Arts ePortfolios

You can access your site either through the Website View or Dashboard.

• The Website View is the “front end”, what your audience will see.
• The Dashboard is the “back end” of your site, where all your settings can be found and only you can access.

To toggle between the site view and the dashboard, click on the name of your site on the WordPress menu in the top left:

You can do a lot of customization of the look and feel of your site. The structure of Activities, Skills, Extracurriculars, and Custom Collections is still there, but you can make it look pretty unique with a combination of the choices described below.

Update your site title

1. From the Website View, click Customize from the WordPress Menu at the top
   
   

2. Select Site Identity
3. Under Site Title, enter your updated title

Update your site appearance

1. From the Website View, click Customize from the WordPress Menu at the top
   
   

2. Select a section to edit:
   • Theme Options: Site Colors, Header, Page Title Area, Footer
   • Site Identity: Logo, Site Title, Site Tagline
   • Typography: Font style for Paragraphs, Menu, Heading, Hero (banner text on Homepage Style theme)
   • Widgets: This refers to the Profile section and is not edited through this function.
   • Homepage Style (available if theme was applied) (See next section for more detailed instructions)
3. Click Publish when you are done editing
4. Click X in the top left to exit the customization window

The profile sidebar, located in the left column of your site, can be edited and viewed from the Activities page and/or the home page (if the default layout is kept).

By default, the profile sidebar is pre-populated with the headings: Education, Work Experience, and Community Service. You can keep them or completely modify this area to suit your needs.

1. From the Website View, go to Activities
2. Click on Customize from the WordPress menu located at the top of your screen
   
   

3. Click on the Pencil Icon beside “Profile”
4. Edit the contents in the text editor box provided
5. Click Done
6. Click Publish
7. To return to the home page, click X in the top left menu
   
   

Note: You will see Pencil Icons beside Skills and Courses. These sections can be edited in a different area (see "Add and edit skills" and "Add and edit courses" for instructions).

The navigation menu, located at the top of your site, is quite restricted. You can choose to show or hide the pre-populated menu items that will lead to different displays of your activities.

1. From the Dashboard, go to Appearance > Menus
   
   

2. By default, nothing is selected. (All sections will be displayed)
3. If you would like to hide a category from the navigation menu:
   • Select all categories under the column Display in Top Menu
   • Deselect the category that you would like to hide
     
     

By default, your site has a footer that contains the Terms of Service information. You can add a custom footer that displays content between the body of your site and the default footer.

1. From the Website View, hover over your website name in the top left > Widgets
   
   

2. Under Available Widgets, click Visual Editor
3. Select Footer 1
4. Click Add Widget
   
   

5. A text editor box will be added to the Footer 1 section and open up automatically for you to populate
6. Click Save when you are done

1. From the Website View, click on Customize from the WordPress Menu at the top
   
   

2. Click on Homepage Style
3. Select the following sections to edit:
   • Homepage Settings – Banner text padding, text animation type, text and slide animation speed
   • Homepage Background – Banner images/videos, background overlay color
   • Homepage Content Layout – Banner text, banner button links
4. Click Publish when you are done editing
5. Click X in the top left to exit the customization window

There are two banner layouts that you can choose from:

• Layout 1 – Content is center aligned with rotating heading/phrases
• Layout 2 – Text content is left aligned with the option to insert an image displayed in the right. Content is static.

Layout 1

1. From the Display Layout drop-down menu, select Layout 1
2. Click into the Large Text field
3. Modify the text in the text editor field that appears in the main content area. This is the banner heading.
4. To add text in for rotation, insert a divider between phrases. (You can work in the Visual or Text (HTML) view of the editor)
   • Example (Visual View): I am Leanna Demo|a UBC Arts Student|an artist
   • Example (Text View): I am<span class=”js-rotating”>Leanna Demo |a UBC Arts Student|an artist</span>
     
     

5. Select a Rotating Text Color (default is white)
6. Select a Rotating Text Background (default is transparent)
   
   

7. Click into the Small Text field
8. Modify the text in the text editor field that appears in the main content area. This is the text that appears underneath the banner heading.
   
