Editing NCSSM.edu with WordPress
WordPress is an open source content management system (CMS) that combines simplicity for users and publishers with under-the-hood complexity for developers. It uses an editor called the Block Editor which has video, text, images and combinations of these elements in structures called blocks which may be dragged on to the screen. WordPress is currently being used by several institutions in the UNC System including UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University, two of our institutional neighbors.
- 1 Video Tutorials
- 2 Login
- 3 Setup Two-Factor Authentication
- 4 Dashboard Menu
- 5 Edit a Page
- 6 Editing Text
- 7 Create a Text Link
- 8 How to Single-Space Text
- 9 Log Out of WordPress
- 10 Adding to the Media Library
- 11 Creating a New Page
- 12 Embed a Google Drive Video In a Page
- 13 Viewing Page Versions
- 14 Add a Person to the Directory
- 15 Remove a Person from the Directory
- 16 Related articles
Users must be given access to login to WordPress to edit NCSSM.edu. They must also agree to the terms for a web editor. It’s best use a desktop to edit in WordPress. Finally, see video below to setup Two-Factor Authentication which is required for all web editors.
Video Tutorials
Login and Editing Text in Wordpress
Adding and Editing Accordion Blocks
Setup Two-Factor Authentication (Requires Mobile App)
Login
If you are a designated editor on our main website, go to http://www.ncssm.edu/editors. On that page, enter your assigned username and password.
Forgot Your Password? Go to the Lost Your Password link to reset it. Enter your username or email address and WordPress will email you a link that will allow you to log in and change your password. Email webmaster@ncssm.edu for assistance with this.
Setup Two-Factor Authentication
If you are logged-in to WordPress, select Login Security on the left-hand side, toward the bottom of the list.
Download one of the following apps to your mobile device:
Authy: Download - Authy
Google Authenticator:
Microsoft Authenticator: Microsoft Mobile Phone Authenticator App | Microsoft Security
Open the app you just downloaded and use it to scan the QR code on the screen with your mobile device.
Enter the 6-digit code that is generated for this website. Ex. 123456
Click the Activate button.
Dashboard Menu
Along the left side of the screen you will see several menus. Most content is under the Pages menu. For those who edit News, Stories, Events, or Courses, you may select one of those menus.
Edit a Page
If you have the Author role, you see a category called Mine that shows the pages that you can edit. Otherwise, you will see the All category.
Select Pages > All Pages.
Hover over the page that you want to edit and click Edit.
Editing Text
Click inside the text box and type. You will see a cursor where you are editing the text editor toolbar appears above it. See the screenshot below for formatting options.
Create a Text Link
Highlight the text that you want to link.
Select the link button.
Begin to type the link and the box will search for pages in WordPress as well as links on the Internet. Click the page to link to it.
(Optional) Select the toggle if the link should open in a new tab.
Click Enter/Return.
How to Single-Space Text
If you type text or paste in on the edit screen, press shift + enter/return on the keyboard to go to next line.
Log Out of WordPress
Select your username in the top right corner to open a drop-down menu.
Click Logout.
Adding to the Media Library
On the Dashboard, go to Media > Add New in the left sidebar.
Select Select Files or drag an image or file to the screen to upload it.
(Optional) Click Library on the left to view the image. It should be the farthest to the left of the image previews.
Creating a New Page
We request that you notify Communications (communications@ncssm.edu) if you like to create new webpages in WordPress. There is some setup required for you can start working on them, and we would like to help you think through how to arrange your content.
On the Dashboard, go to Pages > Add New in the left sidebar. Alternatively, you can also click the Add New button in the Pages screen.
In the sidebar settings for the page, under Page Attributes, open the Parent Page drop-down menu. This will list all the Pages already created in your site.
Select the desired page from the drop-down menu that you want to be the parent page for the current you are creating. The current page you are creating now becomes the subpage for the parent page you choose.
You can change the order that your pages are displayed when using a default menu, by using the Order field of the Page Attributes module. Put the number 1 in the box for Order. This tells WordPress to display this page first on your site.
Add a title for the page.
Add body content for the page.
Click Publish when ready.
Embed a Google Drive Video In a Page
Videos in Google Drive may be embedded in a WordPress web page, but they must first be shared from their Google Drive location. See Share files from Google Drive for details.
Get the video share link, which should be in the format: https://drive.google.com/file/……/view.
View the link to the video and select the three vertical dots menu at the top right corner.
Select Embed Item and copy the code that appears (Format: <iframe src=”” ></iframe>)
On the Edit screen of a webpage in Wordpress, click the Add block to add an HTML element.
Paste the video code into the HTML element. You can preview it by selecting the element and then the Preview tab.
Viewing Page Versions
If you make some edits and you accidentally delete something, contact webmaster@ncssm.edu to get assistance to get it restored.
You can see the number of revisions the webpage that you are editing in the sidebar. However, it may be hard to decipher which version to restore.
Add a Person to the Directory
On the Dashboard, go to People > Add New in the left sidebar.
Type the name of the person in the Title.
Look to the Sidebar and select the Department and Campus Location (Locations).
Scroll the Sidebar to see the Person Options. Note: This section may also appear at the very bottom of main content area.
Type the Display (Preferred) Name, First Name, and Last Name for of the person.
Type the Professional Title (or Committee for a Board member).
Type the email address (@ncssm.edu) and work phone number.
Scroll down and select a photo for the Thumbnail (under SEO & Listings)—the photo that shows for the directory.
In the main Content area, type a Biography for the person.
Select Publish at the top right to save the Directory Entry.
Go to the Directory webpage, scroll to the Department listing.
Search for the person, and select them to add them to the Department listing.
Don’t forget to save the Directory webpage.
Remove a Person from the Directory
Deleting a person does not automatically remove them from the Directory. When someone is deleted from the site but not removed from the Directory, it sometimes causes issues with the listing block, as the block is still registering the person, but they're not actually on the site. To prevent this, remove the person from the Directory page before removing them from the site.
Go to the Directory webpage and click Edit Page.
Scroll down to the Department listing that includes employees to be deleted.
Click the - (minus) symbol and then Remove.
Go to the backend of WordPress and select People.
Search for and select Trash on the person who needs to be removed from the Directory. Note: Putting a “person” in the trash does not immediately delete them. They can be removed from the Trash within 30 days.