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The default editor within WordPress has been changed from the Classic Editor to the new Block Editor. The Block Editor allows for more flexibility in the page layout, making it easy to set up columns and rows and colors. In addition, we have added the CoBlocks plugin that adds many new blocks to the Block Editor such as:

  • accordions
  • alerts
  • post carousels
  • image collages
  • social media profiles

Existing sites will continue using the editor that was already in place. New sites will be configured with the Block Editor. It is possible to switch from one editor to the other by going to Settings / Writing and changing the settings for "Default Editor for All Users".

On April 28, the Dartmouth WordPress platform was updated to the latest 5.1.1 version.  This added the option for an improved "block editor", introduced with WordPress version 5.0.  By default, the familiar "classic" editor remains active.  However, site administrators can choose to allow the use of the new editor, as shown with these new options available under Settings / Writing:

screenshot of editor settings

Another new update is that uploaded images and files no longer have a random 6-character string added to the file name.  In the past, if you uploaded my-article.pdf to your website, the file name might be something like my-article-2zsikp.pdf instead.  This no longer occurs, so the file name remains the same.

Last week, we upgraded the WordPress software that runs the sites.dartmouth.edu environment at Dartmouth College.

WordPress 4.8.3 includes important security updates for the WordPress 4.8 "Evans" release that came out in out in June. We updated many of our themes and plugins, and added these two new plugins based on requests from users:

  • Disable Comments - allows you to disable all comments on a site in one step.  For newer sites, comments are off by default, but for older sites, it is a chore to get rid of comments.
  • TinyMCE Advanced - adds additional editing functionality with an expanded toolbar.  This adds support for tables, font types, font sizes - but just because you can do those now doesn't mean you have to!

Questions? Problems? Please contact wordpress@dartmouth.edu.

Last week, we upgraded the WordPress software that runs the sites.dartmouth.edu environment at Dartmouth College.

WordPress 4.7.5 includes important security updates for the WordPress 4.7 release that came out in December. We also added the Twenty Seventeen theme, the latest core WordPress theme.

Questions? Problems? Please contact wordpress@dartmouth.edu.

Twenty Seventeen theme screenshot
Twenty Seventeen theme - just added