The blog app is your communication tool when publishing editorial content using different layout options, widget combinations, teaser text, or teaser images. You can publish articles pre-dated or back-dated, and even a release process is possible.

Set up the app

Once you've added a blog app to your page or community, you can configure it. Also, read Apps overview for general information on apps.

• Name: Give your app a meaningful name that best reflects its topic and use case.
• Activate this app: Activate it immediately or leave it in the deactivated mode. A deactivated app is only visible to admins of a page or community. The app is in draft mode.
• URL: By default, the URL is generated from the app's name, but you can change it to something else. Any old links leading to the app won't work anymore after you change it.
• Default teaser images for new articles: Select images to be the default images for every article created via this blog app. You can still change the images per article. The selected images need aspect ratios of 1:1 and 3:1, respectively.
• Authors: Define if Admins, Everyone, or select persons (Custom) can create blog articles in this app. Depending on your decision, you will define the character of the app. If you want to use the app for official communication, only admins (and maybe a few select persons) should be able to create articles. Admins can always create articles, even if you choose Custom.
• Publishers: Define who can publish created articles. You have the same options as above. A common best practice is to define that select persons can create articles, but only Admins can publish them. This way, you can implement an approval cycle. Admins can always publish articles, even if you choose Custom.
• Users can comment on blog articles: Define if users should be able to comment on single blog articles.
• All articles get shared on the timeline automatically: Define if articles published through this app should automatically appear on the timeline of a person who subscribed to the page or community on which the app is installed.
• Archiving: Set a default archiving date for articles published via this app. Of course, you can adjust or delete the archiving per article.

Write a new blog article

1. Select Write new blog article
2. Give your article a meaningful title that best reflects its content.
3. Write a brief teaser text that is displayed on the timeline and summarizes the article's message.
4. Create the content the article should deliver. The rich-text-editor widget is always preinstalled by default. When selecting Switch to advanced mode, you can add widgets to further expand the article. See Adding widgets for more information.
   • You can also add translations to an article if you have activated multi-language. Additionally, if your platform uses automatic translations, users can translate blog articles.
5. Select suitable teaser images or use the ones displayed by default as selected in the app configuration. The selected images need aspect ratios of 1:1 and 3:1, respectively.
6. Select if you want the teaser image and teaser text displayed on top of the article's content.
7. Add Hashtags to complement your article and make it easier to find.

If you save now, your article will be saved as a draft. To publish, follow the steps below.

Publish a new blog article

1. In the article editor, select the Publish tab
2. Choose if you want to leave the article in draft mode or publish it immediately or at a predefined date. When publishing the article, you can select if you want to notify the audience via the notification bell or with the help of a mobile push notification.
3. Select if you want to publish the article in your name or the name of the page or community in which the app is installed. The latter option requires the "Act in the name of a page, community, or event (locally)" permission.
4. Choose to show comments, disable further commenting on the blog article, or hide comments.
5. Choose if you want to change the auto-archiving date or if you want to stick to the default setting.
6. Select Save or Publish, and your article will be saved as a draft, published, or scheduled per your choice in step 2.

Use the archiving assistant

The Archiving assistant allows you to manually clean up a blog app from time to time to ensure your blog articles are relevant to your users. An archived article retains all analytics. You can filter the list by author or publishing date or sort it to find the articles you want to archive.

When you find the articles, check the desired articles from the (filtered) list and select Archive.

Edit, delete, or duplicate an article

When selecting the three little dots in the upper right corner of an already-created article, you enter the drop-down menu for further action.

• Edit: As an admin, you can always edit an already-created article. You get offered the same options as explained above.
• Duplicate: Duplicate an article to use it as a template and adjust it to your needs.
• Print: Print an article or save it as a PDF. If you print a blog article containing additional widgets added in advanced mode, the following widgets will not be included in the printout:
  
  • Featured posts
  • Trending hashtags
  • New colleagues
  • Timeline
  • Subscriptions
  • Suggested communities
  • Suggested pages
  • Teaser
  • Upcoming events
  • Online users
  • Welcome
• Archive: Manually archive an article before the defined date for auto-archiving.
• Delete: Delete an article if it's not needed anymore. A deleted article can't be restored.