Creating a New Blog Post

What is a Blog Post?

A Blog Post is the content type that creates posts for Blogs on colgate.edu. If your department or office has a blog for departmental news and updates, this content type is how you add new posts. It is not the same as a News story, which creates articles hosted at colgate.edu/news. News Stories will mainly be created by Communications employees contributing to the News blog.

If you're not sure that what type of content is right for your needs, consult What Type of Content Do I Need?

Don't Have a Blog?

If you think your department or office would benefit from having a blog to share news and updates, and you're interested in setting one up, contact Communications at website@colgate.edu.

Creating a Blog Post

1. Log in to Drupal.
2. Click "Workbench" on your Drupal toolbar (at the top of the page), then choose "Create Content".
3. Click "Blog Post". This will take you to the Blog Post editor.
4. Enter a Title in the "Title" field. This will appear:
   • As the primary title at the top of the page when it is published (unless overridden by the "Hero Title," as described below)
   • In the browser's tab when users are viewing the page
   • Search results when users search for your page.
5. Select your blog from the "Blog" drop-down menu. This ensures that your post will be added to your blog.
6. Select an appropriate category for your post from the "Category"drop-down menu.
7. Add a Featured Image:
   1. Add a Featured Image in the Featured Image field. This will display at the top of the News Story. Click "Choose File" and select a photo from your computer with the pop-up window. See Optimizing Images for the Web for instructions on ensuring your image is website-ready.
   2. Add alternative text for your Featured Image in the "Alternative text" field. This should be a short description of the content of the photograph.
   3. Add a thumbnail version of your Featured Image in the "Thumbnail" field. If you do not provide a thumbnail, Drupal will automatically generate one. Add alternative text for the thumbnail if using one.
   4. Add a photo attribution for your Featured Image in the "Featured Image Caption" field. Attributions should be in the format of "Photo by [Photographer Name]". If including a full caption, include the attribution after the caption.
8. In the "Summary" field, write a short summary of your post (1-3 sentences). This will appear when users are searching or browsing through blog posts.
9. Enter the text of your post in the "Body" field. For information on how to format text, see Using the Text Editor.
10. Additional content can be added to the post using the widget drop-down menu (by default, this menu displays "Add Text"). Click the arrow next to the drop down menu to select one of the widgets: Block Quotes, Video, Slideshows, or Text. Click the links to learn more about configuring the widgets.
11. Choose the correct Access Group from the dropdown menu to allow you and your co-workers to edit the Blog Post in the future.
12. If you are finished working on your Blog, you have the following options in the “Save As” drop-down menu at the bottom of the page:
    1. Needs Review: Send the page for review and publication. See Publishing Content for more information.
    2. Draft: Save the page as a draft without sending for approval or publication. See Saving Content as a Draft for more information.
13. Click "Save", and you're done!