Page Type - Blog
The Blog page type allows you to create a blog directly on your website in which your membership can engage in a feedback discussion regarding the topic of choice. Each Blog Post can be organized by month and configured to be displayed for a certain period of time.
Creating a Blog Page
- From the Content Tree select where you would like the Blog page to appear on your website
- Click on the New(+) button located above the Content Tree
- Select Blog page type
- Fill in the following fields:
- Blog name* - The name of the Blog
- Blog Description* - The description of the Blog which will appear under the Blog name on the right hand side of the page
- Side Column Title - The smaller title that will appear on the right hand side of the page
- Side Column text - The text that will appear underneath the side column title
- Top Content - The content that will appear at the top of the Blog page
Note: Fields denoted with a * are mandatory to be filled in before the blog page can be saved. All other fields are optional.
- The following features can be configured and toggled on or off for a Blog page:
- Blog Teaser - The teaser image for the Blog; click on Choose File to include a teaser image for the Blog
- Open comments for* - Determine the length of time you want to allow members to comment or not comment at all on this particular Blog
- Always - This Blog will be always be open for comments
- Disable - This Blog will not allow comments
- Or choose from one of the other options
- Send comments to e-mail address - Will allow you to set the e-mail address that will receive an e-mail notification whenever a comment is made on a Blog Post
- Allow not authenticated users to make comments - If checked, will not allow anyone not logged into the website to make a comment on a Blog Post
- Use CAPTCHA for comments - Will force users to enter a security CAPTCHA before submitting the comment (usually a string of letters and/or numbers)
- Require e-mail addresses - Will require the user making the comment to enter their e-mail address
- Unsubscribe URL - Will allow a member to unsubscribe from the Blog feed
- Enable subscriptions - Will allow a member to subscribe to the Blog feed
- Moderate comments - Comments will be approved or declined before they are posted
- Blog moderators - Will allow for the selection of a member to moderate the Blog
- Enable trackbacks - Will enable throwbacks which allow you to automatically send a link for a Blog Post to different Blog Posts. In most implementations, the link is added as a blog comment in the target blog. Trackbacks work not only within the same site, but also with completely different sites. The only prerequisite is that they are correctly configured to receive trackback
- Publish from & to - Inserting a Publish from date will allow you to dictate when content saved on a page should be visible on the Live Site. Prior to the Publish to date, only the previously published content (if available), will be visible on the Live Site. If the content on the page has never been published prior to Publish from date, the entire page will not be visible until the date entered. Inserting a Publish to date will allow you to dictate when the published content should no longer be visible on the Live Site. Time sensitive content would be a reason to set a Publish to date to ensure that the content is no longer visible on the Live Site after the date that has beene entered. Once the target date is reached, the page will enter an unpublished state
- To set a date and time in the future for when the page should be published/unpublished, click on the calendar icon
- To unpublish the page instantly, click on the Now link
- Once you have filled in the necessary information and completed the appropriate settings, click Save
Creating a Blog Post
Once you have created a
Blog page,
Blog Posts can now be created. When you create a
Blog Post as a child page of the blog
page, a
Blog Month will automatically be created. The Blog Month will automatically be titled based on the date it was created (example June 2017).
- Select the Blog page or Blog Month you wish to create the Blog Post for
- Click on the New(+) button located above the Content Tree
- Select the Blog Post page type
- The following features can be configured and toggled on or off for a Blog Post:
- Post title* - The name of the Blog Post
- Post date* - Will determine what Blog Month the Blog Post will be posted to. By default the date will be the day the Blog Post is created. If you would like to change this date, enter in or select a date from the calendar
- Ex: If your Post title is set to March, but it is currently June 2017, a Blog Month entitled June 2017 will automatically be created in the Content Tree. In order to have a March 2017 Blog Month created automatically make sure the Post date is changed to any date in March
- Author - The name of the author of the Blog Post; by default the author will display as the administrator if this field is left blank
- Post Summary* - A summary of the Blog Post which will display on the main Blog page so it is advised to keep this summary concise
- Post text* - The full details of the Blog Post
- Post teaser - The teaser image for the Blog Post; click on Choose File to include a teaser image for the Blog Post
- Allow comments - If you do not want to allow comments for this Blog Post, uncheck this option
- Send trackbacks to - Insert any Trackback URLs you wish to associate with this Blog Post
- Publish from & to - Inserting a Publish from date will allow you to dictate when content saved on a page should be visible on the Live Site. Prior to the Publish to date, only the previously published content (if available), will be visible on the Live Site. If the content on the page has never been published prior to Publish from date, the entire page will not be visible until the date entered. Inserting a Publish to date will allow you to dictate when the published content should no longer be visible on the Live Site. Time sensitive content would be a reason to set a Publish to date to ensure that the content is no longer visible on the Live Site after the date that has beene entered. Once the target date is reached, the page will enter an unpublished state
- To set a date and time in the future for when the page should be published/unpublished, click on the calendar icon
- To unpublish the page instantly, click on the Now link
- Once you have filled in the necessary information and completed the appropriate settings, click Save or Save and Create Another if you wish to create additional blog posts
Note: Fields denoted with a * are mandatory to be filled in before the Blog page can be saved. All other fields are optional.
Editing a Blog, Blog Month or Blog Post
- Select the Blog Page, Blog Month or Blog Post from the Content Tree that you wish to edit
- Click on the Form Tab
- Complete the desired changes
- Click on the Save button
Deleting a Blog, Blog Month or Blog Post
- Select the Blog Page or Blog Month or Blog Post that needs to be deleted
- Click on the Delete (trash can) icon located at the top of the Content Tree
- You will be asked: Are you sure you want to delete the selected page?
- Leave the check boxes empty and click on Yes to delete the selected page
