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University Communications and Marketing
Web Platforms and Documentation

Academic Programs Post Type

The Academic Programs post type allows you to easily create a filterable and searchable listing of programs offered. It also allows you to create individual program pages that are designed and optimized to help move prospective students towards applying to NC State.

Screenshot of front-end interface of academic programs post type
The Academic Programs post type allows prospective students to easily search and filter for programs of interest.
Example of Post Type

Creating Entries

An individual program page is created by the post type. Based upon information provided on the back-end, the page is automatically laid out. This not only allows for ease of creation but also makes it easier for prospective students to compare and contrast programs.

There are many fields available, but the vast majority of them are optional. Unpopulated optional fields are not shown on the front-end.

Fields available include:

  • Summary
  • Full Program Description
  • More Information Form
  • Degree Type
  • Delivery Method
  • Program Length
  • Dates and Deadlines
  • Contact Information
  • Admissions Requirements
  • Financial Aid
  • Program Faculty
  • Future Careers
  • Rankings and Facts
  • Student Profile(s)
Individual Program Page (Front-end)
Individual Program Page (Back-end)

Automatic Advertising Landing Pages

An advantage of using the Academic Programs post type compared to a standard page is the ability to leverage automatically-generated advertising landing pages.

By simply appending ?masthead=false to the end of the program page’s URL, the masthead and utility bar will be hidden. This is strategically advantageous because it produces a more streamlined experience with fewer distractions when you want users to focus on the page’s content.

This URL can then be used in a variety of different ways such as:

  • Paid digital advertising
  • Email marketing
  • Social media posts (organic or paid)
Screenshot of individual program page with adverting configuration
The advertising configuration of the page removes the utility bar and masthead.
Screenshot of individual program page with adverting configuration
The standard configuration of the page retains the utility bar and masthead.

Categorizing Programs

Academic Programs can be categorized into multiple different taxonomies. Posts are automatically filterable by degree type and delivery method, but additional taxonomies can be added for items such as areas of interest, program type (full-time, part-time, etc.), and more.

These additional taxonomies are added through ACF Pro. This allows you to create however many additional taxonomies you need, but it is recommended to not have more than five as too many choices can be overwhelming for users.

Changing Sort Order

By default Academic Programs are ordered alphabetically. If you will be showing multiple degree types (doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s, certificate), you might prefer to order programs according to degree rank. This setting can be changed by going to NC State Settings -> Custom Post Types -> Academic Programs.

Renaming Post Type

You may want to rename the post type from “Academic Programs” to something more specific such as “Graduate Programs” or “Majors.”

These labels can be updated within the back-end of your site by going to NC State Settings -> Custom Post Types -> Academic Programs and updating the following fields:

Screenshot of back-end settings to change sort order and post type name

After updating these settings, you will likely need to go to Settings -> Permalinks and click “Save Changes” without making any adjustments to the permalinks. Clicking “Save Changes” forces WordPress to update all of the post type slugs and recognize the changes made above.

Coming Soon

We are working to better integrate the Academic Programs post type with the University Catalog. This will make it easier for users to seamlessly dig deeper to learn more about a program and ensure better data consistency.