Blog

A blog helps a store with search traffic and trust: reviews, buying advice, news and promotions. Articles can be grouped into categories, accompanied by recommended products and discussed in comments.

Blog management is gathered in the Octemplates → Blog menu. It has four sections:

• Blog categories — sections (news, tips, reviews);
• Blog articles — publications;
• Blog comments — visitor feedback;
• Blog settings — general parameters.

Start by creating at least one category, then add articles.

Blog settings

Open Octemplates → Blog → Blog settings.

General

Option	What it does
Status	Turns the blog on in the storefront: article and category pages and search. Turn it off to hide the blog temporarily.
Search in blog	Allows searching blog articles.
Articles counter in the blog categories module	Shows the number of articles next to each category in the "Blog categories" module.
Show reading time in blog category	Shows the reading time on the article photo in a blog category, with a hint on hover.

Comments

• Comments — lets visitors leave comments under articles.
• Comment pre-moderation — new comments appear on the site only after approval in the "Blog comments" section. If off, they are published immediately.

Images and limits

Option	What it sets
Number of articles	How many articles to show on one category page. The rest go on the following pages.
Number of characters	The length of the short description in an article card.
Show image in article page	Shows the article's main image above its text.
Size in articles blocks on category pages	Article cards on category pages and in blog search.
Size on article page	The main image on the article page.
Size of additional article images	Thumbnails of additional images in the article gallery.
Size in recommended articles	Cards in the "Recommended articles" block under an article.
Size in recommended products	Cards in the "Featured products" block under an article.

For each size set the width and height in pixels; images are scaled to them automatically.

Blog categories

Open Octemplates → Blog → Blog categories. The list shows categories with nesting ("News > Subcategory") and sort order.

The category form has the tabs "General" (name, description, meta tags — separate for each language), "Data", "SEO" and "Design".

• Name — in the menu, modules and breadcrumbs.
• Meta Tag Title and Description — for search results (ideally up to 60 and 120–160 characters). Meta Tag H1 is the heading on the category page; if empty, the name is used.
• Status — a disabled category and its page are not shown on the site.
• Sort order — a lower number is higher in the menu and lists.
• Parent category — leave empty for a top-level category or pick a parent to make a subcategory.
• Stores — where the category is available.
• SEO URL — the page address in Latin letters, for example news. It must be unique and contain no spaces.
• Layout — defines which modules are shown on the page. Leave "Default" if no special arrangement is needed.

Blog articles

Open Octemplates → Blog → Blog articles. The list shows covers, titles and statuses of articles, with a filter by title, category and status.

Article content

The article form has the tabs "General", "Data", "Links", "Image", "SEO" and "Design". Texts are filled in separately for each language.

• Article name — the heading (H1) in lists and on the article page.
• Description — the main text. The beginning of the text is used as the short description in the card.
• Article tags — comma-separated keywords for blog search.
• Meta Tag Title / Description / Keywords — for search engines. Most search engines ignore Keywords, so the field can stay empty.

Publishing and placement

• Status — a disabled article isn't shown on the site but is kept.
• Display date — the article appears on the site from this date. Set a future date to schedule publication.
• Date added — the date readers see next to the article.
• Sort order — a lower number is higher in the list.
• Image and Additional images — the cover in cards and on the article page and the gallery below it.
• SEO URL — an address in Latin letters, for example how-to-choose-a-phone.

Links and recommendations

• Show in categories — start typing a category name and pick it from the list; several are possible. An article without a category won't be visible in lists.
• Recommended articles — the "Recommended articles" block under this article.
• Featured products — the "Featured products" block under the article: this way a review or advice leads the reader into the catalogue.

The article page shows the date, reading time, view count and comment count.

Blog comments

Open Octemplates → Blog → Blog comments. This is where you approve and edit comments and reply to them.

• Article, Author, Status and Date — in the table; there is a filter by article, author, status and date.
• In the comment form you can change the Text (HTML tags are removed when saving), the Rating and the Date.
• Status — turn it on to publish the comment on the site.
• Administrator response — shown under the comment as the store's reply. Leave empty if no reply is needed.

How to show the blog to visitors

For visitors to find the blog, add the blog categories to the theme menu or place the "Blog articles" and "Blog categories" modules in Design → Layouts. On the right of the blog pages, as in the screenshots, sit the search, the categories and a banner from the Banner + module.