What is a Widget?
WordPress Widgets aggregate content from their unique Content Types to the Sidebars and Content Areas of your Homepage. Examples are the Spotlight Widget/Content Type, Upcoming Events Widget/Content Type, Rotating Banner Widget/Content Type. Most Widgets are available to be removed/added from your website, or re-positioned by contacting the Help Desk. The only exceptions are the Rotating Banner, Spotlight, and Quick Links section, which cannot be removed from your site, but can be re-positioned.
For a live demonstration of all the available Widgets — please refer to this website’s Homepage, where all available Widgets are enabled. You can click on each Widget to learn more about using it and it’s related Content Type.
During the content migration from your old school website to the new WordPress website, any Widget that did not have pre-existing content was disabled.
What is a Content Type?
There are multiple Content Types available that all have a proper use and different function. Most Content Types populate their respective Widgets, or Display Pages. For example, when creating an Event, it will be displayed in the ‘Upcoming Events’ Widget on your Homepage as well as the ‘Calendar’ and ‘Events Listing’ pages. Some Content Types, such as Events, rely on having a Page for their items to be displayed. These ‘Display Pages’ must not be moved from their menu position to function properly.
Display Pages Overview
The following is a list of pages that must not be moved from their original menu position. Their order in the menu can be changed, by assigning a different Order number, in the Page Attributes section, but their Parent page may not be changed from their original position. These pages rely on Content Types to populate them and if moved, will no longer function.
If you wish to not use one of these, do not delete them, set them to Draft.
| Display Page | Top-Level Menu Location | Controlling Content Type |
|---|---|---|
| News | News & Events | News Content Type |
| Newsletter | News & Events | Newsletter Content Type |
| Announcements | News & Events | Announcements Content Type |
| Calendar | News & Events | Events Content Type |
| Events Listing | News & Events | Events Content Type |
| Photo Gallery | Our School | Photo Gallery Content Type |
| Contact / Directions | Our School | Can only be changed by the Help Desk |
What Widgets and Content Types are Available, and How do I Use Them?
All of the available Widgets are displayed on this site’s Homepage, please refer to it for a live demonstration of the Widget. Click on each Widget for an over view of the Widget and a guide on it’s respective Content Type. Any Content Type with no Widget will be listed in the menu on the left.
Content Type Overview
| Content Type | Description | Related Widget | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Pages | These basic pages are the most common content type and are used to build pages that require no extra functionality beyond basic content and images. | |
 | News | These are quick-hit news items that will be displayed on the front page of your website. These could include announcements, and blog-style entries. | Latest News |
 | Newsletter | These are regularly scheduled newsletters. An HTML and PDF version of the newsletter may be included. | Newsletter |
 | Spotlight | This appears at the top of the homepage. This can contain an image and some text content. The spotlight is used to highlight important announcements. | Spotlight |
 | Announcements | Similar to the 'News' content type. Unlike 'News,' these items appear only on the 'Announcements' page and do no appear on the homepage. | Daily Announcements |
 | Media | The collected media (images, movies, audio) uploaded to the website. | |
 | Principal Blog | Allows the school principal to keep a blog. Displays on the homepage and also under the 'Staff Info' section. | Principal Blog |
 | Photo Gallery | Collect and display photos in a slideshow-style photo gallery. | |
 | Quick Links | Add useful links to the homepage of the website. | Quick Links |
 | Alerts | Appears as a highly visible alert notice at the top of the website on all pages. This is used to relay very important information to website visitors such as community-wide alerts. | |
 | Forms | Create and manage various forms across the website. | |
 | Events | Manage school events that appear on the 'Calendar of Events' and in the 'Events Listing.' | Upcoming Events |
 | TablePress | Used to easily edit and curate tables around the website, including the 'Administration Staff' and 'Teaching Staff' tables. Also used for the creation of new tables. | |
 | GVSD Settings | These settings control the look of the website (colours, banners, background, font, etc...). |
Widget Overview
For an example of each Widget, please refer to the homepage of this site. If you would like to enable or disable any of these Widgets, please contact the Help Desk.
| Widget | Description |
|---|---|
| Quick Links | Quick Links are used to display important links directly on the left sidebar of the homepage. The Quick Links widget cannot be removed. |
| Latest News | Latest News displays, by default, three of the latest News content type posts. This widget can be moved up or down the left sidebar, or can be removed completely. The number of posts it displays can also be modified. This widget is populated by the News Content Type. |
| Upcoming Events | The Upcoming Events widget displays, by default, three of the latest Events, and will only be displayed if there are upcoming events. This widget can be moved up or down the left sidebar, or can be removed completely. The number of posts it displays can also be modified. This widget is populated by the Events Content Type. |
| Newsletter | The Newsletter widget displays a link to the latest Newsletter. This widget can be moved up or down the left sidebar, or can be removed completely. The colour of the rectangle that this widget displays is controlled by the base colour chosen for your website. The Newsletter widget is populated by the Newsletter Content Type. |
| Daily Announcements | The Daily Announcements widget displays a link to your Announcements page. This widget can be moved up or down the left sidebar, or can be removed completely. This page is populated by the Announcements Content Type. |
| Spotlight | The Spotlight displays an excerpt of text and featured image from the most recent Spotlight Content Type post. This Widget is mainly used for displaying high-importance news that you want to highlight, and differentiate from other news on the website. |
| Rotating Banner | The Rotating Banner displays up to 20 images on your homepage. All images that will be used as slides in the Rotating Banner must be resized to 850px by 450px to be displayed on the homepage correctly. The Rotating Banner is populated by the Rotating Banner Content Type. |
| Homepage Video | Videos can be added to your homepage in the middle, or right columns. This feature is available to you, but must be enabled by help desk. Once the video is on your homepage, you will also have to contact the Help Desk if you want it to be changed at all. |
| Principal Blog | The Principal Blog Widget displays, by default, a single latest Principal Blog Content Type post. This widget can be moved up or down the middle column, or can be removed completely. The number of posts it displays can also be changed. This widget is populated by the Principal Blog Content Type post. |
| Dynamic Content Widget | The Dynamic Content Widget displays an excerpt of text from the any specified Page. This widget can be moved up or down the middle column, or can be removed completely. You can edit the content this this widget displays by editing the Page it is displaying. |
| School Hours | This is simply a block of text displaying your school's hours on the left sidebar. This must be enabled by the Help Desk, and is only editable by the Help Desk. |