As more featured stories are created for the Regions, here is a checklist of settings that will ensure these Posts are integrated into the site in a strategic and visually compelling way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selecting a Category for a Post will cause a preview of it to appear in the Latest Post blocks on the regional pages in defined sections. (ie. selecting Research Excellence will have the story show up in the \u201cMore research stories\u201d section on that page.) Scroll through the Category options until you find the Region you are working on. Select the Category of the section this story falls under, such as Education and Outreach, Research Excellence, or Alumni Stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the story you are adding will be the new Feature in any section of the Region, you may want to delay adding a Category to it until it is time to replace the Feature. If you add a Category while it is featured on the page, it may be pulled into in the Latest Posts block below the story, causing some duplication visually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not assign any Tags to your Posts. The strategy for the Global site is to exclusively use Categories because of their ability to pull in content in different areas across the site using Latest Post blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a good quality image that relates to the post you are creating, we encourage you to add it as the Featured image. This allows WordPress to display the image as a thumbnail when the Post entry is referenced in other areas such as a Latest Post block or in search results. In most cases, featured images are also displayed at the top of the Post itself to provide visual interest before users get to the text of a story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to note that the usefulness of a Featured image depends on its quality and dimensions. You will see a note below the Featured image entry that says \u201cMinimum display size depends on Page Layout selection.\u201d These minimum display sizes are in place because a low quality image displayed at a large size may create a negative experience and should be avoided whenever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to add an Excerpt for each Post. This should be a shortened summary of the story that will take up less room when the Post is pulled into other areas of the site. If no Excerpt is added, WordPress will automatically fill that space in with the first paragraphs of the post, which may be fairly lengthy and less helpful to users at a glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When adding a Post that is intended to tell a story, the Post Template options help to create a different layout for the header content to visually differentiate it from other Posts on the Global site. We advise that all of the regional featured story Posts use one of the four layout options below (anything but “Default”) so they will look different from Posts on the site that are more strictly informational such as resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These two layouts are recommended for content that can be made visually appealing through the use of a high resolution featured image (ie. research stories, news articles). The minimum image size requirement associated with these layouts is a 1440 x 550px size or larger image. The featured image will be displayed full width and the header information overlaps it slightly, creating an impactful initial view that leads into the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This layout is perfect for stories that only have a \u201csmall\u201d image that is at least 760 x 507px in size or larger. If only a small image is available for featuring, selecting this layout will enable the image to appear below the header text right above the body copy of the Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This layout can be used when there is a Featured image set but it is too small to be displayed with great quality in the body of the story. The header will display in the center of the page with the background color behind it. Any images that don\u2019t meet their Template Layout\u2019s minimum size requirements will default to this layout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If possible, use a sentence or two at the beginning of the story to summarize its importance and set the Paragraph<\/a> block of that text to the Lead style. This is a good way to help pull readers into the story by giving them a little more detail than the headline provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within the body of the story, you can create some visual interest by changing the alignment of different elements. For instance, you can cause your text to wrap around a photo by adding an Image<\/a> and selecting it to Align Right or Left. Using Column<\/a> blocks can also help to create interest by placing copy next to other block elements. The Quote<\/a> or Pullquote<\/a> blocks can also be used to break up a story and should follow the guidance for their different usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most commonly, links on the regional story Posts are created either using linked text or a Button<\/a> block set to the Text with Arrow style. Linked text is helpful to give context to the link\u2019s destination within the story. The Text with Arrow button is helpful because it creates more of a call to action for users to explore other content. When writing the text for these buttons such as \u201cWatch the interview with Russ Shaw\u201d or \u201cRead more on the Source\u201d try to use wording that describes the call to action specifically. There is no need to use a period at the end of the text because it does not have to always be a complete sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate interest in the layout<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Add links consistently<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Use a “Related content” section<\/h3>\n\n\n\n