CLAS Faculty Web Pages

A Quick Start Guide For Basic Page Setup

This help guide is to guide faculty to perform basic page setup of their personal
CLAS page including: add a new widget to the page, add a picture(personal
photograph), change background theme.

We hope you find that this help tutorial serves you well in creating a personal
styling to your faculty page. Faculty are very busy and we understand time is short for
performing updates to profile pages. However, by using our tutorial, you can create a
simple, elegant page that will look attractive to other individuals outside the UNCC
network should they wish to view your personal profile.

By
Michael Berthold & Chris Huff
To: Dr. Gregory Wickliff
Faculty of UNC Charlotte
Date: April 6, 2016

*Note: You will need to log in to the main CLAS faculty page to access the editing tools:
https://clasconnections.uncc.edu/.

Getting Started
From the main CLAS Connections page, locate the CLAS Connections button
located in the top right navigational pane, colored in green.
Locate Connec&on Update.
Click CLAS Connec&ons > Log In.
Enter your Niner faculty creden5als.
You will now be redirected to the WordPress edi5ng dashboard.
Note: A picture reference is provided from the above steps illustrated below
By
Michael Berthold & Chris Huff

Step 1

Step 2

ii

Step 3

Step4

iii

Table of Contents
Logging in Instruc5ons

i.

Introduc5on and Methodology

1.

Key ndings

1.

Conclusion and Recommenda5on

2.

Instruc5ons to setup widget

3.

Instruc5ons to add personal photo to prole

4.

Instruc5ons to change header

5.

iii

Execu1ve Summary

The purpose of this usability study is
to examine the dicul5es and areas for
improvement that would benet the users in
their ability to edit their UNC CharloPe CLS
page. We learned instrumental knowledge in
this pursuit in areas that most of our users
found diculty in.

For our test subjects we recruited a
variety of users with dierent experiences
with the WordPress soUware and had them
complete a total of 3 tasks in order to asses
the limita5ons of the program. Our tasks
included: 1) add a new Widget to their page,
2) upload a picture to the library, and 3) add
a new image to the current header.

All of our test subjects struggled in
dierent areas mostly contributed to learning
the interface but all did eventually complete
all the tasks. In our exit interview with the
par5cipants we were informed that a basic
quick guide to learn the nuances of the
interface.

Introduc1on

For a few semesters, faculty in the
Communica5on Department at UNCC have
used the Program WordPress in order to
create a mobile pla]orm to show their
scholas5c proles.

This semesters 4181 English class
provides a guide for common ambigui5es in
u5lizing basic func5onali5es of WordPress as
it relates to their faculty CLS page.

Methodology

The users were recruited mainly
through word of mouth or through email
contact. The usability test was conducted by
two students: Chris Hu and Michael
Berthold. Since our group was small, we took
on dual roles when performing the tests,
usually by being a reader and a note taker at
the same 5me. The test dura5on was design
to last between three to ve minutes. We

decided that our ques5ons should take a

maximum of a minute, but we did add in
extra 5me to our overall assessment in the
case the user has ques5ons about the test
ques5ons. The tes5ng was completed on a
laptop that used a webcam to record user
facial expression and also to provide screen
capture for recording their interface
naviga5on. We also expressed, as a nal
disclaimer, to each step that we would not
provide any help for showing them how to
complete a task. Instead, we provided clarity
to the ques5on or would ask them their
thought process along the way if we no5ced
a frustrated look.

We asked users to add a new Widget
to their page, upload a picture to the library,
and add a new image to the current header.
Each user had his or her own level of
frustra5on in trying to complete that task.
Mainly the frustra5on was due to lack of
experience in using the interface.

Key Findings
Based on the user tests, we found that
many of the basic func5onali5es for adding
pictures, changing backgrounds, or adding
widgets proved troublesome for both our
testers. Both users seemed to think there
was a widget labeled "add" for crea5ng new
content on their pages, however no such
buPon existed. We were surprised to nd,
especially from tes5ng user 1 who has
previous WordPress experience, that he
showed diculty using the basic edi5ng
features.
Another key nding included user
confusion of the edi5ng interface. We found
that user 1 believed all the edi5ng tools were
located within the actual faculty page itself,
rather than the WordPress edi5ng tool.
Nothing in our instruc5on set indicated tool
loca5on on the faculty page yet user 1 was
very confused as indicated through the video
recording, along with confused looks and

Page 1

repeatedly asking the testers "where's the

add buPon?"

It took both the rst and the second
tasks before the user was able to comfortably
perform task 3 which was to change the
background header theme. Both users
indicated changing the background theme
was the easiest. They noted through the
video recording that an actual buPon labeled
"change background" helped them to nd
that op5on. AUer the tests were completed,
they discovered more of the basic
func5onali5es of the edi5ng tools by playing
with the interface. One user was able to
change the font color and size without us
having to provide help.

We also concluded that user 1 may
have misinterpreted our steps in the list of
test ques5ons. AUer test 1, we had the idea
to re-word the ques5ons in hopes to make
bePer sense for the next user without giving
away hints for comple5ng steps. We wanted
to disprove that our test ques5ons were too
vague or misleading however. We kept the
ques5oning in place for test 2 and no5ced
the user seemed to bePer follow our tes5ng
methods.

Conclusions and Recommenda1ons

Both users ini5ally found the interface
to be cumbersome upon rst glance and we
no5ced a lot of eye dar5ng and leaning in
towards the screen to nd points of
reference. Tes5ng on smaller screens could
have impacted the results slightly, but this
was only aUer tes5ng results were nished
and conclusions reached.
AUer reviewing key ndings,
collec5ng data, and reviewing video feedback
from our users, basic edi5ng func5onali5es
proved to be dicult for 1) adding pictures,
2) changing backgrounds, and 3) adding
widgets.

We concluded that a basic quick guide
would provide users a way to manipulate
basic informa5on on their webpage. By
crea5ng a quick guide for adding a photo,
changing a background theme, and adding a
widget, such as a calendar, an eec5ve guide
would give the faculty members a way to
display a unique page without overwhelming
them with extensive how-to informa5on.
Since these tasks we asked the users to
perform were basic in nature, the user
should be able to manipulate more in-depth
features aUer mastery of our quick start
guide.

Page 2

Steps to perform basic CLAS page edi1ng:

1. Add a new widget to your prole page. For example, a calendar:

Add Widget

Page 3

2. Add a personal photo of yourself to your prole:

Add Picture

Page 4

3. Change Header Image

Chang Header Image

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