SiteWorks is WordPress with a number of u3a specific features bundled in. This includes, as much as possible, equivalent SiteBuilder functions.

SiteWorks comes with a WordPress “theme” that defines a preferred colour palette and fonts as set out in the Trust’s Brand Guidelines. There are also some settings for page content spacing.

u3a specific functionality is provided by a number of WordPress plugins developed by the SiteWorks Team. These are:

• Events – typically these will be monthly meetings open to all or outings such as coach trips
• Groups – these help manage and publicise interest groups
• Venues – details such as address and accessibility of venues used by your u3a
• Contacts – entries for members who will usually be Committee members or Group coordinators/conveners. Enables contact forms to be setup that generate emails behind the scenes
• Notices – are a way of alerting readers. Their special feature is each notice has a date range to control when it will be visible.
• u3a Import/Export enables u3a plugin data (events, groups, venues, contacts) to be loaded or exported in basic spreadsheet format (CSV file).

SiteWorks is also configured with a selection of useful generally available plugins. For example a “lightbox” enables images to be displayed as a pop-up overlay on a page. A slider block will scroll through a number of images given a set interval.