   

9. Edit each attribute of the two button links:
   • Button Text : Text that appears on the button.
   • Button Link: Enter a web page URL address. (remember to include https://)
   • Button Style: Select a style. Each style is a different colour

Layout 2

1. From the Display Layout drop-down menu, select Layout 2
2. Click into the Content Text field
3. Modify the text in the text editor field that appears in the main content area. (Click on the Visual tab in the upper right of the text editor to work in the visual view)
   
   

4. To modify the button text and link:
   • Click on the link
   • Click on the Pencil Icon
   • Click on the Gear Icon
   • Enter a URL or select a page from your site listed below
   • Enter a Link Text
   • Check the box beside Open link in a new tab (optional, recommended when linking to an external URL)
   • Click Update
5. Select an Image (optional). By default, an example image is displayed in the right-hand side of the banner. Click Clear to remove it.

Add a banner image or video

You can add at least one image (or a video) to the banner area, which will appear in rotation. Images and video files have a 5MB upload limit.

1. From the Website View, click Customize from the WordPress Menu at the top
   
   

2. Click Homepage Style > Homepage Background Media
3. Click Add an item
4. Click Item (the most recently added one will appear at the bottom)
5. Click Change
6. Select an image from your computer
   
   

You can also apply other customization options:

• Enable parallax effect: Select this option to disable banner image rotation. The image will stay fixed on the first image item.
• Background overlay color: Select a colour to overlay your banner background images or video. You can also adjust the opacity of the overlay.

Remove banner image

1. From the Website View, click on Customize from the WordPress Menu at the top
2. Click Homepage Style > Homepage Settings
3. Select Hide This Section

If you have applied the Homepage Style template (see "Select a Homepage Layout"), you can show or hide the categorized content that appears below the banner. The section for Featured Learning Activities cannot be removed.

1. From the Dashboard, go to Appearance > Menus
   
   

2. By default, nothing is selected (all sections will be displayed).
3. If you would like to hide a category from your homepage:
   • Select all categories under the column Display when Homepage Style is selected
   • Deselect the category that you would like to hide
     
     

Activities are the evidence of your learning or growth, whether that learning is academic, professional, or personal. It’s meant to be a totally general term. Think of each learning Activity as a particular thing you have done in a course, in a job, in a community role, in a club or athletic team, or travelling.

The Activity could be something already complete or something in process that you will continue to edit over time. It could be an essay, or a video project, an economic analysis, a psychology experiment, a take-home exam, or something you prepared while working in a job, or a big game, or a visit to a museum—as long as it connected to your learning or made you really think about something.

Add an activity

1. From the Website View, click on Add New Activity
   
   

2. Fill in the following fields:
   • Title
   • Short Description: This is the short blurb that appears along with the thumbnail on the main and sub-category pages. Consider how you can engage your audience through the Short Description of your Activity.
   • Full Content or Description of the Activity: Consider the best way to represent the project and/or experience, and how your audience will be interacting with the posted Activity. It might be as simple as entering a text summary of an essay you have written, followed by a reflection of what you learned by doing this Activity and uploading the paper for your audience to access.
   • General Learning Significance (optional):  You can use this section to further reflect on this activity. This section appears at the bottom of the activity page. By default, this option is selected. To disable this option, uncheck the box beside “Display Learning Significance on my public activity”.
     
     

3. If you would like this activity to be featured on the homepage, select Feature this activity (optional). Note that this is applicable if a Homepage Style is applied.
4. In the right column, select the categories under Skills, Courses, Extracurriculars and/or Collections that this activity is associated with. You can select one or multiple categories.
   
