Let’s Get Started
Web Services here. Whether you are trying to get started with a new website or you need to add an editor, we’re looking forward to collaborating with you!
Requesting a New Website or Blog
If you are looking to start a new website for a department at the College or if you are a Kalamazoo College employee looking to create a blog hosted at blogs.kzoo.edu, contact WebServices@kzoo.edu to request your space today!
Web Services will work with you on your layouts and content strategy. When you are ready to launch, we will conduct tests for quality assurance, brand compliance, and ADA compliance tests during a “soft launch” phase. Hard launch happens when we add it to the search indexes and link to it from global navigation and sitemaps.
The timeline depends on the size of your site and the time you put into building it out. Typically, we have found this takes one to three months.
Adding an Editor to Your Website
To add an editor to your website please contact WebServices@kzoo.edu with the following information:
- The new editor’s name
- Whether they are a student, faculty, or staff member of the College
- A description of the tasks you would like them to carry out on the website
Note: Whether they be a student, faculty, or staff member of the College, if you are looking to add an editor to your website they must follow the new editor onboarding process to ensure ADA compliance among other usability and quality assurance standards.
New Editor Onboarding Process
- Review the Kalamazoo College web policies
- Sign the agreement form
- Complete the SCE Responsibility section of your WordPress Moodle training and score at least a 9/10 on the quiz.
- Book your WP 101 training with Katrina Frank, the Web Services Specialist.
- Note: This training is mandatory in order to gain access to your website. Additionally plugins for your website will require multiple trainings.
- Edit your website
- Established websites: Use your login information that you received during your WordPress 101 training. Forgot your information? See the login help section.
- New websites: Web Services will take care of things on the backend. Please wait for us to reach out with your login information.
Login Help
Where do I log in?
For kzoo.edu: https://www.kzoo.edu/wp-login.php
For blogs.kzoo.edu: https://blogs.kzoo.edu/wp-login.php
For department sites: https://yoursubdomain.kzoo.edu/wp-admin (i.e your URL followed by /wp-admin)
What’s my password?
Your WordPress account is linked to your K account, so the password is the same as your email password.
If you have trouble logging into your website please contact WebServices@kzoo.edu.
Learning How to Edit
The WordPress Block Editor
At K we use the The Gutenberg Block Editor on WordPress. If you are eager to get started or need a more interactive experience, try out the Block editor demo and try out the exercises we’ve outlined for you.
Things to Keep In Mind
- This demo does not have the same library of blocks or patterns and doesn’t follow the College’s branding requirements. Instead, this demo is meant to give SCE’s a preview of their options and how to add blocks.
SCE Exercise – Try out the editor
Let’s try out the editor! Don’t forget to write down any questions you may have and reach out to Katrina to review.
- Review the what you should know before editing section on the WordPress Help website.
- Open the Demo and try to learn the interface by following along with the Introduction to the WordPress editor guide
a. Note that we do not have the “Jetpack” option so you can skip that section. - Learn how to add content using blocks by watching the video and going through the rest of this guide
- Now it’s time to try things out! Give these particular tasks a go if you can 😊
- Heading Block Practice
a. Change the H1 heading that says, “Say Hello to Gutenberg, the WordPress Editor” to “Buzz’s Training Exercises.”
b. Change this heading from an H1 to an H2.
c. Adjust the color of the heading to anything that you would like. - Paragraph text block practice
a. For the paragraph text underneath, edit it to say, “I can do this, it just takes time”
b. Give the paragraph a black background and white text - Button practice
a. For the button that reads “Try Gutenberg today in WordPress” change the text to say, “I’m Trying Gutenberg Today”
b. Change the button hyperlink to https://wordpresshelp.kzoo.edu
c. Figurative bonus points if you can make the hyperlink open in a new tab as well.
SCE Learning Resources
There are multiple ways SCEs can learn how to learn WordPress and the Web Services team is here to help. Our goal is to make all SCEs feel empowered in their editing abilities. We do so through:
- Training and Support – SCEs can schedule one-on-one or group trainings with the Web Services Specialist.
- Instruction and Documentation – For SCEs that like to follow video and text instructions, we offer a variety of guides.
- The WordPress SCE Team – All SCEs are added to the WP SCE Microsoft Team after they have completed their onboarding training. Here, over 100 other SCEs are in community and have a safe space for questions and getting support.
- WordPress Glossary – This resource might be of use as you are learning WP terminology.
Please note that we want to help SCEs learn in the way that works best for their learning style. With that said, most SCEs use a combination of these resources to gain editing skills.
K Main Website and Blogs Editors
Edit a Page
To edit a page, first log in and then access the page in one of two ways:
- From your website: Navigate to the webpage you wish to edit. On the black/gray bar at the top of the screen, click EDIT PAGE
- From the WordPress admin: Click the “Pages” option in your left menu.
From the “Pages” screen, click the linked name of the page you wish to edit.
Create a New Page (or Post)
After logging in, locate the gray/black menu bar at the top of the screen. Hover over the +New o
Working Remotely
Live sites can be edited from home or anywhere you have access to the web. If your site is new and has not been launched yet, see Information on continuing a build remotely page for more details on how to access your WordPress editor off campus.