Blog
On this page
The Blog plugin gives members a place for writing that is longer than a post: travel stories, recipes, how-tos, news. Every article has its own address, a cover, a category and tags, and readers like it, comment on it and share it.
What readers get
- The blog at
/blog(also in the side menu): the newest articles as cards with cover, category, writer and reading time; up to three featured articles on top; the categories; a search box; and Load more at the bottom. - Categories at
/blog/category/<name>and tags (a click on a tag lists every article with it). - The article page: the cover, title, writer, date, reading time (counted at 200 words a minute), views, the text, the tags, Like, Share (copy the link or Share on your timeline), Report article, the previous and next article, more articles by the same writer, related articles from the category, and the comments. A view is counted once per visitor session; search engine robots are not counted.
- Comments with replies one level deep. The writer is told about a new comment, a member about a reply to their comment. Comment writers, the article's writer and moderators can delete a comment; other members can report it.
- The Articles tab on a member's profile (
/<username>/articles) lists what they published. - The RSS feed at
/blog/feed.xmlwith the 50 newest articles, for feed readers and other sites.
Articles also appear in the site search under an Articles tab, in the search suggestions and in the sitemap. Each article carries the title, summary, picture and writer that search engines and link previews read.
Writing
Create → Article, or /blog/write. The writer and moderators find Edit and Delete article on the article page. Your articles at /blog/mine lists a member's own articles by status: published, drafts, waiting for approval and hidden.
The editor:
- Title, a Cover picture, and a Short summary (optional): one or two sentences shown in lists and when the article is shared. Left empty, the start of the text is used.
- The text, with a toolbar for Bold, Italic, Heading, Small heading, List, Numbered list, Quote, Code, Link, Picture (uploaded straight into the text) and YouTube or Vimeo videos. Edit HTML shows the source for those who prefer it.
- Category, Tags (separated with commas, up to 10) and Allow comments.
- Save draft keeps the article private; Publish puts it up, or Send for approval when approval is on.
While a member types, the editor keeps a copy on their own device. If the browser closes before the article is saved, the editor offers to Restore that copy next time.
Only safe HTML is kept: paragraphs, headings, bold, italic, underline, lists, links, pictures, quotes, code, and YouTube or Vimeo players. Scripts, styles, forms and other embeds are removed when the article is saved, so a pasted page cannot break the site.
A member can start at most 30 new articles a day.
Sharing to the timeline
With Share new articles to the writer's timeline on, the first time an article is published a post with a link card (title, summary, cover) appears on the writer's timeline and in their friends' feeds. Hiding the article later hides that post too; deleting the article deletes it.
Settings
Admin → Plugin pages → Blog settings.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Who can write articles | Every member, Verified members only or Admins and moderators only. Admins and moderators can always write. |
| New articles need approval | Articles of members wait under Articles → Waiting until a moderator publishes them. Admins get a notification for each one. |
| Share new articles to the writer's timeline | See above. |
| Comments on articles | Off closes comments everywhere. Writers can still turn comments off for one article. |
| Articles on one page of the list | 4 to 60; 12 by default. |
The same page counts the articles by status, the comments and the likes, and shows the address of the RSS feed.
On a private site the blog is for members only and the RSS feed is switched off.
Looking after the blog
Admin → Plugin pages → Articles lists every article with its writer, status, views, likes, comments and date. Tabs: All, Published, Waiting, Drafts, Hidden and Featured; the search box takes a title or an article number.
- Approve publishes a waiting article and tells the writer.
- Hide takes a published article off the blog (the writer is told and can still see it under Your articles); Unhide puts it back.
- Feature on the blog pins a published article to the featured places at the top of
/blog. The newest three featured articles are shown. - Delete removes the article with its comments, likes, pictures and timeline post.
Admin → Plugin pages → Article comments lists the comments, Visible and Hidden, with a search box. Hide takes a comment off the article without deleting it; Show brings it back; Delete removes it with its replies.
Admin → Plugin pages → Blog categories: ten to start with (General, News, Technology, Travel, Food, Health, Education, Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment). Each has a name, a short About text shown on its page, and a place in the order. Add your own; deleting one moves its articles into the first category.
Reports on articles and on article comments arrive on Admin → Reports.
Coming from WoWonder
When the WoWonder Migration plugin runs, the Blog step brings over the WoWonder blogs with their categories, covers, views, comments, replies and likes. Old article links still open the right article. See Moving from WoWonder.
Tips
- Feature two or three good articles before you announce the blog. An empty blog front does not invite anyone to write.
- Add the RSS address to your social media scheduler, and every new article is shared there without any more work.