WordPress is an open-source CMS (content management system) used to create professional e-portfolios, blogs and websites.

There are two types of WordPress self-hosted and pre-installed.

Our installation of WordPress is pre-installed and is provided by ‘CampusPress’.

As well as the standard WordPress installation it includes a number of additional pre-installed themes and plugins. As your login is linked to your University IT account there is no need for you to remember a different password.

Unlike self-hosted WordPress some areas of the platform are restricted to you, for example you cannot install new plugins or themes. This is to ensure that our install is secure and reliable. 

This blog post provides a good overview of WordPress and how it is used outside of the University: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/wordpress-website

Why would I use WordPress?

Common reasons for you to use WordPress are: 

• You have been asked by your tutor to create a blog for your studies.
• You want to create a reflective blog to record your learning journey.
• You are undertaking a course where you need to learn the skill of creating a professional blog / website.

How can I learn WordPress?

The dominance of WordPress as the most common platform used for creating websites means that there is a huge amount of information and learning materials available for you to learn from.

This site covers the very basics of how to create a site using CampusPress, but there is much more you can do with WordPress if you delve deeper.

If you like written guides, you can start by reading the CampusPress guides: https://docs.campuspress.com/en

Or, if you prefer to learn from videos you may wish to search for the ‘WordPress 5 Essential Training’ course on LinkedInLearning and follow the excellent videos on there.

This page shows how to access LinkedInLearning: https://www.northampton.ac.uk/student-life/university-living-laptops-trips-and-internships/linkedin-learning-for-students/

What’s the difference between CampusPress and MyPAD?

Both of these terms refer to our hosted install of WordPress. CampusPress is the name provided by the company we license the platform from. MyPad is our unique name for this tool which forms part of the URL upon which it is installed: mypad.northampton.ac.uk