Blogs

The blog module allows users to create and maintain a blog on your website. Blogs are usually written in an informal and conversational style and updated regularly.

NOTE: The ‘Blog’ module needs to be enabled for your site. If you have not previously requested we enabled it for you please contact [email protected]. We will send you confirmation once it has been enabled.

CREATE THE BLOG

Navigate to: Content > Add Content > Blog Entry

1. Enter a ‘Title’ for your blog entry
2. Fill in the ‘Body’ with your blog entry
3. Adjust your settings (Menu settings, Book Outline, Revision Information, URL path settings, Authoring Information, Publishing options) as desired
4. Save

You have just created your first blog post! Anytime you want to add a new blog post you repeat steps 1-4 above.

MULTIPLE STAFF BLOGS

Each staff member can have their own blog. When a user logs in, they follow the steps for ‘Create The Blog’ above and that generates their own set of blog pages. Each blog post will include a link to that staff members blog.

ADD A MENU LINK

If you’re creating a blog, you most likely want people to read it! We recommend you make it easily accessible by adding a menu link for it.

There are two different links you can choose to add to your menu:

• The main blog archive: www.yoursitename.com/blog - this page displays all recent blog posts by all users in reverse-chronological order.
• A user's individual blog: www.yoursitename.com/blogs/username - this is the blog page for a specific individual user, only their own blog entries will be displayed here and they are also displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Navigate to: Structure > Menus > Main Menu (or menu of choice) > Add Link

1. Enter a ‘Menu Link Title’
2. Enter the path:
   • If you are linking to the ‘Main Blog Archive’ the path is ‘blog’
   • If you are linking to an individual user’s blog the path is ‘blogs/username’ (replace ‘username’ with the staff members actual username) 
3. Description is optional
4. Confirm that ‘Enabled’ is selected - if it is not the link will not appear in the Menu
5. If you’re placing this link within another section of a menu set the ‘Parent Link’
6. Save

You have now placed a link to the ‘Blog’ in your menu.

NOTE: If you do not see the change reflected on your live site, try flushing the cache by selecting the little ‘house’ icon in the upper left-hand corner and choosing ‘Flush Cache’.

PLACE THE ‘RECENT BLOG POSTS’ BLOCK

The blog module automatically creates a ‘Recent Blog Posts’ block, which you can place on your site in a region of your choosing.

Navigate to: Structure > Blocks

1. Scroll down the page to the ‘Disabled Blocks’ section, locate ‘Recent Blog Posts’ and select configure
2. Set the ‘Region’ for the theme you would like to place the block in
3. Set your ‘Visibility settings’
   • The ‘Pages’ tab is most important here as it controls what pages the block does or does not appear on.
4. Save Block

You have now placed the block on your site and it should be visible in the region you selected.

LIMIT ACCESS TO BLOG ONLY (IndieCommerce members only)

If you have staff members who you wish to provide blog access to, but that is all you want them to have access to an ABA staff member can create a new role for your website called ‘Blogger’ this role will only have access to create and edit their own blog entries.

In order for the role to be created, you will need to send an email to [email protected], asking that a role be created for your website called ‘Blogger’. This can either be included in your initial request to enable the ‘Blog’ module or after the module has been enabled for you.

Once you receive confirmation the role has been created you may assign users access to it.

NOTE: You will need the email address of the user account for which the role is being assigned. If this is a user who previously signed up, ask them for the email address associated with their account. If the user has never signed up, ask them to first sign up and provide you with the email address they use.  

Navigate to: Store > Configuration > Store Roles

1. Fill in the ‘User’ field with the email address of the user
2. Change the ‘Role’ field to the appropriate choice, in this case, ‘Blogger’
3. Click ‘Assign Role’
   • You should see the user details appear in the list below.

At this point, you have assigned the user the role of ‘Blogger’. If they were previously logged they should log out and log back in to gain any special permissions their new role provides (in this example the permissions for ‘Blogger’).

NOTE: The role restrictions can be customized to your preference, with the setup of the role in this example, the user will have all the standard controls of a regular authenticated user (such as a customer) + they can create, edit and delete their own blog entries. If you want to modify those allowances, let us know what you have in mind and we’ll do our best to create the perfect role.