WordPress is an open-source web publishing platform. Originally built for blogging, WordPress has evolved into a multi-purpose CMS (content management system) used by companies and individuals alike to publish all kinds of websites.
Features
WordPress is popular with many users and site owners because of its
- ready-to-go chronological blog structure and navigation,
- option to install a free or low-cost (non-Stanford) theme,
- easy editing of posts or pages, and
- easy sharing/linking of content via feeds and social media.
Designed for
Stanford departments and officially recognized groups.
Requirements
Willingness to apply periodic maintenance updates.
Data security
May not be used to store High Risk Data, as defined by the Information Security Office.
Rates
Free of charge.
Get started
Get help
- Join fellow Stanford WordPress site owners on the Stanford WordPress Community of Practice on the Slack channel #WordPress.
- Technology Training offers group and one-on-one customized training.
- WordPress maintains documentation on WordPress.org and the WordPress.org Support Forums are also a great place to get help.
- Send a question to the WordPress Users Email List
- Submit a Help request for WordPress.
Learn more
See also
Alternatives
While WordPress is an option for general web publishing at Stanford, there may be better options depending on your needs. For example:
- Stanford Sites provides quicker, easier ways to create and manage a department website — especially if the site will have a complex structure or multi-layered navigation.
- Stanford Domains is a free, self-service web publishing tool used to create personal digital spaces for various media, e.g., portfolios and wikis. Stanford students, faculty, and staff can register a free subdomain (mysubdomain.su.domains) and install WordPress, MediaWiki, Drupal, or other popular open-source applications.
- The Google Sites component of G Suite (formerly Google Apps at Stanford) is a good choice if your users and editors will want to do lots of real-time collaboration on pages or uploaded files.
Before choosing which tool to use, please review the important considerations at Compare WordPress and Drupal (Stanford Sites) and explore all the options for hosting a website at Stanford.
