Geneseo OpenLab is a network of websites built with the open-source content management system WordPress and managed by Geneseo’s Center for Digital Learning. It lives on server infrastructure made possible by a State University of New York initiative called SUNY Create.
A network within a network
Wrapped around the OpenLab network of WordPress sites is a social network enabling OpenLab users to collaborate on projects, participate in courses, and work together within organizations. Each individual project, course, or organization has its own administrator(s) and membership, and each can have its own associated website. Members of a project, course, or organization typically have the ability to post content to the associated site.
For example, members of the project AI at Geneseo can post to the associated website GenAI: AI at Geneseo. Members of the project First Year Chronicles can post to the associated website First Year Chronicles. Members of the project Chenussio together built the site Chenussio, which chronicles the indigenous history of Livingston County.
Projects, courses, and organization can be public—meaning anyone with a Geneseo OpenLab account can join—or private, requiring approval by an administrator. Each project, course, or organization can have its own discussion forum and shared documents. Members of the OpenLab network can friend and message one another directly across projects, courses, and groups.
Every member also has the ability to create a portfolio site for their own purposes. (These sites aren’t limited to serving as portfolios. They are fully provisioned WordPress sites. Sign up, create one, and play away!) Members have administrative privileges on their own portfolio sites.
All this functionality is made possible through the WordPress plugin CBOX OpenLab, a derivative of Commons In A Box. CBOX-OL is a collaboration between The Graduate Center, CUNY and New York City College of Technology, and was created with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Office of Digital Humanities.
SUNY Create: a platform for creativity
Although Geneseo uses its access to SUNY Create mainly to run Geneseo OpenLab, members of the Geneseo community can also request to use the service for independent websites outside the OpenLab network. These sites can run a variety of database-driven content management systems—WordPress, Omeka, Scalar, and Mediawiki are examples—or host static content hand written in HTML or generated by static-site generation software such as Jekyll.
Ready to get started?
To register an account on Geneseo OpenLab, follow the instructions on Signing Up for Geneseo OpenLab.
If you’d like to learn more about using SUNY Create—for example, to host a specialized project with a dedicated URL—contact the Center for Digital Learning by email: cdl[at]geneseo.edu.
