Faculty members Yoshiko Maruyama and Masahiko Seto created a website companion to the Sura Sura textbook. Created many years ago some of the prevailing web tools of that time had become out-dated. Using WordPress cataloging and menu structures updated the navigation and ease of use of the site. The earlier site was created with HTML and javascript which made updating the content difficult. By migrating the content into WordPress, hosting the audio files on SoundCloud and embedding links into the posts, the new site has an updated look and feel and is easier to keep the content current.
A tooltip plugin allows for mouseover translations and clarification on Japanese text.
We are calling this type of site a resource portal. It touches many students across the years taking Intermediate Japanese. Unlike some of the other blogs highlighted here, this one doesn’t have any student authors. However, leveraging user management and wysiwyg editors native to WordPress this site can have administrators across the years with varying degree of comfort in creating content for the web.