Only two months have passed since Brian bragged about OIT Design & Web Services in his 2018 retrospective post, and yet, we already have new things to brag about!
Two New Sites
Welcome to the web wifi.ncsu.edu and facilities.ofa.ncsu.edu!
Wifi.ncsu.edu will serve as the one-stop site for connecting devices to the campus wifi. At this fount of knowledge, you’ll find walkthroughs for connecting specific devices and operating systems to eduroam, information about guest access, as well as a thorough FAQ section.
The new Facilities site combines the old repair and renovations site with the old facilities site into one shiny new package. The colorful landing page is so fresh it needs a talking to.
The Release of NC State Blocks
Loyal readers of our blog know that the talk of the town for much of last year was Gutenberg, the new block-based WordPress editor. We’re now so adept with blocks we could put any toddler to shame.
To ensure the most seamless upgrade possible for all of our sites, and due to some accessibility concerns with the new editor, some of campus hasn’t been upgraded to the latest version of WordPress yet. The sites that are running WordPress 5.0 or above have a shiny new toy to play with in the form of the NC State Blocks plugin.
NC State Blocks provides users with a core set of university-branded content blocks designed for the block-based (Gutenberg) editor introduced in WordPress 5.0. The blocks included in this plugin are:
- Alert
- Callout
- Icon, Icon + Text, Icon + Links, Icon + Heading
- Major Link
- Collapsible Panel
- Recent Posts
- Social Media Links
- Video Banner
NC State Blocks is under active development, so be on the lookout for additional blocks being added, or submit a request for a new block on the project website. Additionally, be sure to check out the knowledge articles we have written about the project and about Gutenberg in general at the Web at NC State ServiceNow Knowledgebase.
WP Campus Online
On January 31st, WPCampus.org hosted WPCampus Online, “A free, virtual conference for accessibility and WordPress in Higher Education.” OIT Design & Web Services was well represented as Brian DeConinck, Miles Elliott, and Lauren Etheridge all gave presentations for the conference.
Lauren and Miles teamed up to present “The BlockenSpiel: A GutenDrama in Four Acts at NC State,” and Brian co-presented “The WPCampus Gutenberg Accessibility Audit” with Rachel Cherry. Though the conference was online, I’m pretty sure I heard standing ovations after each of those talks.
Multiauth to Mars
If you notice that your login screen looks unfamiliar, do not fret. We have switched most of the sites we manage to the new ITECS authentication plugin, Mars. Mars seeks to replace the existing MultiAuth plugin with an “overhauled codebase, cleaner UI, and more features.”
Stay tuned for more updates in 2019. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.