Support Documentation

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Sites at Penn State and WordPress, from basic WordPress features to theme and plugin set-up instructions.

Create a Blog or Website

Log In with WebAccess

To create a site, one must log in using an official Penn State Access ID.

Friends of Penn State accounts

As of August 12, 2016, Friends of Penn State (FPS) accounts will no longer be supported by Sites at Penn State. If you currently have FPS Users as content authors or subscribers and they still require access to your site and do not currently have Penn State affiliation, please refer to the Sponsored Accounts page for information on requirements for access. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Create your first site

  1. Visit sites.psu.edu and click on the Create A Site button
  2. Log in with your Penn State Access Account ID
  3. Pick your Site Address
    • The site address must be at least 4 characters and can only contain letters and numbers (no spaces or special characters). Once created, it cannot be changed.
  4. Pick your Site Title
    • The site title will typically display in your site’s header, but also as the text in a open browser tab. (This can be changed at any time.)
  5. Set Privacy
  6. Click the “Create Site” button

Creating additional sites

You can create an additional site using the same “Create a Site” process as your first site. Or you can go to Dashboard > My sites > Create a New Site

How many sites can I create?

You can create up to 25 blogs per user and up to 5 blogs per day. For certain users (e.g. department webmasters, faculty) this limit can be lifted.

Domain Name

Changing your Site Name/URL/Address

As in from sites.psu.edu/currentname to sites.psu.edu/somethingdifferent)

Once you have created a site and chosen a URL (e.g. sites.psu.edu/currentname), you cannot directly change/edit it to a different URL (e.g. sites.psu.edu/somethingdifferent). You must create a new site with your preferred URL. However, if you already have done significant work and customizations to your site, you may be better off using the Site Cloner plugin to clone your site. This plugin enables you to clone the entire site, including activated plugins, theme customizations, content, and setting to an entirely new site with a new URL of your choice.

psu.edu Mapped Domains

If your site is a departmental site or official Penn State organization, please Submit a Request and our team will request the domain and map it to your Sites at Penn State WordPress site. If you represent a student club and it is listed as a University Affiliate organization in the Student Affairs Student Organization Directory, a custom url may be possible. For a club to get this approval it must contact Student Affairs, Office of Student Activities: studentorg@psu.edu before submitting the request to Sites at Penn State.

Other Domain Names

Registered domains such as .com, .net, .org, etc. are currently not supported.
Paragraph g. under System Users in AD20 states:

“System users must not register Computer and Network Resources that have Internet addresses within the Penn State Internet domain under any non-Penn State domain name. System users must not provide Domain Name Service for any non-Penn State Computer and Network Resource.”

Change Site Title and Tagline

Step-by-step instructions on how to change your site title and tagline (external link):

“Your blog title and tagline are one of the first things a reader sees when visiting your blog. The blog title is displayed in the title bar of a web browser and in the header of most themes. Your blog title is one of the first things a reader sees when visiting your blog.  Choose a name that reflects the purpose of your class blog and your students can relate to.”