This document outlines a presentation on why schools should use WordPress for their websites. It discusses the benefits of WordPress, including ease of use, customization, and large community support. Three main use cases are presented: using WordPress for a full CMS website, for user-generated content like blogging, and to encourage involvement through sites for parents, alumni, etc. Examples are provided for each use case and several useful WordPress plugins are described. Resources for WordPress training and support are also included.

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Why your school needs a
WordPress site
PRESENTED BY:
EMILIE THOMSON, KELLEY JARRETT,
ANDREW FORT, STEVE BRUSH

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• Why WordPress?
• Use Case #1 –
- Using WordPress as a full website
• Use Case #2 –
- Using WordPress for user-generated content
• Use Case #3 –
- Using WordPress to encourage involvement
• Plugin examples
• Resources
• Panel discussion
AGENDA

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WHAT IS WORDPRESS?
WordPress is the best open source solution to
meet the needs of our Independent Schools.
• Ease of use for our customers
• Active community of users
• Freely available resources
• Open source
• Extended functionality through plugins
• Customizable
• Flexible

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“55% OF THE 1 MILLION MOST
VISITED SITES THAT ARE RUN ON A CONTENT
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ARE RUN ON
WORDPRESS” – W3TECHS, 2012

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COMMON USES
• Full CMS
• User Generated Content/Blogging
• Site functionality supplement
• Microsite

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USE CASE #1
WORDPRESS FOR A FULL SITE

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LYCEUM KENNEDY

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• Challenge: needed a cost-effective, open-source
CMS
• Solution: Dual-language WordPress School Best
Practice Theme Subscription with Online Application
• Multisite: 2 websites for Lyceum Kennedy; French-
American & Japanese. Implementing Blackbaud’s
best practice, mobile responsive theme design, and
ongoing services to help evolve the site over time.
LYCEUM KENNEDY DETAILS

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BEFORE

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LYCEUM KENNEDY
A
F
T
E
R

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• Main need -
Increase prospective families’ awareness of school.
- American families are not familiar with the bilingual/bicultural
experience.
- improve brand recognition.
- Create a user friendly website
- Manage/update the content easily.
- Improve social media presence.
• How did we solve the problem?
- WordPress site
- Lyceum Kennedy controls all content and can easily make those
simple updates themselves.
- Make it easy to read and navigate.
- Add additional color to differentiate from French / American School
to Japanese School.
LYCEUM KENNEDY – MORE DESIGN STORY

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DE LA SALLE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHOOL

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• Challenge: Needed website up quickly. Integration
to existing EE and RE databases wasn’t a driving
factor. Redesign was needed, but wanted the
responsive, best practice themes
• Solution: WordPress Theme Subscription. De La
Salle was pleased that the site was live within their
timeframe. They said they would consider
expanding to Online Campus Community in the
future, but have a site that meets their needs today.
DE LA SALLE DETAILS

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DE LA SALLE DETAILS
B
E
F
O
R
E

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DE LA SALLE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHOOL

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• Fully-featured CMS
• Huge amount of available resources
• Wide variety of Plugins available
• Can be custom design
• Quick implementation
FULL SITE BENEFITS

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USE CASE #2
WORDPRESS FOR USER-GENERATED CONTENT

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• Blogs provide an avenue to credibility through
storytelling
• Easy to implement, integrate and use
• Delegate and Approve
• Give teachers, parents and students a voice!
• Feed stories anywhere
“…You need to remember that the Internet is
a dynamic place, and make sure your site is
constantly changing as well.”
“Good Non Profit Website Design Principles #5 of 5,” blog.pathmakermarketing.com May 21, 2009
USER-GENERATED CONTENT

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SACRED HEART ACADEMY

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FEEDING TEACHER OR CHILD-GENERATED
CONTENT

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CLASS PAGES AND GOOGLE CALENDARS

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CROWD FUNDING

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FEED IT EVERYWHERE FOR CURRENT INFO
Blog Posts
Calendar Event

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USE CASE #3
WORDPRESS FOR ENCOURAGING INVOLVEMENT

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• Many uses for auxiliary site:
- Parent Volunteer site
- Athletic Booster site
- Alumni Reunion site
• Can be a design replicated from your main site or
separate design
• Typically a separate set of users with less training
ENCOURAGING INVOLVEMENT

