Activating the Theme
- Go to Dashboard -> Appearance -> Themes
- Scroll down to or search for the “Duke Research Labs and Projects” theme
- Select the Activate button
Site Customization
- Go to Dashboard -> Research Lab Theme Options
- Select a Color Palette and Font Option. You can change these at any time!
- Add some Footer Content. The columns display left to right, starting with Column 1. If you add a logo, it will display above the columns.
Create Your First Page
- Go to Dashboard -> Pages -> Add Page
- Add the Title of your page. Note: this title is shown to the site admins and editors, but not to the public.
- Select the “plus” sign at the top left to expand the block inserter. You’ll select either a Block or a Pattern.
Working with Blocks
You will select from default WordPress blocks to add basic headings and text, images, videos, and embeds, and to add layout elements, such as rows, columns, or grids.
Currently, we offer 8 custom blocks. Here’s a brief description of each:
- Accordion: Also known as expand/collapse, it lets the user toggle to hide and show content.
- Hero: A large visual typically used at the top of a page. Here, it can be an image, a video, or a solid color background, all with optional text displayed on top of it.
- Icon Row: A row of images with headings, images, text, and optional links.
- Parallax: Intended for full-width pages, a parallax image will stay in place while text slides over it.
- People Grid/List: Displays all the content in the People post type alphabetically in a grid or a list view.
- Recent News: Displays all the content in the News Item post type by most recent date first in a grid or a list view.
- Scholars Collection Embed: Embeds a Scholars@Duke widget for a specific Duke Unique ID (DUID). You can select from many options, including publications, courses, positions, overview, and more.
- Two Column Content: A specific display option for an image and text with an optional call to action.
To add a block, drag the block over to your editing window. Depending on which block you select, you may need to select the Pencil icon to edit.
Working with Patterns
We’ve created three patterns (so far) to help save you time when adding new pages.
- Select Patterns -> Research Lab Patterns
- Option 1 has a full-width video at the top, a two column content block, and an icon row of six items.
- Option 2 offers a full-width image at the top with text, a two column content block, and an icon row of six items.
- Option 3 has a full-width image at the top without text, an editable content box, and an icon row of six items.
- After you select a pattern, hover over the area you want to edit, and select the Pencil icon.
Adding Your Homepage
Here’s how to set one of your pages as the site homepage.
- Go to Dashboard -> Settings -> Reading
- Select the radio button “A static page” and select a page you created from the list next to the word “Homepage”.
- Select the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
Working with the People Post Type
Add a Person:
- Go to Dashboard -> People -> Add New Person
- Enter the person’s name as the Title.
- To dynamically import some of their information from Scholars, select “Imported From Scholars”, enter their Duke Unique ID (DUID), and either opt to use their Scholars photo or upload your own. Then select Publish.
- To create a person manually, select “Manual Entry” and fill out the fields accordingly.
People List Page:
After you’ve created at least one Person, your site will automatically have a People listing page, found at sites.duke.edu/yoursite/people.
Working with News
Add a News item:
- Go to Dashboard -> News -> Add News Item
- Enter the title of your News Item. All other fields are optional. You can add your own content or you can use the Link field to link off to another site.
News List Page
After you’ve created at least one News Item, your site will automatically have a News listing page, found at sites.duke.edu/yoursite/news. If you entered a Link when you created your News Item, then its title will link off to that website.
Working with the Menu
- Go to Dashboard -> Appearance -> Menus
- Expand People and select View All to add your People and your People list to the Main Navigation.
- Expand News and select View All to add your News Items and your News list to the Main Navigation.
- When you’re finished with your work, select the Save Menu button.
