Posting News from Other Websites

Want to share news from another website? Maybe someone in your group was quoted in a Record story or news article, or a faculty member wrote a guest post for another publication. That’s great news to share!

We have a special tool that allows you to share such news in a way that looks consistent with your other posts, appeases search engines and avoids legal troubles.

Sharing a link from an external news source

1. From the left menu of your site’s dashboard, go to Plugins and activate WashU News Links for Posts. (You’ll only need to do this once.)
2. Create a new post with just a title. Leave the body of the post blank.
3. Below the content editor is a module called WashU News Links for Posts. Paste the article’s URL in the External URL field and fill out the Source Name (e.g., St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

4. (Optional, but recommended) Add a featured image, categories and an excerpt. Do not use any images without first securing all necessary rights, permissions and licensing agreements.
5. In the Status & Visibility section of the page’s right settings panel, adjust the published date to match the article’s publication date by clicking the hyperlinked date and time.
6. Click Publish.

The author of a post defaults to list the person who created the post. Since this is external content, you may also wish to set a new post author.

Examples of external news links

When creating a post that will link to an off-site news story, leave the body of the post blank, but fill in the External URL and Source Name.

The Latest Posts block below features two posts that link externally using the WashU News Links for Posts plugin. An arrow symbol at the end of each post’s title indicates that the posts link off to an external site.

Microbiome researcher Jeffrey Gordon wins Copley Medal (Links to an external site)

The Royal Society May 31, 2018

Gordon is honored for his studies of human gut microbial communities which have led to a fundamental shift in the way scientists understand the relationship between microbes, health and disease. His discoveries have shed new light on, among other things, the origins of two pressing global health problems: obesity and childhood malnutrition.

WashU Expert: Dantas advice to Trump Administration (Links to an external site)

The Source May 2, 2017

President Trump touts his interest in promoting American greatness. I implore him and his team to champion the scientific process as a necessary pillar in achieving such greatness.

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