FAQs

How do I create a new site on wordpress.ncsu.edu?
Visit our Create a New Site page. You will be prompted to log in if you haven’t already. Follow the instructions and your site will be created instantly!

How do I log in to my site?
When you request your site it should be created right away, and will be available at the domain you selected, yourdomain.wordpress.ncsu.edu. You will be able to login to the WordPress Admin Panel at the same time. When you come back in the future you can login to your WordPress Admin Panel by going to yourdomain.wordpress.ncsu.edu/wp-admin. This link will ask you to authenticate with your Unity ID and password via Shibboleth or, if you’re already logged in with Shibboleth, it will redirect you to your Admin Panel Dashboard.

Can I use a domain that I own and put a WordPress site there?
Yes! Our Web Publishing solution will allow us to setup a WordPress site quickly and coordinate your domain to resolve to that site. If you’d like to learn more about this service, visit Web Publishing’s homepage.

How do I change the theme?
In the WordPress Admin Panel look under Appearance. There you will see a menu for Themes. WordPress.ncsu.edu limits the number of themes you have access to, though many of them can be customized quite extensively. Check out the Appearance menu, and use the Theme Options and Header pages to customize your site to meet your needs.

How do I add or edit menus in WordPress?
In the WordPress Admin Panel, navigate to Appearance –> Menus. From here, you will be able to edit your existing menus or create a new menu entirely. Find the element you wish to add to your menu from the sidebar on the left, then select ‘Add to Menu’ to add it.

What are the guidelines for using this service?
Like all things on campus, you must adhere to University Policy. Also, we reserve the right to deny or remove a domain that is inappropriate, offensive, or conflicts with another unit on campus. Please don’t abuse this service.

If your site is intended for official university communications, you must follow university branding guidelines. If you’re not sure if that applies to you, we encourage you to contact University Communications.

Can I embed video and audio files in WordPress?
Yes! WordPress doesn’t even need embed code. Many popular applications only require the URL to the file(s) you want to embed. You can learn more and see a list of the sites that WordPress supports on the WordPress Embeds page.

What is the difference between Posts vs. Pages in WordPress?
Posts are entries listed in reverse chronological order on the blog home page or on the posts page if you have set one in Settings → Reading. If you have created any sticky posts, those will appear before the other posts. Posts can be found in the Archives, Categories, Recent Posts, and other widgets. Posts are also displayed in the RSS feed of the blog. You can control how many posts are displayed at a time in the Reading Settings. If you want your posts to appear on a page other than your home page, set your Home page as static front page in Settings → Reading.
Pages are static and are not listed by date. Pages do not use tags or categories. An About page is the classic example.

Pages can be displayed in the sidebar using the Pages widget, and some themes display pages in tabs at the top of the blog. If you have 50 pages and you use the Pages widget, then all pages will be listed all the time.

There is no limit on the number of posts or pages you can have.