Final site

This last step takes you to completion and whoa, will you feel good! All of your work will be packaged together and posted online in a new WordPress site (separate from your Portfolio Site but under the same account). Again, if you have an interest in or affinity for online production, you should feel free to go beyond the basic requirements (but we’ll be grading only on the requirements).

Your final package must include these elements: (here is a handy checklist for reference and here is a rubric the TAs will use to grade your site)

  • a WordPress site of at least three pages with linked navigation between them

  • final rewrite of your main story

  • final versions of your listicle, original photos (if you have them), alternative story forms, magazine layout, audio story and social promotion package (because your interview story is in the magazine layout, you don’t add it as its own text on a page)

  • headlines, cutlines and bylines

  • minimum of two WordPress widgets (such as a Twitter feed of a hashtag related to your topic)

  • sources listed on your final site

  • about page describing you and listing contact information (also recommend linking to your Portfolio Site in case people want to know more about you)
  • other images as needed to round out your site visually

When your final site is due, you also need to upload the following items to Canvas:

  • A list of all your sources, including contact info, to the folder IS final source list
  • A copy of your main story to the folder IS main story final

Additionally, you should enter all the URLs requested in the final spreadsheet. This is how we will access your IS site, so please be sure to share your site with your TA, instructor and Lead TA (all at their @wisc.edu address) if your site is not public (and it shouldn’t be public unless you told your sources it would be published online).

FAQs

How do I make a dropdown menu? 

See here.

I don’t want my homepage to be posts, but that’s the default on WordPress. How do I change this? 

See here.

My widgets are in a weird place. How can I move them to a different part of the page?

Certain themes allow for widgets on different parts of the page. Your theme may not let you put your widgets exactly where you want them. If you Google the name of your theme, you’ll see there are support pages where the theme designers answer questions/solve common issues for the theme.

I’m really uncomfortable working with WordPress and have a ton of questions. Will you help me? 

WordPress has an excellent support site. Type in your topic and voila, answers! If you have additional questions, please post them to our class Facebook page. Chances are a TA or one of your classmates has an answer. You can also make a virtual appointment with STS.

I don’t like WordPress. Can I use something else, like Squarespace?

No. We’re asking you to use WordPress, which has limitations but also has many advantages over the alternatives and is far more an industry standard than any other choice.

How do I embed my ASFs into my site?

Unfortunately you can’t embed some ASFs, like a Timeline JS or StoryMap JS, directly into your site when you’re using the free version of WordPress. You’ll have to link to them from a page on your site.

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