Promote Your Project

The TL;DR

Sites on the Commons allow for quick setup – users or groups can easily create a blog or site that doesn’t require coding experience
Full site editing allows for easy customization, making it possible to create a clean, aesthetically pleasing design
The Commons’ high findability in Google’s indexing can make projects more locatable within search results

Share what you’re working on.

Imagine you’re:

Leading a research lab of 5 art historians who are creating a podcast on local art within your community. You host your podcast episodes on all the major streaming platforms, but you’d like to create a website where you can link to both your weekly episodes and supplementary content, such as pictures of the artwork mentioned and links to related articles.
Working on your first novel, which you started writing as part of your creative writing MFA program. You’d like to create a blog where you reflect on the process of turning a short story from your portfolio into a longer work.
Hosting a mini-conference amongst a group of music theory colleagues. You’d like to develop a website where you can post the Call For Papers and details on how to access the conference.

For all of these projects, Humanities Commons sites are an ideal place to get started. With a variety of themes available, it’s easy to find one that fits with the visual style of the project. Once you choose a theme, you can quickly add content, images, and links to customize the look and feel of the site. The creation of your site can take as much or as little time as you’d like, and part of what makes sites useful is you don’t need to do any custom coding. Using the block editor in WordPress is particularly helpful for creating a nice-looking site quickly.

Screenshot of the WordPress "Themes" browsing page with six different website theme examples. — *Selection of current customizable themes available on the Commons*

In addition to developing a website, the leaders of these projects may also want to consider how they could leverage other areas of the Commons to enhance awareness of their projects. The CORE repository’s high ranking in search engines (including automatic indexing with Google Scholar) makes it easier for a project to be discovered by a broad audience. So, in order to get even more interest around their podcast and receive a DOI for their work, the team of art historians might deposit a few episodes into CORE. The only caveat is CORE has a size limit of 100 MB, so the team may only be able to upload a few of the shorter episodes.

Screenshot of the page for the CORE Repository on the Humanities Commons Website — *The CORE Repository on the Commons*

Once you’ve added content to the Commons, you’re ready to share it with the world. The next step in spreading the word is to start with the tools available on the Commons. Posting on the news feed or discussion board in a Commons group is one way to find an audience who is already interested in your topic. For example, the music theory mini-conference site could be shared in any of the music history or theory groups on the Commons. Additionally, leveraging other social networks like Mastodon, Facebook, and Twitter is vital, as this will drive more traffic to your project beyond Commons users. Even just a few regularly scheduled posts with a link to your site and a short description of your posts or updates can go a long way.

Screenshot of the Groups page on the Humanities Commons. Featured is the "Getting Started with MSU Commons" group. — *Groups, like “Getting Started with MSU Commons” on the Commons*

FAQs

Question	Answer
Is my project right for a Commons site?	Overall, Humanities Commons offers enough tools and features so that any project of an academic nature has a place on the Commons. However, for the security of our network, we do have to limit some customization options in WordPress. If you’re looking to create a large-scale project with extensive customization of your site, you may want to consider other options. Contact us at hello@hcommons.org to discuss this further!
Why can’t I add certain WordPress themes or plugins to my site?	For security purposes, we limit some of the theme and plugin options available to our users. If you’d like to request a plugin or an added theme, email us at hello@hcommons.org.
Can I create a custom URL for my site?	All sites in the Commons network contain the .hcommons.org domain name. We do not offer custom URLs at this time.
I’ve never used WordPress before and am not sure where to start. Any suggestions?	There are many tutorials around the web for users who are new to WordPress. Although full-site editing is relatively new, this help guide on full-site editing is a great place to get started. WordPress’s official tutorials are thorough, and there is plenty of additional support online as well.