Build a WordPress SPLOT
Difficulty: 4 (rated by author; 1=easy <--> 5=difficult)
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Module: Domain Camp
Category: Domain Camp Week 3
You now have set up at least two WordPress sites, and maybe after the creation of a WordPress based Calling Card site you can sense there is more to using this for a chronologically organized series of posts.
Enter the world of SPLOTs, which might mean Smallest Possible Learning Online Tool (or something else), see https://splot.ca, or better yet, explore a SPLOT that tries to explain SPLOTs
These are all sites that run in WordPress to do relatively small, focused tasks, and more importantly, they can use the affordances of WordPress to allow people to create/contribute content to your site without them needing to create accounts, give away person information, or see the inside of the Dashboard. As a matter if fact, this Activity Bank site was created using a SPLOT WordPress Theme.
You can turn a new WordPress site into a SPLOT like our previous activities, start by deciding where in your domain you want the site (subdomain, directory, directory in a subdomain, installing a new empty wordpress site, downloading the ZIP file for the theme from the Github sites where they are shared, and following some instructions for setting up, and setting options for your SPLOTs.
Meet the SPLOTs!
TRU Image Collector

Create a site for public contributed images, with options to use categories you create to organize, to require image attribution, credit, and to provide a rich text editor for more extensive writing than captions. This SPLOT has been used to have classes create resource collections, event photo sharing, workshop group reporting, class bios, and more.
- SPLOT info http://splot.ca/splots/tru-collector/
- See Examples
- Download Theme and see installation instructions/feature documentation https://github.com/cogdog/tru-collector
SPLOTbox

Like the image collector theme, SPLOTbox is aimed at building a site for a jukebox-like collection of audio and video content from video in YouTube, vimeo, the Internet Archive, SoundCloud, or audio content uploaded to the “box”. A site can require an open content license or optionally a rich text editor for more extensive writing than captions.
- SPLOTbox info http://splot.ca/splots/splotbox/
- See Examples
- Download Theme and see installation instructions/feature documentation https://github.com/cogdog/splotbox
TRU Writer

TRU Writer offers a simple but elegant web publishing platform that lets visitors quickly publish full formatted and media rich articles, essays, papers — without requiring any logins or tracking of personal information. It has been used for creative writing assignments, as a class web site, to publish online journals, as a conference registration system, and as a resource builder.
- SPLOTbox info http://splot.ca/splots/tru-writer/
- See Examples
- Download Theme and see installation instructions/feature documentation https://github.com/truwriter
SPLOTpoint

Power meets the web? Use this SPLOT to create presentations in native web content, with create rich media click through “slides” (they are really just WordPress Posts), big pretty buttons, autogenerated slide lists, and more. You can include notes, links, references, in the area below each “slide”. This is a “SPLOT-ified” version of the Intergalactic free theme with custom modifications for presentations that live on the web.
- SPLOTPoint info http://splot.ca/splots/splotpoint/
- See Examples
- Download Theme and see installation instructions/feature documentation https://github.com/splotpoint
Pick one of these SPLOTs to try in your own domain. You will find the setup takes a few steps beyond the WordPress set up.
See also the full SPLOT collection.
Example for "Build a WordPress SPLOT":
http://show.cogdog.casa/splot
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