WordPress uploading guide

I wrote this guide for the editors at Palaver Arts Magazine, an online arts publication at the University of Southern California.

When migrating our magazine to WordPress, I not only migrated 270 posts from our previous website but also wrote documentation to ensure a seamless experience for the future editorial team.

To aid the transition, I created reusable WordPress templates for common post types and page types. To write this guide, I used the Google developer documentation style guide. I also used Vale to adhere the content to the style guide.

note

This guide assumes the user is signed in to the site and can access the dashboard.

Upload image and media files

To upload new image and media files, follow these steps:

On the sidebar, click Media > Add new.

Drop files to upload or click Select files.

Select the thumbnail of the file you uploaded to modify it.

Edit the Alternative text field.

ALT TEXT

For information on how to write helpful alt text, refer to the Google developer documentation style guide.

Use the following naming conventions when editing the Title field:

• For image, audio, and PDF files, use the title-lastname naming convention.

NAMING CONVENTION

If the artwork includes a series of images, add a number to the end of the title. For example, fractured-goodrum-1, fractured-goodrum-2, fractured-goodrum-n.

• For issue covers, use the semester-year-cover naming convention.

Click Close.

Create a new category

In WordPress, you can add categories to any post. Our website categorizes posts by issue.

To create a new category, follow these steps:

On the sidebar, click Posts > Categories.

Configure the following fields:

• Name: Issue #: Semester Year
• Slug: semester-year
• Parent category: None

Click Add new category.

Create a new post

To create a new post, follow these steps:

On the sidebar, click Posts.

Determine the post type you need to create:

• For art and media, select the Single image, Several images, or Audio/Video template.

• For prose and poetry, select the Text template.

Hover over the template and click New draft.

Edit the post

To edit the post you created, follow these steps:

For art and media

Click Edit, then enter the author's name in the Author field.

Optional: To add an artist statement or content warning, paste it in the first Rich text block. Style the artist statement using quotations and the content warning using italic type. Otherwise, delete this block.

Configure the Image gallery or Rich text block, depending on your selected template.

• Use the Image gallery block if you have several horizontal or landscape images.

• Use the Rich text block if you have multiple vertical, portrait, or differently oriented images.

  Go to Add media > Create gallery.

  Select the images you plan to insert.

  Configure the following Gallery settings:

  • Link to: Attachment Page
  • Columns: 1
  • Size: Full Size

• For other instances, use the Rich text block.

FULL-SIZE EMBEDS

When embedding a video from YouTube or Vimeo, you can create a full-size embed by going to Add media > Insert from URL.

Insert the contributor bio in the Rich text block. Style their name using bold type.

For prose and poetry

Click Edit, then enter the author's name in the Author field.

Optional: To add an artist statement or content warning, paste it in the first Rich text block. Style the artist statement using quotations and the content warning using italic type. Otherwise, delete this block.

Paste the prose or poem in the second Rich text block.

Insert the contributor bio in the third Rich text block. Style their name using bold type.

Edit post metadata and publish

To modify the post metadata and publish the post, follow these steps:

Select Settings.

Configure the following fields:

Field	Description
Publish	Set to the launch date and time.
URL	Keep the permalink as a hyphenated title unless the piece is untitled. If the piece is untitled, name the permalink as untitled-lastname.
Pending review	Select the Pending review checkbox to allow you to review posts after you have uploaded the entire issue to WordPress.
Categories	Clear the Template checkbox and select the category you created from Create a new category.
Tags	Select the Art, Media, Prose, or Poetry tag.

Click Save as pending.

Click Preview to view your post.

Click Publish to publish your post, or click Schedule if you scheduled the post to publish later.

Confirm that you want to publish or schedule the post for publishing.

Create a new issue landing page

To create a new issue landing page, follow these steps:

On the sidebar, click Pages.

Locate the New issue template.

Hover over New issue template and click New draft.

Edit the issue landing page

To edit the issue landing page you created, follow these steps:

Edit the page title using the Issue #: Semester Year naming convention.

Add a 750×1000 px cover image to the Rich text block.

Configure the following fields in the Rich text block:

Field	Description
Align	Select Center.
Size	Select Full Size.
Link to	Select Attachment Page.

Enter the artist's name in the Cover artwork by [Artist Name] placeholder. This text is always italicized and center-aligned.

Link posts to the issue landing page

To link posts to the issue landing page, follow these steps:

Go to the stacking card for the genre you plan to link.

Replace the placeholder content. For example, Art Title 1, Artist Name.

Click Select link.

In the dialog that appears, search for your post under Or link to existing content.

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You must publish the post to find it in the search.

Select your post and click Add link.

For art and media, click Remove on the placeholder image and replace it with a thumbnail for your post.

Edit page metadata and publish

To modify the page metadata and publish the page, follow these steps:

Configure the following fields:

Field	Description
Publish	Select the launch date.
URL	Enter issue-#-semester-year.
Page attributes	Select Remove for the Parent page field and 0 for the Order field.

Click Save draft.

Click Preview to view your landing page.

Click Publish or Schedule and confirm your selection to publish the page.

Update the site menu

To update the site menu, follow these steps:

On the sidebar, click Appearance > Menus.

Go to Menu structure and expand the Current issue section.

Edit the URL box to match the new issue landing page slug. For example, /issue-14-fall-2023.

Click Save menu.

Your menu should now link to the latest issue landing page.

Relocate the previous issue

To move the previous issue to the past issues page, follow these steps:

On the sidebar, click Pages and locate the previous issue. For example, Issue 13: Spring 2023.

Hover over the previous issue and click Quick edit.

Configure the following fields:

Field	Description
Parent	Select Past issues.
Order	Select 1.

Click Update.

Hover over Past issues and click Edit.

Go to the stacking cards and click Add row.

Edit the Title (Issue #) and Description (Semester Year).

Click Select link to link the previous landing page.

Click Add image to add the previous issue cover.

Click Update to save your changes.

Resize images

With the site's custom WordPress blocks, you may need to modify your photo to fit within the block's dimensions. For example, on the Meet the editors page, the Stacking cards block contains editor bios and photos.

To ensure your image is displayed correctly, complete the following steps:

Determine the specific height and width required for the photo layout. The dimensions for an image in a stacking card block are 900×506 px.

Use an image editor like Adobe Photoshop to create a canvas with the required dimensions and a transparent background.

Place your photo in the center of the canvas and save the file as a JPEG or PNG file.

Upload the correctly sized image to the Stacking cards block.