Connection Type: SSH2

Choosing a Theme

The look and feel of your site is determined by its theme, so this is generally the first option you want to set. A default theme named "WordPress Twenty Eleven" is provided with every site, but there are thousands of additional options out there for you to choose from. You can change and install themes by going to Appearance -> Themes. When you install a theme you'll be asked for the same information as when you update WordPress.

For more information on themes and how to work with them, please see http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes.

Adding your Content

Your SSCC WP site will have a Home page created by default; to create additional pages go to Pages -> Add New.

Content (including text, media, pictures, PDFs, Word Documents, etc.) can be added to your Pages via the “What You See Is What You Get” editor or via HTML coding.

Using Plugins

WordPress plugins can be installed to extend the functionality of your site to meet your needs.  Plugins can include spam filters, photo galleries, weather reports, Twitter/RSS feeds, site counters, calendars, etc.  For more information on using plugins and to access the official WordPress plugin repository, please see http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins.

WordPress.org has excellent documentation on WP and all of its functions, from basic to advanced, which can be found here: http://codex.wordpress.org/

The SSCC offers beginning WordPress training once a semester. For details visit the SSCC Training page.

Last Revised: 4/23/2013