FAQ
The General Stuff
General questions about WFU websites, resources and services offered by Digital Communications, and general good-to-know facts.
We use WordPress, a versatile, easy-to-use content management system.
To report a technical issue (e.g. Error 404: Page Not Found, Server Error, etc.), please use the Web Request form and select “Error on Website” as the request type.
Third-level Domains
Submit third-level domain requests through the WFU Help Desk.
All requests for third-level domains (e.g. yoursite.wfu.edu) are reviewed by a committee with representatives from Information Systems (I.S.) and Communications & External Relations (CER).
Some things to consider when requesting a third-level domain:
- Should reflect the content of the site;
- Should not contain inappropriate words or phrases;
- Should be unique and not have multiple applications;
- Should be considered permanent, not for temporary use.
Fourth-level Domains
Third-level domain owners may request fourth-level domains (e.g., something.yoursite.wfu.edu) through the WFU Help Desk and do not need approval, but should follow the naming guidelines for third-level domains.
Yes. We offer monthly in-person training sessions for our new WordPress theme. To attend please use the WordPress Training Request form.
We also offer an online WordPress Training Guide.
Wake Forest offerers a URL-shortening service (much like bit.ly) that uses the wfu.edu domain. A “Go Link” can be requested at go.wfu.edu.
To send a broadcast email message to an external WFU audience (alumni, parents, friends of the university), use the Broadcast Email Request Form.
To send a broadcast email to students, faculty or staff, see the Broadcast Email Guidelines page.
If your information is posted on a WFU departmental website, we recommend that you reach out to someone in the department and ask them to remove your information. If you are unsure about who to contact, please use the Web Request Form and specify any pertinent details — including the URL of the website — in your request.
Academic and administrative offices are listed on the university’s directory page.
To add an office or department, or to update the published information, please use the Web Request Form and provide all pertinent information.
For photography requests, please use the Photo Request Form.
The WFU Web Style Guide offers downloadable logos for print and web, as well as an icon collection for use on WFU websites.
While no website is completely safe from malicious activity, Digital Communications, in partnership with the Information Systems security team, takes great care to avoid any unnecessary risks with your content and data. Critical updates to WordPress and other server software are installed as soon as practical.
For additional information on security practices, including what data can and cannot be collected on a WFU website, please see the University’s Standard on Electronic Non-Public Information.
Everything WordPress
Have a question about your WordPress website? Want to know how to get your site in our WordPress environment? These and many other questions are answered here.
Yes. WordPress is the only website publishing platform offered by CER. There are many benefits to being within the WFU WordPress environment (hosted by CER). If you’re not already using WordPress, please reach out to us so we can discuss these benefits with you.
Sites built within the CER WordPress environment must use the WFU theme.
No. CER and AIT tests and installs plugins based on common web publishing needs. CER may install new plugins from time to time. If you have a specific request, please use our request form.
No. There are many WFU websites that do not reside in the CER WordPress environment. If you are a site owner and would like to discuss migrating your site, we’d love to talk with you.
No. The Wake Forest theme is for use on official WFU sites only.
Only approved editors to a website can make changes to their sites. If you are an approved editor and are trying to log in from off-campus, you must connect to the Wake Forest VPN. Once you are connected, you will be able to access your site using your WFU credentials.
If you are not an editor on your site but need to be, please use the Web Request Form and let us know.
The Gravity Form plug-in allows you to publish many types of forms on your site, including basic registration forms. Please refer to our WordPress Training Guide for details.
Our WordPress Training Guide covers many WordPress topics.
No. This is the branding for Wake Forest University website and will appear on all pages within our WordPress theme.
Video on a page is typically added through YouTube embed links. For more information on how to do this, take a look at our “Upload a Video” page on our training guide site.
WordPress sites use Google Analytics to track site traffic. You can put in a request through our form for access to your Analytics data or for setup if you’ve never used this service.
Yes. The CER theme was specifically built and tested to look great on all mobile devices.
You can ask for and collect several types of information so long as it doesn’t violate the Wake Forest University Standard on Electronic Non-Public Information rules. We’ve listed those types of information on our training guide site.
Pages and posts can be recovered from the Trash folder. For details about recovering items from Trash, see our WordPress Training Guide.
Yes. WordPress gives you the ability to see previous versions of a page and revert. Refer to our WordPress Training Guide for details.
Yes. WordPress has built-in password protection for each page. In the publishing settings of your page you can set a password that you can share with the users you’d like to have access.
You can also restrict access to a page for just those with a wfu.edu email address.
If you need to make the entire site, or a section of a site, private, please let us know so we can work with you on solutions.
On the Pages screen of the WordPress Dashboard, simply click the Trash link below a page title. Remember that if users have bookmarked a deleted page, they will get an error message when attempting to view it. For more information on page management, please see our WordPress Training Guide.
Your site navigation is based on the top-level pages you have in your site. Your site navigation will change based on what pages you add/remove for your list of pages. Within the CER WordPress theme, the number of links in your navigation are limited to what will fit in a single row (usually no more than 8 or 9). You can have subpages, though, which will show up under the top-level pages in your main navigation.
Refer to our WordPress Training Guide for more information.
These styles are set automatically by a style sheet. Refer to the Style Guide for approved colors.
Google and other search engines automatically crawl Wake Forest web sites at regular intervals. If you would like to force a site to be indexed, please submit a request to the digital team.
Prior to migrating a site, please make note of all valid URLs that will need to be redirected to the new site. The digital team will use these URLs to make server redirects to corresponding pages on the new site. In the case that there is not a corresponding page, the redirect will point to the new site home page.
Refer to the Style Guide for approved fonts.
Most common document types may be uploaded and published via the Add Media function in WordPress. See our WordPress Training Guide for more details.
Website Requests
If you need an update made to your website or have another type of digital service request, please let us know by submitting a Website Request form.
Additional Services
Broadcast Email
Send email from Wake Forest University to an external audience (alumni, parents, friends).
Livestreaming
Broadcast a university event on livestream.com, Facebook or Youtube.
WordPress Training
Training for site editors using the university WordPress theme.
Campus Map Updates
Request additions or changes to the interactive campus map.