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PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

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Parent Volunteer site:
• Sign up for class parties
• Blog about upcoming parent meetings
• Sign up field trip chaperones
• PTA committee calendar
ENCOURAGING INVOLVEMENT

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ATHLETIC BOOSTERS

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Athletic Boosters site
• Sign up for snacks
• Post news about practices
• Photos from parents of games
ENCOURAGING INVOLVEMENT

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ALUMNI REUNIONS

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- Alumni Reunion site
• Separate from main alumni site
• Reunion details
• Blog about planning committee progress
• Photo albums of event
ENCOURAGING INVOLVEMENT

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• Let parents and volunteers post frequently with
less impact on your brand
• Reduce the random signup tools, email chains
• Increases visibility to other volunteer needs
“
INVOLVEMENT SUMMARY

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EXTENDING THE INTERACTIVITY OF YOUR WEBSITE
THROUGH WORDPRESS PLUGINS

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BuddyPress
http://buddypress.org/about/
"BuddyPress is a powerful plugin that takes your WordPress.org powered site
beyond the blog with social-network features like user profiles, activity streams,
user groups, and more. Some fantastic uses might be:
A campus wide social network for your university, school or college."
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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mTouch Quiz
http://wordpress.org/plugins/mtouch-quiz/
Mobile friendly quiz generator
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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Editorial Calendar
http://stresslimitdesign.com/editorial-calendar-plugin
Shows publishing schedules for all articles to ensure that content is
being delivered consistently throughout the month.
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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League Manager
http://wordpress.org/plugins/leaguemanager/
This Plugin is designed to manage sports leagues and display them on
your blog.
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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Sign-up Sheets Lite
http://www.dlssoftwarestudios.com/sign-up-sheets-wordpress-plugin/
Sign-up Sheets allows you to have people sign up for different events tasks
that you set up. For additional features, check out the Pro version.
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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Booking Calendar
Booking Calendar plugin will enable online booking services for your site. It's
highly supported, oldest (since 2009) booking wordpress plugin with intuitive
interface and flexible functionality, for a wide range of businesses.
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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Basic Text Alert Signup (fees may apply)
Send text messages (SMS) to a group of subscribers to your alerts.
Forms with Payment (PayPal)
Quickly and easily build forms with a simple drag-and-drop interface and
in-place editing
Event Registration:
Description: The event registration extends WordPress functionality by
enabling schools to manage event attendee registration and payment
within WordPress. Event Registration can also be used for open house
or campus tour appointments and volunteer signups.
eCommerce
Description: Websites set up with eCommerce provide a way for users
to purchase goods or services through a shopping cart method.
eCommerce functionality provides an online catalog of merchandise,
shipping options, account management
WORDPRESS PLUGIN EXAMPLES

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RESOURCES

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GUIDE CREATIVE HELP
(HELP.GUIDECREATIVE.COM)
• A Nonprofit WordPress
forum, learning and
resource center
exclusively for GUIDE
Creative WordPress
clients

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• http://help.guidecreative.com/
• http://codex.wordpress.org/First_Steps_With_WordPress
• http://en.wordpress.com/classrooms/
• http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/classrooms/
• http://wdmtech.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/wordpress-teacher-sites/
• http://www.cunniman.net/?p=899
Training
• http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Lessons
Instant WordPress free download for local test installation
RESOURCES

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PANEL DISCUSSION

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APPENDIX

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WORDPRESS INDEPENDENT
SCHOOLS
*school-specific plug-ins

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WORDPRESS INDEPENDENT
SCHOOLS
WordPress Content Management System
Site Navigation
Responsive Design (Mobile Optimization)
Articles & Blog
Commenting
RSS feeds
YouTube/Vimeo Embedding
 Search
 Calendar
 Forms & Surveys
 Polls
 Homepage UI Feature
 Contact Page
 eMail Template Design
 Google Analytics
 Social Sharing & Feeds
 Document Library*
 Photo Gallery*
 Basic Text Alert Signup (fees may apply)*
 Forms with Payment (PayPal Only)*
*school-specific plug-ins

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WORDPRESS FOR INDEPENDENT
SCHOOLS ADD-ON PACKAGES
WordPress
for
Independent
Schools
Media
Gallery
Event
Registration
eCommerce
Discussion
Board
Athletics
OLA
Spark