How do I create a new WordPress site?

How to create a new WordPress site at blogs.bucknell.edu and choose your initial site settings.

There are two ways to create a new site:

1. Log in to blogs.bucknell.edu.
2. At the bottom of the page, click on the "Create a new WordPress site" button.
3. Fill out the form:
   1. Domain Name: cannot be changed.
   2. Site Title: can be changed later.
   3. Privacy Level: can be changed later.
4. After completing the form, click "Create Site."

Or,

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard at blogs.bucknell.edu/wp-admin.
2. In the black menu bar at the top of the screen, click on "My Sites." All of the sites for which you are a member are listed on this page.
3. Click on the "Add New" button next to the title "My Sites."
4. Fill out the form:
   1. Domain Name: cannot be changed.
   2. Site Title: can be changed later.
   3. Privacy Level: can be changed later.
5. After completing the form, click "Create Site."

Choosing a Network

Bucknell Blogs

Blogs is used for general-purpose sites. You can use this WordPress site for anything you choose, it does not have to be a blog or include blog posts. your site URL will end in ".blogs.bucknell.edu"

Bucknell Scholar

Scholar is used for scholarly sites like professional portfolios, digital scholarship projects, or sites to share the work of your lab. Your site URL will end in ".scholar.bucknell.edu"

Bucknell Courses

Courses are sites for instructors of classes at Bucknell. To request a Bucknell Courses site, fill out the Course Request form. Your site URL will end in ".courses.bucknell.edu"

Note that course sites are meant to be for an entire course and are typically run by the instructor. If you are creating a blog as a student in a course, you can use Blogs or Scholar for your domain.

Choosing a Site Domain and Title

Your site domain is the part of the URL that appears before ".blogs.bucknell.edu" and cannot be changed. It must be all one word and all lowercase letters.

Your site title is the text that appears prominently at the top of your site to let viewers know what the purpose of the website is. The title can be changed later.

Choosing Privacy Settings

The privacy settings let you decide who has access to your site. You can update these at any time. To make changes, go to Dashboard > Settings > Reading, and then scroll down to Site Visibility.

Allow search engines to index this site/Yes

Your site will be public and will likely show up in a Google search, or similar web search.

Discourage search engines from indexing this site/No

Your site is public, but will likely not show up in a search.

Visible only to registered users of this network 

Your site is only available to those with a Bucknell login, and they must log in to access your site. This is the most common option if you want the site to be private, but you also want to share it within Bucknell.

Visible only to registered users of this site  

You must have a Bucknell login and be added to the site as a User to access it. To add Users to a site, go to Dashboard > Users > Add New.

Visible only to administrators of this site

You must have a Bucknell login and be added to the site as an Administrator to access it. To add Administrators or change someone's permissions to Administrator in Dashboard > Users.

Finding help with WordPress

For general WordPress questions, email techdesk@bucknell.edu or stop by the Tech Desk on the first floor of Bertrand Library.

From there, Digital Pedagogy & Scholarship can help you with your WordPress site. We offer consultations to help you get started with a WordPress site, discuss site structure and usability, offer plugin options, or troubleshoot with the WordPress interface. Contact our department directly using our main email: dps@bucknell.edu

Find more articles about WordPress in our WordPress FAQ.