Eligibility for ScholarBlogs

ScholarBlogs is not a catch-all hosting service or a replacement for other hosting services at Emory. To maintain scalability of the ScholarBlogs system and its support we must limit the sites in ScholarBlogs to those that meet the following criteria:

• A ScholarBlogs site must be directly related to active teaching or research at Emory.
• A ScholarBlogs site must be sponsored by an instructor (faculty, lecturer, graduate student instructor), staff, or research scientist currently employed by Emory.

Emory University logo use standards

As per Emory University logo use standards and policies, creation and governance of the use of Emory’s logos and trademarks are the responsibility of the Office of University Communications and Public Affairs’ brand team. Emory branding standards do not allow the creation of unique logo designs. All official Emory logos are created by Emory Communications brand team. If you have questions or need assistance with the creation of an official Emory logo, please contact emory [dot] branding [at] emory [dot] edu.

Helpful links for Emory branding:

• Official unit signature full sets— logos for departments, divisions, centers, offices, programs, institutes, laboratories, and initiatives
• Primary Emory University logos
• School-level logos
• Official student organization logo guidelines
• General logo use standards— general information about clear-zones, not altering logos, etc.
• Emory University identity colors and fonts

Site Retention

ScholarBlogs sites will be deleted when their content is determined to be inactive. Inactivity is defined as no new material being added to the site for a period of two or more years. The ScholarBlog administrators will contact the site administrator of record before deleting the site. Only the site administrator of record (usually the person who requested the site) will be contacted. If the site administrator does not respond within two weeks from the inactivity notification date, the site will be deleted. When a site is deleted, it is not retrievable.

Plugin & Theme Installation Requests

ScholarBlog users may request both plugins and themes to be installed in the ScholarBlog system. The ScholarBlog administrators must vet these plugins and themes for functionality, security, and non-redundancy. If any plugin already exists in the ScholarBlog system that approximates the functionality you are requesting, that plugin is considered redundant.

Submit all theme and plugin requests to ecds [at] emory [dot] edu. The ScholarBlog administrators meet twice a semester to review plugin and theme requests, so allow plenty of time for the vetting process.

Do not buy a theme or plugin for installation on ScholarBlogs.  We only install free themes and plugins to avoid violating licensing agreements in the ScholarBlogs multisite environment.

Plugin & Theme Retirement

Plugins and themes are maintained by the open source WordPress community. If a plugin or theme reaches the end of its lifecycle and is no longer being updated, it will likely be retired for security purposes.

Space Quota

ScholarBlog sites are allotted 400 MB of storage. Any storage needs beyond that 400 MB must be hosted on alternate platforms. Typically the threshold is exceeded only by hosting various forms of media within ScholarBlogs. To avoid eclipsing the quota, we recommend site administrators make use of various media hosting platforms like Flickr, Youtube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud and embed that media in ScholarBlogs.

Javascript, PHP Access

For security purposes, no coding-level access is granted to users of the ScholarBlog system.

Deleted Post or Page Retrieval

The entire ScholarBlog system is backed up daily for catastrophic failure recovery. We do not backup individual sites and cannot recover individual sites’ data without overwriting the entire system. It is the sole responsibility of the site administrator to backup his or her site, and we take no responsibility for recovering any accidentally deleted data.

URL Convention

ScholarBlog URLs are in the format scholarblogs.emory.edu/YourSiteNameHere. No other URL conventions exist for ScholarBlogs.

Maintenance Windows

Periodic maintenance must be performed on the ScholarBlog system, which will occasionally result in some site downtime. Announcements about potential outages will be made on the ScholarBlogs homepage at scholarblogs.emory.edu, and we will make every attempt to keep the maintenance windows during low-traffic times.