   

5. To set a thumbnail image for the activity:
   • Scroll to the bottom of the right column
   • Click on Set featured image
     
   • Click on the Upload Files tab at the top
   • Drop files in the indicated space provided or click on Select Files. Tip: It’s recommended to use an image that is 300×150 or proportionately larger to those dimensions, otherwise the image may be skewed or pixelated.
   • Click Set featured image
6. Click Publish

Edit an activity

1. From the Website View, go to the category (Collections, Courses, Skills, Extracurriculars) that contains the activity.
2. Click on the title of the activity that you would like to edit
3. Click on Edit Activity from the WordPress menu at the top of your screen
4. Click Update

You can use collections to group activities under similar themes, categories, and areas of interest. While you only get one Arts ePortfolio website, you are able to make different Collections of your activities so that you can choose what you want to show to certain groups of people.

1. From the Dashboard, hover over Activities > Collections
   
   

   
   
2. Fill in the following fields:
   • Name
   • Description: Describe the extracurricular category
3. Click Add New Collection

Note: The collections will only appear listed under Collections on your website menu if they are checked off when adding/editing an Activity.

Depending on the type of Activity, an image or video might help to provide more context to the learning Activity. For example, if the Activity is a written essay without any accompanying illustrations or images, you might consider using an image of the subject discussed, a book cover, video of a related scholar, etc. In some cases, the Activity itself might be an image or video that was produced for a creative project assigned in a course.

If you are not using personal files, make sure to consider any copyright information and to cite your sources.

Add file links

1. In the text editor field, place your cursor where you would like to insert the file
2. Click Add Media
   
   

   
   
3. Select the Upload Files tab (or the Media library tab to insert a previously uploaded file)
4. Click Select Files OR drag and drop the file from your computer into the indicated uploading space
5. Click Insert into post
6. Click on the file link that you’ve inserted
7. Click on the Pencil Icon
8. Click on the Gear Icon
9. Edit the Link Text
10. Check the box beside Open link in a new tab (this is optional, recommended for PDF files)
11. Click Update
    
    

    
    

Add images

1. In the text editor field, place your cursor where you would to insert the image
2. Click Add Media
   
   

   
   
3. Select the Upload Files tab (or the Media Library tab to insert a previously uploaded file)
4. Click Select Files OR drag and drop the file from your computer into the indicated uploading space
5. In the Attachment Details panel to the right, you can edit the following optional settings:
   • Title
   • Caption: Accompanying text that appears below the image
   • Alt Text: Text that appears in replacement of the image if it does not load properly or spoken if a viewer is using a screen reader
   • Alignment: Align your image to content (example: if “left” is selected, content will wrap to the right of the image)
   • Link To: By default the image is static (none); however you can link it to a URL, media or attachment page (both these options will link to the full size version of the image)
   • Size
6. Click Insert into post

Edit an inserted image

1. Click on the image
2. A bounding box will appear around the image. You can drag the corners to manually resize the image.
3. You will also see a set of quick alignment options and a pencil icon to open the full options window
   
   

Embed videos

Although it’s possible to upload and add a video using the Add Media tool, it’s recommended that you upload a video to an external platform (Vimeo, YouTube, etc) and use an embed link to insert it into an activity page.

This is because videos tend to be larger in file size and the size limit is 5MB per file upload.

1. Locate and copy the embed code for your video from your chosen video platform
2. In your activity, switch the text editor field to Text view
3. Inserts your cursor where you would like to embed the video and paste the code
   
   

Skills should be understood as things you are able to do—competencies, abilities, knowledge, talents, strengths, areas of specialty. The Activities to which certain Skills are assigned should be thought of as containing the artifacts and evidence, or in other words, the proof that you can perform those skills.

When deciding your Skills, it’s helpful to think about the kinds of skills that will appeal to people in your target audience(s) and to do your research:

• Look at other peoples’ portfolios and professional websites
• Look at the learning outcomes and objectives from your course syllabi and project handouts
• Look at the requirements listed on job descriptions, grad school programs, scholarship applications, etc.

