At SUNY Oneonta, we convinced our leadership to continue to invest in open instead of purchasing commercial ePortfolio software. We will use our OpenLab and WordPress as the basis of a digital ePortfolio initiative. Over the summer, we have embarked on a project to simplify the onboarding experience for students, including commissioning a custom SSO solution for our WordPress Multisite that we call the OpenLab, writing a custom theme for our eportfolios, and simplifying Full Site Editing WordPress Experience through site templates, theme.json manipulation, and custom PHP code that removes parts of the Gutenberg editor for students.

Working with a team of student interns that serve both as designers and student voice into what students are looking for from a web solution. Students created or modified 58 patterns specifically designed for ePortfolios. Through their feedback, we disabled the WordPress.org patterns and provide only the patterns we have created that are made for ePortfolio work. We have also disabled appearance tools in the Gutenberg Editor removing the complexity of padding, spacing, margins, and advanced design tools. Other pieces of Gutenberg were removed from the Post Editor, but will still remain available to students in the Site Editor.

Students will still have access to the full features of WordPress through our other themes, but our custom starter theme is meant to provide a softer landing space as we introduce students to the world of ePortfolios.