Previously known as Edublogs
Every student and member of staff has access to CampusPress (MyPAD), a customised installation of WordPress.
To access CampusPress, go to https://mypad.northampton.ac.uk, click the link 'CLICK HERE TO BEGIN YOUR WORDPRESS JOURNEY' and then log in with your usual University/IT login details.
You will find the links to the user guides on the Campus Press Home Page, these include the guide 'How to create a basic wordpress site with CampusPress' which has been created for UON students and covers all aspects of setting up a site including how to log in, set a theme, create a menu, add content and publish the site.
There are also links to the extensive CampusPress User Guides and tutorials covering Wordpress on LinkedIn learning.
Students and staff can use the pre-installed plugins and templates that are installed by the tool provider, CampusPress, but you can not manually add others.
The privacy of all sites can be set in the reading settings. Options to make each blog private, password protected, or full public access are available.
Tutors can set up a class blog to set a deadline for an assessment, when this is required we recommend contacting your Learning Technologist to work through this with you.
The CampusPress (MyPAD) tool is licensed by the University to support student blogging. Its primary use is for students to create portfolios/blogs/websites that are rich in design and media.
CampusPress uses the WordPress platform which is widely used to create professional websites. WordPress is a very flexible platform where users can create fully functioning websites using a wide range of themes and plugins. Learning these skills takes time, but is of considerable value to students as these transferable digital skills can support students in their careers.
Users will need good digital skills and will need to invest time to learn how to use WordPress: for these reasons it is usually used for substantial projects, and/or where students will be taught to use WordPress as part of their studies. Compared to the journal tool in NILE, CampusPress is much more feature-rich and flexible, and as a result users are advised to follow the UON How to create a basic site with CampusPress site, and/or review the CampusPress official guides to get the full benefit of the options available.
Before using CampusPress with students, academic staff who are not familiar with WordPress are strongly advised to learn the basics, and to build their own CampusPress site so that they have experience of using it.
Academic staff can receive training and support on the use of CampusPress for teaching and learning. Training will involve the basics of accessing the platform, setting up a simple site and sign-posting to the user guides. Due to the range of options available, the Learning Technology Team are unable to support the development of individual sites, but staff can contact CampusPress directly should they have a particularly complex request.
Yes, creating your own personal blog is a good way to learn the basics of the platform, and while in development you can set the privacy so that your blog/website is not visible to anyone else.
No. The University states (in the approved NILE Design Standards) that all teaching and learning materials must be available on each module's official NILE course.
Yes. All staff and students have access to CampusPress and can independently create as many sites as they wish. However please keep in mind that access to CampusPress will end when students finish their studies (or when staff leave the University).
CampusPress is licenced annually by the University. While there are no plans to discontinue use of the platform, neither is there a long-term commitment which guarantees that the platform will be available indefinitely.