Skip to main content
College of Natural Resources
Forestry and Environmental Resources

Information for Editors

Information Outline

Theme and Site Information

Editor Guidelines

  1. Please pass on or make requests for any new page requests. 
    Please send a message to cnr_comm@help.ncsu.edu. We will work with you to define the problem/ goals and then determine the best solution. We create the new pages and make sure that the parent page and permalink is setup with our web standards. We can also help advise on how to best address page requests.
  2. Please pass on or make requests for any changes to top level pages, page structure, modules, features, marketing text or images. Please send a message to cnrcomm@help.ncsu.edu. We will work with you to define the problem/ goals and then determine the best solution. We create the new pages and make sure that the parent page and permalink is setup with our web standards. We can also help advise on how to best address page requests.
  3. Please create news posts for any urgent news, event, or important thing to promote. Anything that is timely should be news and not a page. If you need assistance in determining how to promote or link to this timely content post on a page, please write to  cnr_comm@help.ncsu.edu.
  4. For any requests for creating new post categories, please write to cnr_comm@help.ncsu.edu. We will evaluate the goals and determine category setup.
  5. For requests about old content that is gone, please write to cnr_comm@help.ncsu.edu. There were many pages that had timely or duplicated university page content that we now link to  instead of having our own pages. We can help outline and share the strategy and solutions that are in place.

Theme Information

  • The theme that we are using for both the college and department sites is University Communication’s theme for partners known as the “NC State theme.” This highly flexible and customizable theme allows both utility-based and marketing-focused pages to be built through the use of included modules and other built-in tools.
  • This theme allows us to Create and maintain a website and utilize programming, design, and writing in order to craft the messaging.

Editors and Updates

  • The pages and organization of the site have been setup to meet NC State brand guidelines, utilize current best web practices and to optimize for academic and marketing goals.
  • Due to the research and development that has gone into each web page, if you wish to make edits or changes that go beyond the scope of minor text updates, please contact cnr_help@ncsu.edu so that we can help resolve your request.
  • Please note that in this initial site setup process if your initial approval and input has not been sent to us, please contact us so that we can determine the best strategy to address them.

Preparing Images for Posts and Profiles

There are 2 ways to include images in posts.

Directions

1. Featured Image

All posts have an active Featured Image, which is the preferred way to add a large, quality image to the post.

To use the Featured Image:

  1. Navigate to the Featured Image box in the lower right corner.
  2. Click on the Set Featured Image link.
  3. Add your image to the Media Library by uploading directly from your computer or dragging the image and dropping it into the window.
  4. If you have not resized the image yet, use the crop function in WordPress to resize and crop your image to  1500 x 844 pixels, 72 dpi for size.

2.  Supporting Images

If you have other images to add to the post, use the Add Media function in WordPress above the WYSIWYG.

  • First prepare the image to be 1500 x 844 pixels, 72 dpi in size.
  • When you insert the image in the post, use the Right Aligned and the Medium 300 x 169 Size options.
  • You can also link the image to the Media file (which will open to the full size image) or you can set this to None and have no link.

Image Resources

Resources to assist you with preparing images.

1. Placeholder Image

You can View/Download the Placeholder Image (1500 x 844 pixels) and use this as a template when creating new images.

2. Directions on Cropping/Resizing an Image

3. Post with Images Example

View this Sample Post that has a featured image and supporting image used.

4. Images for Training

Images to use for training

Posts and Categories

The department site uses a variety of categories to help route posts to various views. Current Categories include:

  • Alumni Profiles
  • CNR Frontpage (CNR Marketing/Communication office coordinator will set this for new front page items)
  • Environmental Sciences News
  • Environmental Sciences Student Spotlights
  • Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
  • Graduate Student Profiles
  • International Student Profiles
  • Transfer Student Profiles
  • Undergraduate Student Profiles

Please do not create new categories. If you have a question, or if a new type of news or profile needs to be made, please contact cnr_help@ncsu.edu.

New Alt Tags Optimized Format for Images

Overview

An alternative tag (or “alt tag”) is text that describes the appearance and function of web images for visually impaired users who may be visiting a webpage on screen readers or browsers that can’t process images. This text also plays an important role in boosting the online presence of pages and websites by providing Google and other search engines with important information about an image, making it easier to find and rank in an online search. In order to support both of these needs, we have created an updated optimal alt tag format to support both NC State accessibility standards and to support our performance in search engines.

A new optimized format for Search Engine Optimization

The new optimized format includes several important elements that include:

  • Descriptive text (Describe what you see in the image. Examples: “a student in the forest holding a notebook” or “a deer standing in a field.”)
  • Page title/name (The title of the web page)
  • Department or college name
  • University name
  • A series of dashes to separate each element in the alt tag

The final format recommendations for images for each department/division

Each department or division has an optimized format.

Forestry and Environmental Resources
Description text – Page name – Forestry and Environmental Resources NC State University

College of Natural Resources
Description text – Page name – College of Natural Resources NC State University

Center for Geospatial Analytics
Description text – Page name – Center for Geospatial Analytics NC State University

Example of using the new format

Example: When inserting an alt tag for the image on this page https://cnr.ncsu.edu/extension-outreach/professional-services/, you would use: “Measuring tools and paper – Professional Services – College of Natural Resources NC State University”

Alt Tags Support Materials and Directions

How to use alt tags in images:

Step 1: Upload the image to the WordPress media library.
Step 2: Type your alt tag information in the field labeled  “Alternative Text.”
Step 3: Make sure to use the new format and enter all information.
Step 4: When done, you can close the image window.

Helpful Videos

How to Use Alt Tags

Review these tutorials about alt tags if you need a refresher on how to use alt tags:

For an overview and demo, you can view this recording: 

Tutorial about how to do new Alt Tag Best Practices (New 2021 Format)

https://ncsu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=ccbe72fa-8c51-435b-adc4-ad04010151c0

Setting Categories for Imported Newswire Articles

Overview

Each department has a news site with articles that are imported from both the college news site and NC State Newswire. These articles are imported and automatically published to the site. They do not however have categories set for the departments. As part of best practices and site maintenance, these articles (student profiles, awards, department updates, etc.) should be categorized so that they can be found within the site. 

How to find articles that need categories

Step 1:
Locate imported articles that do not have categories. These articles will have the following labels in the source column: Giving News, NC State News or CNR News.

Step 2:
Hover over the article title and click the “Quick Edit” function.

Step 3:
Choose the appropriate category under the “Categories” section.

Step 4:
Click the “Update” button.

Recordings – Review and Demo Recordings

For overviews or demos, you can view recording: 

Setting Categories for Imported Newswire Articles – CNR Web 2021 Best Practices
https://ncsu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=abf89c74-9892-4684-b854-ad0401072191

Gutenberg Information and Tutorials

Information on the Gutenberg editor and making news posts can be found in this Google Doc.