ITS is announcing recent advances to Aurora, the University’s WordPress-powered web content management system. The Web Development team has introduced a new block editor and in conjunction with it, theme for new accounts.

The block editor gives site administrators, editors, and contributors a “drag and drop” interface that lets them build and design their web sites using a modular system of blocks. A block can be a wide range of elements, such as a paragraph, video, image, or button, and can be individually styled and configured (e.g., color, font size, padding, alignment).  You can also create “patterns,” reusable elements or pages, that can be added to designs. The block editor has various accessibility enhancements built into it, including color contrast, alternative text, and selectable header levels.

The theme provided with the block editor is called Cynder.  It has a light palette similar to our classic editor-based theme Beecher Stowe. With Cynder, you can choose font pairings and accent colors to customize the look and feel of your site. The theme adheres to UConn brand standards and incorporates some elements of UConn’s new branding campaign.

Additional information about the new editor and theme is available at aurora.uconn.edu. You can also attend Brian Dunnigan’s presentation, “A more efficient website building experience with Cynder and the new block editor” at this year’s Technology Day on June 3rd. If you are not attending in person, you can stream the session live; this link is available at: https://its.uconn.edu/technology-day-2025/