What is a blog?How do I create a blog?How do I add a blog post to my blog?Can I put pictures in my blog?How do I edit my blog?How do I find my blog and published blog posts?What does RSS mean?I still have questions?
What is a blog?
A blog is an online space for you to post your thoughts, ideas or activity on your choice of subject. If you’d like to see an example, why not take a look at our Community News Blog? This is the blog that’s run by the Community team.
Each blog usually contains:
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How do I create a blog?
If you’d like to create your own blog, you can get started by heading over to our ‘Blogs’ page. You can find our ‘Blogs’ page on the navigation bar across the top of the Community.
Once you’re on the ‘Blogs’ page, you will be able to see all the recent blogs that members have created. To create your own blog, you’ll need to click the ‘New blog’ button underneath the ‘Create a blog’ heading.
A fly out panel will then appear on the left hand side of the screen as shown below. You will then need to click the blue ‘Add application’ button, followed by the ‘Add blog’ button.
You can then enter the Name, or title, of your blog and a brief description of what your blog is about.
Once you are happy with your blog title and description, you need to press save and then the x in the top right-hand corner of the fly out panel. You have now created your blog!
How do I add a post to my blog
Once you have created your blog, you may want to write your first post. To do this you will need to open the blog you just created. To find your blog, first go to your profile.
Once you are on your profile, go to your ‘Activity’ tab.
You should see the blog you created in your list of recent activity.
Once you have clicked on your blog, you can create your first post by clicking on the ‘New post’ button underneath ‘Blog tools’ on the right-hand-side of the page.
The blog editor should then open and you can start work on your first blog post! You can insert a post title and type the main text of your blog into the editor like typing out an email or Community post.
You can also insert key words as tags into the ‘Tags’ box at the bottom of the blog editor. This makes it easier for other members to search for your blog and help show the topics you are covering in your writing.
Once you’re happy with your blog, just hit ‘post’ and your blog post will be published on the site.
Can I add pictures to my blog post?
Yes you can, as long as they are your own pictures, are not copied from elsewhere on the internet, and they comply with our Terms and Conditions.
To add an image to your blog post, select the 'Insert' tab along the top of the editor.
Then if you click on ‘Images/videofile’ the below window should pop up.
You can then click on the ‘upload’ button to select an image from your computer or device.
Once you've selected the picture you'd like to upload, hit 'OK' and your picture should be successfully uploaded into your post.
How do I edit my blog?
You can edit your blog at any time, first go to the ‘Blog tools’ menu and click the option to ‘Edit’.
Once you’ve selected ‘Edit’ the blog editor will reappear, and you can go straight in and edit your blog. Once you have finished editing, just click 'post' and your blog will be updated.
How do I find my blog and published blog posts?
To find your blog and read your blog posts you will need to first go to your profile.
Once there, you can view all your published blog posts under the ‘Blog posts’ tab.
A list of all of your previous published posts will appear.
You can then click on any post you would like to read.
What does RSS mean?
RSS means Really Simple Syndication and allows you to subscribe to any web page which is regularly updated (like a blog or forum discussion) to receive notifications whenever a new update is posted. Read more about RSS on Wikipedia.
Still have questions?
If you still have questions about how to use the site, head to our ‘Help Group’. You will then be able to post your question and the Community team will respond with some information and support.
You can also read though our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the new site in the ‘Help group’.