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What is a WordPress site?
WordPress is an application that allows you to create and publish a website without having to write any code. It has become the most popular web building platform in the world. UMass Boston has its own fully hosted platform.
Why should I use the WordPress service at the UMass Boston?
You can do almost anything with WordPress; from blogging, news sites, discussion sites, student ePortfolios, and much more.
What is my site’s web address?
Your personal sites’s web address (URL) is http://blogs.umb.edu/[UMB email Username] (with the “@umb.edu” removed) For example: John Smith, username john.smith004’s URL is http://blogs.umb.edu/johnsmith004
How can I change the name of my site?
You can change the name of your site by logging onto: blogs.umb.edu and selecting the settings tab in the upper right corner. You’ll see the site title name in the first field which you can simply delete and retype it. You can not change the name of your personal site
What are user avatars and account avatars?
User Avatars – Display in places where you leave comments and next to posts you publish on some themes.
Account Avatars – Display in your sidebar when you add the site avatar.
For instructions see https://help.edublogs.org/upload-avatar/
How much does it cost?
This service is free and available to all active UMass Boston students, and to current and retired faculty and staff.
What is a group or shared site?
A group site is a site shared by several authors who already share a club, department, or organizational email account. Because the UMass Boston WordPress network is authenticated against our email server, members use the same username and password as their shared email account to access their site. Please note that when a group member leaves the group, it is the responsibility of the remaining members to change the email password for the group email account.
How can I change my site password?
Your blog password is the same as your UMB email password; when you change your email password your site password is changed too.
Students and student groups can change email passwords by visiting http://webmail.umb.edu and selecting the change password links.
Faculty, staff and department email passwords can be changed by logging onto https://webmail.umb.edu/ and then selecting “Options”.
What file types can I upload and attach to a site post?
You can upload and attach a variety of file types including: .avi, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .gif, .csv, .mid, .midi, .mov, .mp3, .ppt, .pps, .jpg, .jpeg, .wmv and .xls, .xlsx.
What limits are set for files and my site?
Files up to 1 MB can be attached to a site. Currently a 20 MB limit is allocated for each account.
How long after graduation will I have access to my site?
Students will be able to access their blogs up to 6 months after graduation. Go to https://www.umb.edu/governance/websites for more information.
I would like to have a private site, where access is blocked by a username and password. Is this possible?
To change site privacy options, see https://help.edublogs.org/site-privacy/
Are there any rules I should be aware of?
Site authors are solely responsible for the content of the sites listed in the directory. Neither the content of these sites, nor the links to other web sites, are screened, approved, reviewed or endorsed by UMass Boston or any UMass Boston-affiliated entity. The text and other material on these sites are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or information of UMass Boston.
What are tags?
Tags are one-word descriptors that you can assign to your content to help you organize and remember them. Tags are a little bit like folders on your computer, but you can assign multiple tags to one post.
How do I make my site more accessible?
See the CampusPress Accessibility Guide. Also, the accessibility plugin helps with a variety of common accessibility problems in WordPress themes. See the Accessibility Plugin Guide.
How do I view statistics on visits to my site?
Add Google Analytics to your site. See https://help.edublogs.org/google-analytics/
What’s the difference between Categories and Tags?
How can I embed a video from a video sharing website into my post?
How to add a photo gallery into your post?
How do I insert documents, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentations into my post?
How do I upload a file into the Media Library?
How do I embed tools and widgets into the sidebar?
How do I insert a link into a post?
Where can I access a guide to using WordPress?
See the CampusPress Knowledgebase