Author: charlotte.spires

Understanding the dashboard settings

Posted on by charlotte.spires

The Dashboard (wp-admin) is the first screen you see when you log into the administration area of your blog.

You can get to this dashboard by adding /wp-admin to the end of your site’s url (e.g.: example.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/wp-admin)

The main idea of the dashboard is to give you a place where you can get an at-a-glance overview of what’s happening with your blog.

The features available to you in the Dashboard will depend on your user role. View a summary of these differences in EduBlogs ‘User Role Overview’.

Key features of the Dashboard

This article offers a comprehensive overview of all the features available on your dashboard. Please note that we do not have the My Class or Upgrade and +Pro Account functionality enabled for the Bristol Blogs network.

Settings overview

The Settings menu inside your blog dashboard is where you configure how your blog works.

Appearance and themes

Posted on by charlotte.spires

On this page

Overview of themes

Themes control the design of your site, including the overall colours, font, and layout.

On the University of Bristol Blogs network, the default theme is the ‘UOB Blog Theme’.

Customise the University of Bristol theme

You can customise the ‘UOB Blog Theme’ in a number of ways.

To do this, log into your site and from the Dashboard:

  1. Navigate to Appearance > Customise in the left-hand navigation menu.
  2. Site identity: change the site title and tagline.
  3. Static front page: choose whether your homepage displays a listing of your latest blog posts, or select a static page of your choosing.
  4. Header image: the header image sits as a banner across the top of your site, appearing on every page. You can add a new image or replace an existing image. Choose a high-resolution, landscape-oriented image that relates to the subject matter of your site. The image size must to be 1400px wide, but the height can be between 300px and 400px.
  5. Colour scheme: change the colours of your site.
  6. Menus: by default, the navigation menu displays all your pages. You can override this with a custom menu. This option is also available from the dashboard: Navigate to Appearance > Menus. More about WordPress menus from CampusPress.
  7. Widgets: widgets are small pieces of content that can be enabled on your site, usually appearing in the right-hand sidebar or footer area. You can add, edit or replace widgets. This option is also available from the dashboard: Appearance > Widgets. More about WordPress widgets on wpbeginner.com.

Additional logos

You have the option to add one or more additional logos, eg funders or partners, by adding a widget to your sidebar or footer.

The following video shows you how to add a clickable image-link (eg a logo that links to the relevant organisation’s website) to your site’s sidebar. These steps can also be followed to add one to your footer instead:

Request a different theme

All sites created on blogs.bristol.ac.uk use the University of Bristol theme by default.

If the blog/site represents a multi-institution project/centre which has its own identity, where University of Bristol branding would not be appropriate, email web-editor@bristol.ac.uk to ask about custom themes.

Please include the reason why your site would need a different theme. If approved, you will be able to choose from a range of themes to suit your needs.

Switch to the University of Bristol theme

If you have a blog using a different theme and want to switch to the University of Bristol theme, on the dashboard navigate to Appearance > Customise in the left-hand navigation menu. Find the ‘UOB Blog Theme’ where you can ‘Live Preview’ how it will look before selecting ‘Activate’.

Plugins

Plugins work closely with your theme to enhance your site. Find out more about plugins.

Enabling comments and managing user interaction with blogs

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You can choose the level of engagement users have with your blog by changing your comment settings.

Comments are enabled on posts and pages by default. You can approve, delete or edit any comments left on your blog at any point. You can also change your comment settings, and can enable or disable them at any time.

The following support articles tell you how you can:

Manage, edit and approve comments
A summary of how comments work on your blog, and what actions you can perform to moderate or delete them.
Moderate comments
Understand the different choices you have for your comment settings, and what levels of moderating you can apply.
Enable and disable comments on published posts and pages
How to enable/disable comments on a post or page you already published, either individually or in bulk.
Enable and disable comments on future posts and pages
How to disable comments on all your future posts, or enable them if they are already disabled.
Custom notification emails
In your settings, you can change how you receive notifications about comments on
your posts and pages.

Plugins

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Plugins are small applications that you can activate to enhance the functionality of your WordPress site.

This includes anything from adding content elements such as an events calendar, to adding tools which help you to improve the way your site functions, eg search engine optimisation.

CampusPress, the University’s WordPress service provider, manage an approved list of plugins on our behalf by keeping them up to date and ensuring each plugin meets a certain level of security, accessibility and usability.

You can find an available list of plugins via your dashboard navigation menu, under ‘Plugins’.

You can activate (or deactivate) any plugin in the list. Find out more about a particular plugin by following the plugin’s ‘Documentation’ link.

For some plugins (eg Jetpack) you will need to set up a separate (non-UoB) account via WordPress.com for them to work.