What is a blog post?

Use the 'Blog post' content type to publish temporary or time-sensitive information that you want to include in a blog-style section of your website.

The 'Blog post' content type is similar to the Article content type, but blogs are intended to be more conversational and informal.

See a blog post page (staff login required)

Use blog posts for:

  • time-sensitive content with a casual tone
  • content that deals with personal experiences or opinions
  • content that has a short lifespan (one week to one month)
  • posts that need to display the author's name.

A blog post shouldn't be used for:

  • media releases, announcements, news or professional communications
  • static or informational content with a long lifespan.
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How to create a blog post

This content type comes with a dedicated 'Blogger' role that allows staff to create and edit blog posts without needing access to other content on your site.

Blog posts can be created, edited and deleted by:

  • bloggers
  • editors
  • site coordinators.

Once you log in to your site:

  1. Hover over the Drupal 'Content' menu, then go to 'Add content' > 'Blog post'.
  2. Enter a title and summary.
  3. Add all of the blog post content to the 'Body' field.
  4. Enter the publication date and time.
  5. Add an author by selecting 'Profile reference' or 'Custom author' (if relevant).
  6. Add a teaser image and any related content (if relevant).
  7. Select appropriate tags.
  8. Click the 'Publish' button to save and publish the blog post.
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Best practice

  • Keep the blog post summary concise (less than 100 characters).
  • Use brief and clear titles (40 to 60 characters).
  • Add a relevant, visually engaging teaser image to encourage users to read the post.
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Related functionality

Blog posts are automatically listed on the News listing page, which displays all published blog posts, with a teaser image and short summary of the post.

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Fields

Fill in all required fields and as many optional fields as possible to provide the best user experience.

Field name

Required field?

Notes

Title

Yes

Page title and name of the article.

Summary

No

Provides summary text of the blog post – displays on the news listing page.

Body

No

Main text of the blog post.

Publication date

Yes

Date of publication that displays on the page. This defaults to the current date and time if not entered.

Author

No

Shows the author's details at the top and bottom of the blog post.

Author type

Yes

  • Profile reference selects an existing Person content type from the site.
  • Custom author allows you to enter details for an author not listed in the Person content type.

Teaser image

No

Image displays in card and teaser views as well as on the news listing page.

Hero image

No

Replaces the default page header with a hero banner header on the Blog post page.

Related content

No

Allows other pages on the site to be referenced in a short list on the Blog post page.

Tags

No

Allows the page to be tagged with taxonomy terms.

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