Sending Emails from WordPress

All emails sent by WordPress will come from wordpress-notifications@palomar.edu. While WordPress will not use any custom “from” addresses that you configure, you can configure a reply-to email address to allow recipients to respond directly to you or your team.

Set a Reply-To Address in Gravity Forms Notifications

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the Forms section.
  2. Locate the form for which you want to update email notifications and click on the title of the form to open its settings.
  3. In the form editor, click on the Settings menu and select Notifications.
  4. Choose the notification you want to update (e.g., “Admin Notification” or “User Notification”).
  5. Locate the Reply-To field and enter the desired email address you want recipients to use when replying (e.g., yourname@palomar.edu or team@palomar.edu).
  6. Click Update Notification to apply your changes.

Common Questions

Why can’t I change the from address?
For security and consistency, the from address for all WordPress emails is now set to wordpress-notifications@palomar.edu. This ensures emails sent from our system comply with institutional email policies and avoid being flagged as spam.

What happens if I don’t set a reply-to address?
If you don’t set a reply-to address, email recipients will not have an option to respond directly to you or your team. The default from address (wordpress-notifications@palomar.edu) is not monitored, so it’s essential to configure a reply-to address for forms or notifications requiring user interaction.

What if I use something other than Gravity Forms to send email?
If you are using another WordPress feature to send email, you will need to set the reply-to address using whatever options that feature offers. If you encounter any issues or need additional guidance, please open an ATRC help ticket or call us at (760) 744-1150 ext. 2862.

MetaSlider Pro

MetaSlider Pro for WordPress

MetaSlider Pro is very simple to use. Here are a few key points to get started:

  1. Decide which slide type you’ll want.
  2. Next, choose which slideshow theme fits best.
  3. Slideshows are most user-friendly when navigation is present.
  4. Finally, don’t forget the captions on image slideshows!

For more intermediate uses or for one-on-one training, please visit the ATRC Appointments page to book a session.

TablePress

TablePress is a WordPress plugin that allows for the easy creation and maintenance of tables for your WordPress site. All styling has been taken care of and all you have to do is create the table and place it in a WordPress page. Please see these resources for more information:

For one-on-one training, please visit the ATRC Appointments page to book a session.

Yoast SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a primary key to getting your content ranked highly by search engines. The links below will guide you through the process of configuring Yoast SEO for your site.

Before you can view them, you will be required to initiate a free account with Yoast. The course consists of nine (9) modules, feel free to go through them all. If you’re in a pinch for time, these four could get you going quickly:

For one-on-one training, please visit the ATRC Appointments page to book a session.

Getting Started with the Site-Checking Tool (Acquia Optimize)

What is Acquia Optimize?

Please note that “Monsido” is now “Acquia Optimize,”  or sometimes just “Optimize.” We are working on changing this nomenclature throughout our systems but wanted to let you know immediately to avoid any confusion.

Acquia Optimize is a powerful site-checking tool that allows you to quickly find and fix quality and accessibility issues on your website(s). This article aims at four primary learning objectives with how-to videos provided (note: chapter markers are included!)

  1. General understanding of the Acquia Optimize dashboard and the modules (13:45).
  2. Working with the accessibility module (15:45).
  3. Working with the quality assurance module (15:00).
  4. How to use the Acquia Optimize Browser Extension (15:35).

The Browser Extension

Before you get started on the Acquia Optimize dashboard, there are a couple of ways to add the Acquia Optimize Browser Extension to your preferred browser:

  1. Log into Acquia Optimize through Palomar’s SSO Portal
    1. Choose the Acquia Optimize tile to visit the dashboard.
    2. If the browser extension is not installed, you should see a prompt to install it.
    3. Install the extension and pin it to the browser bar.
    4. A browser restart is necessary if the extension prompts you to log in again.
  2. Visit this Acquia Optimize Browser Extension article and follow the instructions and links for the browser of your choice.

It Works with WordPress

The browser extension is most useful when you are already logged into WordPress (aka, CMS). Please visit WordPress Central to get logged into WordPress quickly.

Important note: all issues on a given page show on the browser extension.

Additional Reading

Acquia Optimize’s online help documentation is extremely thorough. Please follow the links below to learn more about each item.

The Contact Block

You might have noticed an area in the right sidebar that contains contact information (possibly just an email address!) This is the Contact Block and we included this as part of our 2022 design theme.

You can get to settings for this area by visiting Options from the WordPress dashboard. If you’d rather see a demonstration, here is a short tour of the Contact Block.

How to Disable Commenting in WordPress

If you do not have an active blog for which you want to moderate comments, please do the following for each site you manage:

  • Log into the WordPress dashboard.
  • Visit Settings > Discussion > Default post settings.
    • Uncheck all three checkboxes.

To clear any manual overrides on pages or posts, do the following:

  • Visit Posts (or, Pages) > All Posts (or, Pages) > Published.
    • On each post or page, hover the title and choose “Quick Edit”.
    • Uncheck “Allow Comments” and “Allow Pings”.
    • Chose the “Update” button.

To view the comments that have come in, visit Comments from the WordPress dashboard. Look for the “In response to” column where you will have the ability to view the post or page on which the comment occurs. From this area comments can be deleted or subject to status change.

The WordPress Block Editor

Chris Norcross’ Block Editor workshops are a must-see for any content manager. Divided into two sections, basic and advanced, Chris covers a large amount of helpful material.

Using the WordPress Block Editor (Spring 2023)

Learn how to take full advantage of the new WordPress Block Editor. This workshop will help site admins switch from the Classic Editor to the Block Editor and demonstrate how to use it when crafting pages and posts.

Advanced WordPress: Block Editor Tips and Tricks (Spring 2023)

Please take the time to watch the video, below. Until you do, here are the help articles referenced in the workshop: