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NC State Theme

May 27, 2020

Email Signup Block

Use Cases An effective way for content creators to ensure repeat visitors to their site, is through the use of an email signup. Whether that be for a monthly newsletter, quarterly departmental updates, or some other specific need, the Email Signup block offers site maintainers a way for them to intake user emails while having…

May 26, 2020

Media Divider Block

Use Cases The Media Divider block is best used to break up large chunks of text while simultaneously making a page more visually interesting to the reader. This block stylizes images in a wider, more eye-catching format than a standard Image block. This block can also be a nice way to highlight stunning photography, as…

May 26, 2020

Page and Post Metadata

Search Engine The search engine meta description represents the blurb of text that will appear when search engines return that particular page as a search result. Describe the purpose of the page, including (in natural language) any keywords that might be of interest to a user searching for specific information that might be found in…

May 26, 2020

Featured Content Block

Use Cases The Featured Content block is a useful tool for pointing users toward important or timely pages and stories; keeping users on their site for longer; and/or breaking up long chunks of text, all of which can create repeat visitors. See an example of a Featured Content block below: Features To add a Featured…

May 26, 2020

Quote Block

Overview Quotes from students, faculty, alumni and others affiliated with the university allow you to provide a different, third-party perspective to your website’s users. The Quote block provides an opportunity to display these supporting testimonials. The Quote block is similar to the Pull Quote block within the NC State Stories platform. It allows you to…

May 26, 2020

Text Links Block

Overview The Text Links block is most often used immediately below a paragraph block, and it provides a way to link out to resources that may have been discussed in the preceding paragraph(s). The block can display links in either one or two columns. It will automatically balance the links between the two columns so…

May 26, 2020

Events Block

By default the Events block will display the next three events on your calendar, but it can also display the next six or nine events. It can pull data from Localist (the platform that hosts NC State’s University Calendar) or the Events Calendar plugin. The Events Calendar plugin allows you to import events from Google…

May 22, 2020

Tables and Tabular Data

Table Block To present data in a relatively simple format — such as a set of columns with named headings — the Table block is easy to use, update and understand. By default, the Table block will fit to the width of the page content, but it can be extended wider by choosing the “Align…

May 19, 2020

Image Format, File Name and Size

Formats An image’s format refers to its filetype. Common filetypes are .jpeg/.jpg, .png and .gif. In most cases, .jpeg/.jpg should be used. It is the most widely used image format and is far less likely to present any issues. The filetype, size and resolution all contribute to an image’s overall quality. WordPress offers a helpful…

May 18, 2020

Video Block

The Video block can be used to create a clean video embed on a WordPress site. In addition to embedding the video, the Video block allows for a customizable thumbnail that features a play button icon and a wider styling option. At this time the Video block only supports YouTube videos. When uploading video from…

May 18, 2020

Instagram Feed Block

The Instagram Feed block is a good option for displaying visual content from an Instagram feed, as well as driving users to view and engage with Instagram channel content. This block depends on installation and configuration of the Instagram Feed Pro plugin from Smash Balloon. Feed Settings Source Users may select from one of a…

May 18, 2020

Instagram Feed Pro Developer Plugin

With its super simple setup, the Instagram Feed Pro Devloper Smash plugin, when used in conjunction with the Shortcode block, is a quick and easy way to display your unit’s Instagram content directly on your website through the use of shortcodes. Completely responsive and mobile ready, this plugin allows you to embed Instagram feeds that…

May 18, 2020

Jump Links

Jump links (also known as anchor links or page jumps) are links that direct to specific parts of a page, rather than the entire page itself. This may be useful for linking to elements farther down the page for faster access, or for linking from external pages to direct readers instantly to a specific part…

May 18, 2020

Image Block

Adding an Image Images contained within the image block can be sourced from three different locations: Alignments Several alignment options are available for images displayed in posts, which affects how widely (or narrowly) the image will display. Content Width (Default) By default, inserted images will display at the same width as the post content unless…

May 18, 2020

List Block

While this is a fairly straightforward block, it can be an important part of your content. When interspersed with paragraph blocks, it can help users more easily skim your content to find a specific piece of information. User research has also shown that online readers are particularly drawn to lists when consuming content, so they…

May 18, 2020

Paragraph Block

The Paragraph block is simple, but it plays an important role within your webpages. The bulk of your content will be presented within Paragraph blocks. Formatting Options The Paragraph block offers these formatting options, found in the block toolbar: Additional Functionality Statement Styling Within pages, a “Statement” styling variation is available for paragraphs. This styling…

May 17, 2020

Heading Block

Heading blocks are used on almost all types of pages. This is mainly because most web users do not read everything on a web page word for word. Rather, they skim to try to find the section of content that might answer the question they have. Well-structured headings help with this navigation process. Web pages…

May 14, 2020

Sidebars

Sidebar navigation is automatically triggered based on the structure of the main menu assigned to the ‘Website Navigation’ display location, as well as the ‘Sidebar Start Depth’ settings option. Within the menu creation screen (Dashboard > Appearance > Menus), first select the menu assigned to the ‘Website Navigation’ display location, if not already displaying. Add…

May 14, 2020

Menu Display Locations

To edit the items contained within any menu, navigate to the main Menu page, found via Dashboard > Appearance > Menus. From here, multiple menus can exist at the same time. Use the drop-down selector near the top of the page to select which menu to edit. Toward the bottom of this page, there is…

May 13, 2020

Adjusting Page and Post Visibility

There may be times when a site maintainer who is building content on a WordPress site does not want to make that content public immediately. This can occur when a maintainer is working on a page or post over an extended period of time, or when other people need to review the content before the…