WordPress uploading guide

About this sample

This guide was written for the editors of Palaver Arts Magazine, an online arts publication at the University of Southern California.

It was created during Palaver’s migration from Squarespace to WordPress, where I migrated approximately 270 posts and documented publishing workflows to support long-term adoption by future editorial teams. The guide is still used by the organization several years after the migration.

To support consistency and ease of use, I also created reusable WordPress templates for common post and page types. This documentation follows the Google developer documentation style guide and was linted using Vale to ensure clarity and consistency.

Guide

The following sections describe the standard publishing workflow for Palaver Arts Magazine.

Upload image and media files

To upload new image and media files, complete the following steps:

On the sidebar, click Media > Add new.

Drop files to upload or click Select files.

Select the thumbnail of the uploaded file to edit its details.

Edit the Alternative text field.

ALT TEXT

Write concise, descriptive alt text that communicates the purpose of the image. For guidance, refer to the Google developer documentation style guide.

Edit the Title field using the following naming conventions:

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

NAMING CONVENTIONS

If the artwork includes a series of images, append a number to the title (for example, fractured-goodrum-1, fractured-goodrum-2). Consistent naming improves searchability and asset management.

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

Click Close.

Create a new category

Posts on the Palaver website are organized by issue using categories.

To create a new category:

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:

On the sidebar, click Posts.

Select the appropriate post template:

• For art and media: Single image, Several images, or Audio/Video
• For prose and poetry: Text

Hover over the template and click New draft.

Edit the post

For art and media

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

Optional: Add an artist statement or content warning in the first Rich text block. Use quotation marks for artist statements and italic text for content warnings. Delete this block if unused.

Configure the Image gallery or Rich text block based on the artwork layout:

• Use Image gallery for multiple horizontal or landscape images.
• Use Rich text for vertical, portrait, or mixed-orientation images.

Go to Add media > Create gallery.

Select the images to insert.

Configure Gallery settings:

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

FULL-SIZE EMBEDS

To embed a full-width video from YouTube or Vimeo, go to Add media > Insert from URL.

Insert the contributor bio in a Rich text block. Style the contributor's name using bold text.

For prose and poetry

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

Optional: Add an artist statement or content warning in the first Rich text block. Use quotation marks for artist statements and italic text for content warnings. Delete this block if unused.

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

Insert the contributor bio in the third Rich text block and bold the contributor's name.

Edit post metadata and publish

To edit metadata and publish a post:

Open Settings.

Configure the following fields:

Field	Description
Publish	Set the launch date and time.
URL	Keep the default hyphenated title unless the piece is untitled. Use untitled-lastname for untitled works.
Pending review	Select to allow review after uploading the full issue.
Categories	Clear Template and select the issue category you created.
Tags	Select Art, Media, Prose, or Poetry.

Click Save as pending.

Click Preview to review the post.

Click Publish or Schedule, then confirm your selection.

Create a new issue landing page

To create a new issue landing page:

On the sidebar, click Pages.

Locate the New issue template.

Hover over the New issue template and click New draft.

Edit the issue landing page

To edit the issue landing page:

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:

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.

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 page metadata and publish the page:

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:

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:

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

Some custom WordPress blocks require images to match specific dimensions.

For example, the Stacking cards block on the Meet the editors page requires images sized at 900×506 px.

To resize an image:

Confirm the required image dimensions.

Create a canvas with the required dimensions and a transparent background using an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop.

Center the photo on the canvas and save it as a JPEG or PNG file.

Upload the resized image to the appropriate block.