Add a skill

1. From the Dashboard, go to Activities > Skills
   
   

2. Fill in the following fields
   • Name: What you want to call the skill (e.g., Public Speaking, Statistical Analysis, Negotiation)
   • Description: Describe the skill, your level of expertise, how it is useful in relation to your audience or in your career plans
3. Click Add New Skill

For each Activity that you did in a course, check off the box beside the appropriate course. Once a course is linked/added to an activity, that course will now appear under the Courses menu item on your home page. When the course is linked/added to more than one activity, all of those activities will appear when that course is selected from the list of Courses on the home page.

For any new courses you’ve registered for or completed, you can manually add them.

Add a course

1. From the Dashboard, go to Activities > Courses
   
   

2. Fill in the following fields:
   • Name
   • Description: Describe the skill, your level of expertise, how it is useful in relation to your audience, etc.
3. Click Add New Course

Edit course names and descriptions

Courses appear on your site as basic course codes (ex. SUBJ100). To provide context and meaning for your audience, it is recommended for you to include the course name and description.

1. From the Dashboard, go to Activities > Courses
   
   

2. Hover over a course code listed in the right column > Edit
   
   

3. Edit the following fields:
   • Name: Include the name of the course beside the course code
   • Description: Describe the course
4. Click Update

Experiences include activities that are not part of your course work. You may want to consider presenting a wide range of Experiences, or tailor them as you  see fit for whichever audiences.

In terms of the Learning Significance section of the Experience activities, everyone knows we learn a lot from being part of clubs and teams, jobs and volunteering, travelling, and any other experiences where you do new things, meet new people, and learn something. You will find that some of the same Skills you assigned to coursework are applicable to your Experience activities (e.g. teamwork, leadership, etc.).

Add an experience

1. From the Dashboard, hover over Activities > Experience
   
   

   
   
2. Fill in the following fields:
   • Name: Work or volunteer experiences (example: Vancouver Art Gallery, The Door is Open Soup Kitchen, etc.)
   • Description: Describe the experience category.
3. Click Add New Experience

Note: The experience categories will only appear listed under Experience on your website menu if they are checked off when adding/editing an Activity.

These function as categories that your activities will be tagged with. Once an activity has been associated with the applicable skills, course, experience, and/or collection, they will appear on your website.

Site privacy

By making your site private, only you and those you invite can view it.

1. From the Dashboard, go to Settings > Private Site
   
   

   
   
2. Select/deselect the checkbox beside Click to make this site private
3. Click Save Changes

Search engine visibility

You can set the search engine visibility preferences for your site, however it is up to the search engines to implement this request.

1. From the Dashboard, go to Settings > Reading
   
   

2. Select/deselect the checkbox beside Discourage search engines from indexing this site
3. Click Save Changes

Add and manage users

Invite users

You can invite users to collaborate on or view your site. Only users who also have ePortfolio sites can be invited.

1. From the Dashboard, go to Users > Add New
2. In the Email field, enter the user’s email address
3. Select a Role:
   • Subscriber: Website viewing privileges only
   • Contributor: Not applicable for this site
   • Author: Can create, edit and delete activities they author on your site
   • Editor: Can create, edit and delete all activities on your site
   • Administrator: Can access all posts and site settings, everything that you can do
4. Click Add Existing User

Remove users or change user roles

1. From the Dashboard, go to Users
2. Select the users that you would like to apply changes to by checking the boxes beside their names
   
   

3. Apply the following changes:
   • Remove: Click Bulk Actions > Remove > Apply
     
     

   • Change Roles: Click Change role to… > select a role > Change
     
     

This can be changed by the Arts ePortfolios administrators. Reach out to us with your change request.

Go to Settings > One Click Reset.

Please note that there will be no warning or undo option once the “Reset” button is clicked.