How can you manage 48 WordPress sites at once? It’s a tall order, but at the Southern Tier Library System (STLS) we’ve accepted the challenge, and we’re excited to share what’s worked and what hasn’t. At STLS, 48 public library outlets each have their own, unique online presence in the form of a WordPress website. Staff tech skills at each library range from experienced web designers to first-time computer users. In order to support users with a broad range of experience and expertise, who also want to have a unique and distinct presence online, we’ve curated a list of recommended plugins and themes that are accessibility friendly and help keep sites up to date.
In this session, we’ll share our list of themes and plugins that are working well across 48 sites, as well as some that we’ve tried that haven’t worked out. We’ll also delve deeper into a few plugins that help keep sites running smoothly, automatically – without someone logging in to manage updates. We’re focused on creating sites that are accessible and sustainable, and we’ll also discuss our process for establishing a list of best practices for new WordPress users, leading workshops about WordPress, and sharing news about big changes, like Gutenberg, in a non-scary way.