Most other WordPress blocks, such as Media & Text, Columns, or Foldaways, can also be used within the Hidden, Scheduled and Expiring Content Block.

• Visible only to logged-in WordPress users (Hidden Content)
• Visible only after given date (Scheduled)
• Visible only until given date (Expiring)

Hidden Content

With the “Visible only to logged-in WordPress users” feature selected, all content held with the block will only be visible to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ WordPress users who have access to the specific site in question. The Hidden Content feature is useful for limiting the visibility of sensitive content, especially when you want to limit the scope of visibility to a subset of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community.

Related: There is broader restricted visibility support for content available with the Protect Content by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Login Block, which limits access to anyone with a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ username.

Scheduled Content

You can schedule content to be visible at a specific point in the future by selecting the “Visible only after given date” option in the drop down menu. Once selected, the Hidden, Scheduled and Expiring Content Block’s appearance will remain the same and the option to pick a date will appear in a blue button immediately to the left of the drop down menu, with the caption “Set Date.” Clicking this “Set Date” button will bring you to a calendar where you can select the specific date and time for your content to appear in the future.

The Scheduled Content feature is useful for publishing time-sensitive content that pertains to recurring or one-time events or status changes. If you’re editing or creating content on a page in advance of when it actually needs to be published, for example, this block lets you complete your work ahead of time and schedule your content’s publication so you don’t have to come back to it later.

Expiring Content

You can set your content to disappear from public view by selecting the “Visible only until given date” option in the drop down menu. Once selected, the Hidden, Scheduled and Expiring Content Block’s appearance will remain the same and the option to pick a date and time will appear in a blue button immediately to the left of the drop down menu, with the label “Set Date.” Clicking this “Set Date” button will bring you to a calendar where you can select the specific date and time for your content to be hidden in the future.

The Expiring Content feature is useful for making time-sensitive content disappear from public view. Information that is only relevant to events prior to their occurrence such as venue locations and schedules, for example, can be set to automatically be removed from public view once the event is over.

Block Patterns are a collection of predefined blocks that you can insert into pages and posts and then customize with your own content. Using a Block Pattern is an easy way to create beautiful layouts that combine different blocks to produce professional designs.

Most of our Block Patterns at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ are multimedia designs that use color and large spaces for images to highlight information in an eye-catching way. These Block Patterns are particularly useful for creating vibrant home or landing pages without having to do all the block nesting and content formatting yourself.

How to Insert Block Patterns

These screenshots demonstrate how to insert patterns into a page or post.

Managing Your Block Patterns

To get a feel for the block patterns you’re using, we recommend using the Document Overview feature in WordPress. This feature will show you all of the different individual blocks that are within a block pattern, and exactly how they’re nested together. The Document Overview feature can be accessed in the top toolbar of the editor, shown here.

Example Block Patterns

We are excited to share with you the recent changes and updates that WordPress has made to their interface as part of WordPress Version 6.2 These changes are relatively minor but they do improve the overall user experience and it’s always helpful to stay up to date with the most recent version of WordPress.

Sidebar Icon

When editing a page or post, the ‘gear’ icon that controls the right-side settings panel in the Block editor has been replaced with a ‘sidebar’ icon. 

New Distraction-free Mode

The 3 dots menu on the top-right corner of the screen has been updated to display the options of Spotlight mode, Fullscreen mode, and now, Distraction-free mode. Before this update, the options in this menu were limited to Spotlight mode and Fullscreen mode only. In Distraction-free mode, surrounding visual elements such as the toolbar, the word count, and even the borders around the writing area will fade away to leave you with nothing but your page/post content. As WordPress says, “It hides everything that can get in the way of your writing, and helps you stay focused.”

Settings and Styles

Some settings within the Block editor’s right sidebar are now split between two categories, “Settingsâ€� and “Styles.â€� In the Group block, for example, it’s now more clear where you can look to change the appearance of the block.

Stock Image Library

Lastly, WordPress has added their own stock image library directly to the media inserter. To access this library, click the blue “+” icon located in the upper left corner of your screen, then click the “Media” tab that’s next to Blocks and Patterns. Next, select the “Openverse” menu item. From within the Openverse, you can search for any image in their library and insert it into your page or post. While I recommend using ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ photography rather than stock photography, I still wanted to bring attention to this new feature.

Next Steps

If you have any questions or concerns about this update or WordPress in general, or if you would like to schedule an individual WordPress training, you can reach us at webteam@bates.edu.

About the Faculty Expertise website and its profiles

The Faculty Expertise website — bates.edu/faculty-expertise â€” features profiles for members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty that are easily searchable by the college’s many audiences, including prospective students, parents and families, journalists, and prospective faculty.

Each faculty profile includes academic titles, department/program associations, relevant expertise, and contact information. Many faculty members have also chosen to include photos, biographical information, and professional links.

The profile information in Faculty Expertise — whether drawing from Banner or user-provided information— will automatically flow into two places: The Faculty Expertise website, and all associated departmental/programatic websites.

How Do I List a Department or Program’s Faculty Members?

Faculty Expertise profiles can be easily integrated into an academic department/program’s website as both menu items and as individual pages by accessing the “Manage Faculty Profiles� option in the “Settings� menu on the right sidebar within the WordPress Dashboard (see screenshot below).

Once you have navigated to the “Manage Faculty Profiles� settings page, you will be able to select the appropriate Department/Program’s faculty to be listed on the academic website. The second field lets you enter the exact menu item that these faculty profiles should be listed under, which will likely be titled “Faculty.�

How Do I Edit Name, Associations, Email, Department Chair, and Phone Number?

This information is drawn from the Banner table PPACMNT to ensure accuracy and consistency across College directories, information, and Department listings. If you would like to change any of this information, please contact Lori Ouellette (louellet@bates.edu), Administrative Assistant of the Dean of the Faculty’s office.

Keeping information in Banner up to date is important because it appears in multiple places, including the directory, Faculty Profiles, and department/program websites.

How Do I Include Non-Faculty Names in a Department/Programs’s List of Faculty?

Non-faculty menu items for members of the department/program, such as teaching assistants and assistants of instruction, can be included alongside Faculty Profiles in menu listings. Non-faculty menu items can be created as regular WordPress pages and added into the website’s faculty and staff list by going to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ editing area found underneath Appearance in the left sidebar (seen screenshot below).

Additionally, the non-Faculty menu items can be placed above or below the current Faculty Profile menu items. In the “Manage Faculty Profiles� area there are four options for how the Faculty Profiles should be sorted and integrated among existing menu items. The Faculty Profiles can be added either at the top of the existing menu, the bottom, sorted alphabetically, or added after a menu item of your choosing.

How Do I Add Multiple Department/Program’s Faculty to One Website?

In the case of some department websites, faculty members belonging to the department are also listed under other departments. The Asian Studies Department website lists faculty from the Chinese and Japanese departments. This can be accomplished by entering in the name of the department under “Listing #2� and “Listing #3� in the Manage Faculty Profiles on this Site settings.

How Do I List All of a Department’s Faculty on One Landing Page?

The “Faculty Profiles: Department List� block lists all of the faculty members of a department on one single page. Once you are in the block editor view of the “Faculty� page on the website, you can select the “Faculty Profiles: Department List� block from the block menu.

The name of the Department must be entered exactly and is case-sensitive; “Englishâ€� will return all faculty members in the English Department but “englishâ€� will not. The proper syntax for the name of each department can be found in the .

About the Faculty Expertise website and its profiles

The Faculty Expertise website — bates.edu/faculty-expertise â€” features profiles for members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty that are easily searchable by the college’s many audiences, including prospective students, parents and families, journalists, and prospective faculty.

Each faculty profile includes academic titles, department/program associations, relevant expertise, and contact information. Many faculty members have also chosen to include photos, biographical information, and professional links.

The profile information in Faculty Expertise — whether drawing from Banner or user-provided information— will automatically flow into two places: The Faculty Expertise website, and all associated departmental/programatic websites.

How Do I Edit An Individual Faculty Profile?

Your individual faculty profile automatically appears in two places — the Faculty Expertise website, and all of your associated departmental/programatic websites — and in both instances, the editing experience is the same.

All faculty members and Academic Administrative Assistants (AAAs) will automatically have editing access to their corresponding Faculty Profiles, which can be found on the Faculty Expertise website. There are a variety of ways that you can find your profile, including the search function and the AZ list of all faculty. Once you’ve navigated to your profile, look for the ‘Faculty Login’ link in the right sidebar under the “Expertiseâ€� area. Click it and login using your network credentials.

Even though the button says “Faculty Login,� AAAs can login to the Faculty Expertise website here too.

How Do I Edit Names, Associations, Email addresses, Department Chair status, and/or Phone Numbers?

Information in Faculty Expertise such as names, associations, email addresses, department chair status, and phone numbers is drawn automatically from the Banner table PPACMNT to ensure accuracy and consistency across College records and publications including the directory itself. To make edits to any of these fields, please contact Lori Ouellette (louellet@bates.edu), Administrative Assistant of the Dean of the Faculty’s office. Keeping information in Banner up to date is important because it appears in multiple places, including the directory, Faculty Profiles, and department/program websites.

How Do I Edit the About Section?

The About section often includes information about a faculty member’s education, research interests, current projects, and background. Below are two example images of the About section in editing and viewing mode.

The About section uses a WYSIWYG editor and can accommodate text, headings, lists, images, and links to downloadable files and other websites. Once you click the orange “Save� button, all changes will immediately be made public.

Links to external websites or documents are best placed in the “Professional Links� section.

How Do I Change My Profile Photo?

Your profile’s photo draws from the Featured Image section, which can be found in the right sidebar of the editing screen.

How Do I Edit Professional Links?

Professional Links describe any external links you might need to put on a faculty member’s profile, such as links to publications, research, or CVs. In viewing mode, any external links will show up under the “Links� heading.

How Do I Edit Areas of Expertise?

Areas of Expertise, both broad and specific, can be added, deleted, and edited in the editing mode of the Faculty profile. They can be found on the right sidebar of the editing view of the Faculty profile. Broad Areas of Expertise should include more general disciplines while Specific Areas of Expertise should describe more specific areas of expertise.

Selecting one of the pre-populated terms that appears as an option when you begin typing in the “Areas of Expertise� field as opposed to creating a new term is preferred when possible for better searchability and cross-referencing.

How Do I Edit “What I Teach�?

This area is populated by information in the Professional Activities Report (PAR). It is not visible on the frontend public view of any Faculty Profiles and does not necessarily need to be edited by users.

How Do I Edit Faculty Profile Visibility and Display of Courses Offered?

Visibility

While profile visibility status is drawn from Banner, an individual Faculty Profile can choose to override this status â€” either from Active to Inactive, or from Inactive to Active.

Courses Offered

Current courses that faculty members are teaching can be displayed or hidden by selecting either option underneath the “Optional Profile Sections to Display� section.

How Do I Mark Faculty Profiles as On Leave?

Using the “On Leave� section of Faculty Expertise, you can mark a profile as “On Leave,� and even set a custom message to display instead of the default “On leave� message if desired.