Information Services

DIY blog

A service to enable more technical users to develop a more bespoke blog.

In the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences?

Please note that the College's digital innovation team may be able to assist you with a DIY blog. You may want to speak to them initially.

What are DIY Blogs? 

This service is ideal if you wish to create and manage your own WordPress instance on a University supported infrastructure. This option gives you more freedom and advanced options than blogs.ed.ac.uk whilst still being technically based within the University scope. It is free unless research-related in which case you may have to pay a certain fee. 

 

Key Features 

  • Free (unless research) 

  • Domain of choice (ed.ac.uk or other) 

  • Advanced customisation 

  • Possibility of partnership with external organisations 

  • Some knowledge of WordPress is required - plugins/themes

Recommended for

Research Blogs and Departmental Community Blogs.   

How to request a DIY blog for teaching and learning

There is a form to fill in to request web space for a blog. Follow the instructions given at:

How to request a research-related DIY blog

You may need to pay for hosting for a research related DIY blog. The annual costs for hosting will include the website and database required to run WordPress. Once the space has been requested and paid for, you’ll follow the same process as with a teaching and learning blog. Please see information at:

Maintaining your DIY blog

Once we’ve set up your Web Hosting space, and you’ve installed WordPress, it is up to you to ensure your new site is kept up-to-date and secure.

Useful links

Lynda.com has a lot helpful training material about WordPress on it, including the following helpful videos (remember to log-in to Lynda!):

Getting a DIY blog

Get more information on the steps to take to get a DIY blog.