Using WordPress Blogs at CSE

WordPress is open-source blogging software that is deployed at CSE for research, instructional, and administrative applications. As such, it offers:

Do you have a genuine interest in creating a blog for your course, project, or group? Send a request to support@cs and be sure to include a desired blog name.

WordPress Concepts

post
A post is the primary unit of information in WordPress. It has a subject, an author, a timestamp, and a (possibly compound) body.
The default reader interface to WordPress presents a scroll of the ten most recent posts in reverse cronlogical order.
page
A page is a much like a post, but doesn't appear in the scroll. It has a URL ("permalink" in blogging parlance) and can be linked from static elements of the site design (or anywhere else).
category
Every post has at least one "category." Categories are simple words or phrases, possibly hierarchical, that put a post into a grouping. For example, "news," "screed," or "news:research." Each WordPress site has a set of defined categories and a default category, typically the (useless) value "uncategorized."
Categories have utility in filtering posts. For example, a user may choose to view only posts in a particular category.
tag
Tags are similar to categories, but are more free-form. There is no hierarchy nor predefined namespace.

Local Instances

Below, a sample of existing WordPress installs at CSE, each described with the mission and key configuration details.

CSE News
This site replaced the static HTML CSE News page in 2008. A small number of CSE faculty and staff are administrators or editors of the site, which uses the subscribe2 plugin.
Contact: Kay Beck-Benton.
Undergrad News
This site offers time-sensitive material to CSE Undergrads. Read access is unrestricted, though.
Contact: Raven Avery.
Undergrad Jobs
This site is a list of jobs suitable for undergrads. Read access is restricted (via CSEcookie) to CSE account holders.
Contact: Kay Beck-Benton.
Change
Change is a research group at the University of Washington exploring how technology can improve the lives of underserved populations in low-income regions. The site is driven by WordPress.
Contact: Yaw Anokwa.

Popular Plugins

subscribe2
Subscribe2 offers email notification of new posts (and, optionally, pages) to the site. Unregistered users receive notifications with default characteristics, which registered users may set a number of preferences in their WordPress profile.
http-authentication
http-authentication allows the use of an external auth scheme in favour of the built-in auth. Such a scheme could be— for example— basic auth, CSEcookie, or pubcookie.
WordPress Tweeter
WordPress Tweeter post to your twitter account each time a new post is created.
WPtouch
WPtouch is a theme that automatically transforms a WordPress blog into a mobile site when viewed from a wide variety of mobile devices, including iPhone, Android, and some BlackBerry devices.

[Friday, January 14, 2011, at 02:15PM PST]

support at cs.washington.edu