Author: Miyuki Mihira
During the fall term 2019, I’ve been working on the WordPress site and updating the Carleton DHA page.
In the former project, collaborating with professors from the Classics Department, I created CHIANTI site, a WordPress site. To add and organize various contents, I used several plugins: Elementor to organize the content pages, Shortcodes and List category posts to order posts sorted by categories on a page, Document Embedder to convert language learning sources to be downloadable, Smart Slider to use a video carousel on the student portal page, and Pods Admin to create a submission form for faculties.
In the course of arranging and refining the site, I realized some tips which would be helpful when creating websites at another time. I’ll write them down for future use.
- Clarify the audience and objects of the website.
- When you get stuck, google for the troubleshooting first. There is maybe somebody who is in the same situation and already asked similar questions.
- Be careful about the consistency – theme colors, fonts, font sizes……
- When you are not sure which plugin to use, see their review, download numbers, the latest update date.
- If you create a website and then yield control over it to the third party, make sure to create a concise and easy to follow instructional document. (preferably with some screenshots as needed) This is actually a great way to keep information in one place, such as the theme colors and fonts.
- Finally, although there is a lot more to mention, communicating with partners/clients is crucial to improve the website closer to what they expect.
Regarding updating the Carleton DHA page, with permission to access and edit the page, I mainly updated the DH members for this year and the past projects. Updating past projects especially required some important things to keep in mind: 1) Use visually eye-catching screenshots of the project, 2) Check the copyright of the image within the screenshots, 3) Avoid controversial contents/images publishing on the web, 4) Make sure that private information is hidden.
As you’ve seen, I spent most of the time working with WordPress. For the next term, I hope I’ll be working with other types of digital tools.
