Tutorial

Login

To login, use the “WordPress Admin” link at the bottom right of this page. Or use this link. Use your UT NetID and password to login. You will be taken to the Dashboard. At some point, this page will no longer be the homepage for the site. You can always login at http://www.utk.edu/advising/wp-admin/.

Find Your Guide

In WordPress, the major guides are entered as “posts”, so on the left side of the Dashboard look for the word “Posts.”

Expand the posts menu by either clicking on the word “Posts” or click on the inverted triangle that appears as you hover over the same area. Two options will appear, “Posts” and “Add New”. Since we are working with content that already exists, click on Posts.

The screen will refresh and you will see a list of all of the major guides that you may edit.

Editing a Major Guide

Find the title of the major guide you want to edit. Open it by either clicking on the title, or click on the word “edit” that appears as you hover over the title.

Make the adjustments you need to the guide.

When you are finished editing, click the blue “Update” button on the right side of the screen.

It’s that easy.

You can preview your changes before updating by clicking the “Preview Changes” button above the “Update Button”.

Drafts vs. Published Posts

To prepare for each year’s new round of major guides, the administrators duplicate the guide from the previous year and set its status to “Draft.” This prevents the general public from seeing the guide. Advisors can then go in and edit the guides. To continue to keep the guide hidden, click “Save Draft”–to make the guide live and visible to the public, click “Publish.”

Excerpts

As you are editing your guide, notice the “Excerpt” field. The excerpt is a short (55 words max) summary of the major. It is what shows up on pages that list multiple guides. In addition, the excerpt is typically shown on search results pages (depending upon the search engine used). So, it is very important.

Video Tutorial

Adding Critical Courses Information

We have been asked to to add “critical tracking courses” to the outlines by the beginning of fall term. The following video will show you an easy way to do so.

Special Situations

Copying and Pasting from Word

When you copy and paste from Microsoft Word you include a lot of hidden code put there by Microsoft that can cause your page to display incorrectly or even not at all. If you must copy and paste from Word, please do so by using the “Paste from Word” icon in the menu. WordPress will then attempt to clean up all the nasty hidden code from Word. It’s an extra step, but one that can save you hours of trying to figure out why your page doesn’t look right.