Installing and Accessing WordPress

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a popular, open-source software platform used to create about 40% of websites worldwide. It supports a robust array of third-party plugins and themes, providing users with various ways to design and customize their websites without having to know how to write code.

WordPress needs to run on a web server so that your users can access your site. Sites at Gettysburg provides the storage and web services needed to operate a WordPress site.

Installing WordPress

1. Log into Sites at Gettysburg.
2. Under the Applications heading, click the WordPress icon.
3. Click the Install this Application button.

4. Enter a Directory name. This name will be appended to the end of your website’s URL.  Thus, keep it short, descriptive, and avoid any spaces or special characters.

While it says that the Directory is “optional,” it really is not.  This directory name becomes part of your website address.  You may have several different WordPress sites for different classes and they should all have different addresses with different root folders.  If you leave this blank, resources for different sites will be housed in the same place, making it very confusing. In short, always specify a Directory when creating a WordPress site!

5. Scroll down and enter a Website Title and a Website Tagline. You can change these entries once the website has been created.

6. Under the Automatic Update section, select Update to any new version.

7. Scroll down and click the Install button.

8. The installation process will begin and a progress bar will appear.
9. Once completed, you will see the new WordPress site in your list of Sites at Gettysburg applications. Click the link ending with wp-admin/ to begin editing your WordPress site.

Updating WordPress and Plugins

For security reasons, it is always a good idea to keep WordPress sites and plugins updated.

1. Choose Dashboard > Updates.

2. If necessary update WordPress and/or any Plugins and Themes.

Further Resources for using WordPress

• Musselman Library has created a Digital Humanities Toolkit site that includes extensive information about creating websites using WordPress and Sites at Gettysburg.
• See Making a WordPress Website Using Sites at Gettysburg (PDF) for a quick start guide to WordPress and Sites at Gettysburg.
• WordPress Administration Screens
• Working with WordPress Pages
• WordPress Block Editor
• List and Descriptions of Various Block Types
• Using Themes
• Block Patterns
• Managing Plugins
• Block-based Widgets Editor
• WordPress Widgets
• Using a WordPress Media Library