FAQs

We use WordPress, a versatile, easy-to-use content management system.

To report a technical issue (e.g. Error 404: Page Not Found, Server Error, etc.), please use the Web Request Form and select “Error on Website” as the request type.

Third-level Domains (yoursite.wfu.edu)

Submit third-level domain requests through the New Website Request Form.

All requests for third-level domains are reviewed by a committee consisting of representatives from Information Systems (I.S.) and University Marketing and Communications (UMC).

Some things to consider when requesting a third-level domain:

• Should reflect the content of the site;
• Should not contain inappropriate words or phrases;
• Should be unique and not have multiple applications;
• Should be considered permanent, not for temporary use.

Fourth-level Domains (newsite.yoursite.wfu.edu)

Third-level domain owners may request fourth-level domains through the New Website Request Form. They do not need approval, but they should follow the same naming guidelines for third-level domains.

Wake Forest offers a URL-shortening service (similar to bit.ly) using the wfu.edu domain. A “Go Link” can be requested at go.wfu.edu.

To send a broadcast email message to an external WFU audience (alumni, parents, friends of the university), use the Broadcast Email Request Form.

To send a broadcast email to students, faculty or staff, see the Broadcast Email Guidelines page.

Many of our WordPress sites use Siteimprove to track site data. If you are a Siteimprove user, you have access to the Marketing Analytics module for site analytics. If you don’t have access, you can submit a Siteimprove Support Request Form.

UMC also uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for certain site data. If you are looking for specific data metrics that are not included through our Siteimprove account, please contact us so we can determine if GA4 is a better solution for you.

Academic and administrative offices are listed on the university’s directory page.

To add an office or department, or to update the published information, please use the Campus Directory Request Form and provide all pertinent information.

For photography requests, please use the Photo Request Form.

The WFU Web Style Guide offers downloadable logos for print collateral and websites.

While no website is completely safe from malicious activity, Digital Communications, in partnership with the Information Systems security team, takes great care to avoid any unnecessary risks with your content and data. Critical updates to WordPress and other server software are installed as soon as practical.

Please see our Gravity Forms page for information on what data can and cannot be collected on a WFU website.

If your information is posted on a WFU departmental website, we recommend that you contact the department and ask them to remove it. If you are unsure about whom to contact, please use the Web Request Form and specify any relevant details — including the URL of the website — in your request.

Yes. We offer monthly in-person training sessions for our new WordPress theme. Please use the WordPress Training Request Form if you’d like to schedule a training session. Our team also offers supplemental WordPress training for users who might need a refresher or would like to explore new blocks and features. Please put details of your training request in our form.

We also offer an online WordPress Training Guide.

Almost all Wake Forest websites use the WordPress publishing platform offered by UMC. This platform offers many benefits, including training, support, security, accessibility, consistent branding and more. We’d love to talk to you if you are considering using a different platform or are already using one and are interested in migrating to the UMC platform.

Sites built within the UMC WordPress environment must use the WFU theme.

No. UMC and AIT test and install plugins based on common web publishing needs. More information on how plugins are handled is available here. If you have a specific request, please use our General Website Request Form.

No. The Wake Forest theme is for use on official WFU sites only.

Only approved editors of a website can make changes to their sites. If you are an approved editor and are trying to log in from off campus, you must connect to the Wake Forest VPN. Once you are connected, you will be able to access your site using your WFU credentials.

If you are not an editor on your site but need to be, please use the Web Request Form and let us know.

The Gravity Form plug-in allows you to publish many types of forms on your site, including basic registration forms. Please refer to our WordPress Training Guide for details. The University offers other solutions if you need to provide tickets or accept payment for your event.

Our WordPress Training Guide covers many WordPress topics.

Every WordPress site in our hosting environment includes a pre-production (staging) site. This staging site allows you to work on new content, pages and features without impacting your live site. For new sites, you’ll build and test everything on the staging site before making it live, ensuring a seamless transition and minimizing any potential disruptions to your live site.

No. This is the branding for Wake Forest University website and will appear on all pages within our WordPress theme.

Video on a page is typically added through YouTube embed links. For more information on how to do this, see our “Upload a Video” page on our training guide site.

Yes. The UMC theme was specifically built and tested to display properly on all mobile devices. If you notice issues, please report them through our Web Request Form.

We collaborate closely with WFU’s Accessibility Technology Team to ensure our themes and plugins are thoroughly tested to meet or exceed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 standards. While not all aspects of accessibility can be automated, our training guide provides detailed guidance to help content editors maintain accessibility on their pages.

Pages and posts can be recovered from the Trash folder.

Yes. WordPress gives you the ability to see 15 previous versions of a page and revert. Refer to our WordPress Training Guide for details.

Yes. WordPress has built-in password protection for each page. In the publishing settings of your page, you can set a password that you can share with the users you’d like to have access.

You can also restrict access to a page for just those with a wfu.edu email address. If you need to make the entire site or a section of a site private, please let us know so we can work with you on solutions.

On the Pages screen of the WordPress Dashboard, simply click the Trash link below a page title. Remember that if users have bookmarked a deleted page, they will get an error message when attempting to view it. For more information on page management, please see our WordPress Training Guide.

Your site navigation is based on the top-level pages you have on your site. Your site navigation will change based on what pages you add/remove from your list of pages. Within the CER WordPress theme, the number of links in your navigation is limited to what will fit in a single row (usually no more than eight or nine). You can have subpages, though, which will show up under the top-level pages in your main navigation.

Refer to our WordPress Training Guide for more information.

The theme’s color scheme and font styles have been carefully chosen in accordance with the University’s style guide. The Style Guide has more information about the approved fonts and colors.

Google and other search engines automatically crawl Wake Forest websites at regular intervals. If you would like to force a site to be indexed, please submit a request to the digital team.

Redirecting traffic from old pages can be very important to user satisfaction and search-engine behavior. Information on how to handle redirects is available in our WordPress Training Guide.