Introduction
Starting my digital literacy journey in EDCI 136, one of the first tasks I encountered was setting up WordPress, a platform widely used for blogging, websites, and online publishing. While I’ve used different platforms before, this was my first time creating a space dedicated to structured academic reflections.
WordPress offers customization and simplicity, but it also requires thoughtful decisions about privacy, audience, and digital identity. This post reflects on my experience setting up my blog, customizing it, and considering how privacy settings impact online presence.
Designing My Blog: Themes, Layouts & First Impressions
Creating a blog isn’t just about writing, it’s about designing a space that feels organized, readable, and visually engaging.
Steps I Took to Customize My Blog:
- Choosing a Theme – I explored different options, looking for a balance between readability and aesthetics. Themes can be minimalist, creative, or highly structured.
- Getting Familiar with the Interface – Instead of making major customizations, I focused on understanding WordPress’s layout, including how to organize posts and navigate the dashboard.
- Mastering the Block Editor – The block-based editor was a shift from traditional word processors, but its drag-and-drop flexibility made structuring posts easier.
While WordPress simplifies digital publishing, the learning curve involves understanding how to integrate multimedia, format posts, and enhance accessibility.
Privacy Considerations & Blog Visibility
One of the critical choices when setting up my blog was deciding on privacy settings. Provided to me were the following options:
- Allow search engines to index this site (Yes/No) – Choosing “Yes” makes the blog publicly discoverable via search engines like Google, while “No” restricts visibility.
- Visible only to registered users of this network – Limits access to users within the EDCI 136 network.
- Visible only to registered users of this site – Restricts access to those with an account on the course blog system.
- Visible only to administrators of this site – Keeps the blog completely private.
I had to consider who my audience should be. Should my reflections be openly accessible to a broader audience, or should I keep them within the course community? Balancing openness and privacy is a key aspect of digital literacy. While sharing publicly fosters engagement and networking, limiting visibility provides more control over content.
Privacy settings are an essential part of digital literacy—understanding who has access to your content is key to managing your online identity.
Digital Literacy & Online Presence
Managing a WordPress blog is more than just writing, it involves:
- Content credibility – Ensuring posts are well-researched and cited.
- Audience engagement – Using hyperlinks, embedded media, and comments to foster discussion.
- Digital footprint – Understanding how blog content contributes to an online presence and its long-term visibility.
This connects to information literacy and the responsibility of sharing content in open spaces. Blogging is both a creative and critical-thinking process.
Next Steps
Going forward, I plan to:
- Experiment with different post formats, such as embedded media or infographics.
- Engage more with my peers’ blogs by reading and commenting.
- Learn how to effectively integrate hyperlinks and media to make posts more interactive.
Question for readers: What privacy settings do you use for your blog, and why? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
Final Thoughts
Setting up this WordPress blog was a useful introduction to digital authorship and online identity. It’s a work in progress, but I’m looking forward to using this space for reflection, discussion, and learning.
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