TDL faculty members know WordPress software as a blogging tool for chronicling their research activities, sharing news, and interacting with others online. With its capabilities for creating web pages and for adding rich functionality through plugins and widgets, however, WordPress is more than just a blogging software. It can also be used to create full-featured websites – like the TDL website, which uses WordPress.
With TDL Sites, members can create a WordPress website hosted by TDL. TDL Sites can be used to create an information website about a research project, to communicate with a project group, or any other scholarly purpose members can dream up.
Sites vs. Blogs: What’s the difference?
Technically, there isn’t much difference at all. Both the TDL Blogs installation and the TDL Sites installation use WordPress 3.0. You can create pages and blog posts through both services.
The difference lies in what your communication needs are – what purpose your website serves. With TDL Blogs, the emphasis is on frequent, short bursts of content – think of it as a journal or scrapbook for posting thoughts, questions, or news items from other sources. TDL Sites are ideal for content that is relatively static, when the emphasis is on providing more substantial content on web pages (rather than in short, chronological posts.) A TDL Site can contain a blog page as one of many pages.
How do I set up a TDL Site?
To set up a TDL Site, you must be a faculty or staff member at a TDL member institution. If you would like to create a site, please contact us at info@tdl.org, and a TDL staff member will quickly be in touch.
To get started with a TDL Site, follow the “5 Steps to a TDL Site.” Also refer to the user manual in the TDL Wiki for additional information.
Any institution of higher learning in Texas may become a member of the Texas Digital Library consortium. To find out more about institutional membership opportunities, please see the Membership section of our Web site.
Where do I go with questions?
For more information about WordPress and TDL Sites, visit the TDL Wiki or the WordPress site, or contact the TDL Helpdesk.