Using a blog for collaboration

You may have already created a blog for your own work, but have you thought about creating a blog for your team or for you to work with a distant colleague?  Here are the main features you need to know about if you’d like to use the university blogs to collaborate with others.

  • User registration and role management: You can register any number of people to use your blog, giving them the role of Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor or Subscriber.
  • Private posts: You can make any blog post or page private by clicking ‘Make this page/post private’. Only logged in users will be able to see the post or page.
  • Password protect posts: You can protect any post or page by requiring non-logged in users to enter a password to read it.
  • Private blogs: Any blog can be entirely closed to the public or even to other members of the university.
  • Work on drafts before publishing: You don’t have to publish a post immediately. It could be written, reviewed, re-edited as a draft any number of times before you publish it.
  • Version control: Every edit anyone makes is tracked and you can easily compare different versions of the same post or page.
  • A different theme: Choose a theme which helps layout your work in the way that suits you. Many websites are run on WordPress but they don’t all look like blogs.
  • Commenting: Invite comments on posts, creating a discussion around your work. You can require people to register before they comment.
  • Plugins: If you find that WordPress doesn’t allow you to work in a particular way, there may be a plugin which can extend the current functionality.
  • Multiple blogs: You can have more than one blog. If you want a personal blog, a team blog, a blog for a specific project and a blog for another project, that’s OK.
  • Collaborate beyond the university: You can add new collaborators at any time, so if someone finds your work and is interested in working with you, they can easily be registered and assigned a role, even without a university account.

If you’re interested in learning more about the collaborative features of WordPress, contact Joss in CERD, who will be happy to meet and discuss this with you.

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