Hosted WordPress
The Hosted WordPress service is geared towards university departments seeking to transition an existing site from another platform to WordPress, or to create a new site from scratch.
Hosted WordPress is a good option if you do not have the technical staff to handle the maintenance over the site’s life cycle. Hosted WordPress has customizable roles for the staff you do have to add and edit content according to your departmental needs. NC State OIT’s Outreach, Communications & Consulting unit also helps with customizing role capabilities, the site’s design, and other design features by special request.
If there are specific features your department needs, you might go ahead and look at our service level agreement for an overview of the terms of service, and at the Hosted WordPress information page to get started.
Cost
$300 / year
Use Cases
- Unit and department websites (eg. Department of Plant Pathology, Howling Cow)
- Research groups and faculty initiatives (eg. Innovation + Design, Environmental Medicine Consortium)
- University programs, centers, and services (eg. Compliance and Ethics, Study Abroad)
Which WordPress?
The following table may help you decide which WordPress service is best for your needs.
| Use Case | DELTA WolfWare WordPress |
OIT WordPress Blog |
OIT Hosted WordPress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free | $300/year |
| Class or training website (restricted to your students) | Yes |
No |
No |
| Class or training website (public) | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Personal website or blog | No |
Yes |
No |
| Full-featured and customizable website for department/unit | No |
No |
Yes |
| Third-level, fourth-level, or non-NCSU domain name | No |
No |
Yes |
| Class blog with student posts | Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Public informational website for a class | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Student website or blog (individual or group project) | No |
Yes |
No |
| Project website (multiple editors, public or restricted access) | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Best Practices
- Hosted WordPress is a managed environment. You will be able to add approved plugins, but non-approved plugins must be submitted to OIT staff for approval.
- Hosted WordPress can accommodate websites with third-level and fourth-level URLs (ie. yourURL.ncsu.edu or yourURL.yourParent.ncsu.edu).
- Websites in Hosted WordPress are not permitted to accept, receive, or transmit any sort of credit card information
Additional Resources
- List of themes available by default on Hosted WordPress
- List of plugins available by default on Hosted WordPress
- Video tutorials for common tasks
- Frequently Asked Questions
- OIT Design hosts WordPress office hours every Friday from 9am to 12pm in Room 106 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. Contact oitdesign@ncsu.edu for details.