VIU Campus

Style Your Site

You can customize the appearance and layout of your VIUBlogs site by selecting a theme and adding or editing widgets. You can also add functionality to your site by enabling site plugins.

Themes

VIUBlog themes control the layout and design of your VIUBlog site. By default, all new VIUBlog sites are created using the twenty seventeen theme. However, if you would change how your site looks and how things are arranged, you can do so by selecting another theme. There are many different themes available that you can select from. Each theme will have customized style settings for where the navigation menu will go, how your posts are displayed, and more. 

  1. In the Dashboard of your VIUBlog site, click Appearance from the navigation sidebar. 

  2. From here, you will see all the currently available themes on VIUBlogs and an example thumbnail of how they will look.

  3. If there is a theme that interests you, you can see how that theme will look on your VIUBlog site by clicking the Live Preview button.

  4. You will now see a preview of how your VIUBlog site will look with that selected theme. To apply that theme to your VIUBlog site, click the Activate & Publish button. If you do not wish to select the theme, click the X icon in the upper left hand corner of the page. 

Once you have found and selected a theme, you can customize some elements of your theme such as the background color, accent color, header image, background image, logos, and more. Exactly what elements can be customized will depend on the theme that you have selected. Some themes provide more customization options then others. Other themes may include elements (such as a header image) that are not available on other themes. 

  1. In the Dashboard of your VIUBlog site, click Appearance from the navigation sidebar. 

  2. Click Customize.

  3. In the customization menu on the left hand side of the screen, you will be given all the different available options for customizing your theme. These options will vary and may be labelled differently depending on the theme you currently have selected. Click on the labels in the navigation menu and follow the prompts given to customize your theme. 

  4. Once you have finished customizing your theme, click the blue Publish button to save your changes. 

Widgets

Widgets are blocks of content that can be added to specific areas of your VIUBlog site. You can add a variety of content to a widget including audio, calendars, images, videos, recent comments, recent posts, customized navigation menus, searchbars, and more.

Exactly where you can add a widget will depend on the theme you have selected, but most themes will allow you to add widgets to the footer or the sidebar of your page. These widgets will be displayed on every page or post on your VIUBlog site.

If you are not seeing the option to add a widget to your site, you may need to select a new theme, as some themes will not allow you to add widgets to your site. 

  1. In the Dashboard of your VIUBlog site, click Appearance from the navigation sidebar. 

  2. Click Customize.

  3. Click Widgets.

  4. If your theme allows you to add widgets in multiple locations, you will see a list of all the available areas that widgets can be added to your VIUBlog site. Click the name of the area you wish to add a widget to. 

  5. Click the Add a Widget button
     
  6. You will see a list of all the available widgets that can be added to your VIUBlog site. Click on the widget you would like to add and follow the prompts given.

  7. Once you have finished adding widgets to your site, click the blue Publish button to save your changes. 

Plugins

Plugins enhance the features or add entirely new functionality to your VIUBlogs site. While you cannot add new plugins to the VIUBlogs network, there are a number of plugins you can choose to enable for your specific site. If there is a functionality you want for your site that is not currently available, suggestions for new plugins can be sent to learnsupport@viu.ca. CIEL staff will evaluate the request for compatibility, security, and privacy and make a determination about whether we can add a theme or plugin after that evaluation.

  1. On the Dashboard of your VIUBlog site, click Plugins in the navigation sidebar.

  2. Find the plugin you want to activate and click Activate.
    • Depending on the plugin, you may be given additional configuration options right away. If you have questions about these options, please email learnsupport@viu.ca