Creating An Integrated Blog For Your Website

Exclusive to PortfolioPlus and ProSuite Subscribers.

 

A Blog is like a personal online journal consisting of posts typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first – you may also choose a featured post to appear first. Blogs are an excellent advertising and marketing tool, used to provide commentary and keep customers and prospective clients informed of your activities. A typical blog combines text, photos, and links to other blogs or websites as part of a post.

The Zenfolio Blog uses the same Block system as your website pages, allowing you to easily customize and build each post in a familiar and fully customizable way.

The Blog can be the most useful tool included with the service when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That is because the blog is usually the page that is updated with the most new and relevant information – with each blog post having the best possibility of containing the most amount of relevant text and content.

 

Please click the links below for more details on each blog related subject.

• Creating a New Blog Post
• Adjusting Post Settings
• Publishing / Scheduling Your Post
• Adding the Blog to Your Website
• Editing Existing Posts

Check out our guided video about creating your Blog, or follow the instructions below:

 

Creating a New Blog Post

1. In your Zenfolio account, click on the Blog icon on the left-hand side.
   
   Note: If you have not already selected a Website Template for your site, you will be prompted to do so at this time, before creating your Blog. Having your website Template selected is required to use the Blog.
   
   
2. On the main Blog page, where a list of your posts will appear, click on Add New Post.

 

Once you've entered into the new Blog post, you'll start with the Post Header. This is where you will indicate the Title and Author of the post. You can also choose to toggle some options ON or OFF; like the Publish Date, Views, Likes, and the Sharing options.

 

Editing Content of the Blog Post

If you've already started building your website, you may already be familiar with how to build your Blog posts using the same Blocks system as your website pages. As you make changes, the Draft version of your post will be automatically saved along the way – exit and return to the drafted post at any time to continue editing.

By default, your posts will start with one Image Block and one Text Block – let's begin there:

1. Select the Single Image Block in the post.
2. Once you select the Block, some options will appear on the left-hand side. To choose the photo being used, click on Replace Photo.
3. You'll then be able to navigate through your account's Folders and Galleries to locate the specific photo you want to use.
4. Click Save.

 

After adding the photo you want to use, you can then begin adjusting other options of the Block on the left-hand side. For example, if you've added the photo and selected a Mask to crop the photo's original aspect ratio into a shape, you might need to adjust the  Focal Point of the photo to better position it within the space provided.

 

Now that you've added your first photo to the post, you can then begin adding some text as well. 

1. Under the Image Block, select the Single Text Block.
2. Once you select the Block, you can then begin editing the text within the Block itself.
3. If you highlight text in the Block, you can add formatting like Bold, Italics, Underline, and Hyperlinks.
4. On the left-hand side you can adjust some options of the Block, like selecting alignment of the text.

 

Next, at the very bottom of the Blog post, you can select the Post Footer. Like the Post Header, you can toggle ON or OFF the Views, Likes, and Sharing options.

 

Adding and Removing Blocks

Just like the main Website Editor, the Blog posts will allow you to add or remove various Blocks using the button in the position on the page where you want to add the Block. 

You can then select from Text Blocks, Image & Gallery Blocks, Content Blocks, Social Blocks, and Other Blocks. For more information about the different types of Blocks and how to use them, see this support article here. *Note: Not all Blocks will be available for adding to Blog Posts.

For example, you could add a Location Block to show the location at which the photos were taken for the Blog post. 

 

After adding Blocks to the post, you can Move, Duplicate, change the Layout (if applicable), and Delete the Blocks that you have selected. 
Note: Deleting a Block will temporarily provide an Undo Delete button, to reverse the action. Once this undo option goes away, it is no longer possible to recover the deleted Block.

 

Adjusting Post Settings

Once you've added your content to the Blog post, you can now begin to make the final adjustments to your Post Settings.

 

Post Cover Photo

1. At the top of the post page, click on Post Settings.
2. In the Cover Image tab you can add a photo that will be used on the main Blog page, and when sharing the link to this particular Blog post.
3. Click Add Photo. 
4. Navigate through your account's Folders and Galleries to locate the specific photo you want to use. Click Next.
5. You will now be able to choose the Focal Point of the Cover Photo so that the photo is always cropped as best as possible, wherever it appears. Then click Done.

 

Post SEO

1. Next, click on the SEO tab.
2. Determine whether you want the Blog post to be indexed and found through online searches. Turning this off will remove the SEO benefits that this post could provide.
3. By default your post's Preview will be determined by the Title of the post and an automatically generated description by the search engines. However, if you'd like to override this, you can add a custom SEO Title and SEO Description.
4. If you've completed setting up the Post Settings, click Save to close the box.

 

Post Categories

1. Next, click on the Categories tab.
2. Select which Categories you would like to associate this post with. This will allow your blog posts to be viewed by category, if someone was only interested in a specific type of post. You can select up to 3 categories for each post.
3. Custom Categories can also be created. Type in the name of the category you want to create and click on the + icon to add it. You can create up to 10 total Categories.
4. If you'd like to edit the name, delete, or rearrange any of the categories you can do that here as well.
5. If you've completed setting up the Post Settings, click Save to close the box.

 

Post Tags

1. Next, click on the Tags tab.
2. Type in a Tag (or Keywords) you want to use and hit the enter/return key to separate each one. This will allow you to add additional SEO benefits for your posts by creating a list of Tags that simply describe what the post is about. You can add up to 30 total Tags.
3. If you've completed setting up the Post Settings, click Save to close the box.

 

 

Publishing / Scheduling Your Post

With your Blog post complete, it is now time to Publish or Schedule. Note: Scheduling posts is exclusive to ProSuite subscribers.

1. Click on the Publish button in the top right-hand corner.
2. Your post title will be used to generate the Direct Link of the post, but you can customize this if you'd like. Note: Use basic alphanumeric characters only (a, b, c, 1, 2, 3, etc). Avoid using any illegal characters (!, ?,<, >, etc.) in the direct link.
3. For ProSuite subscribers: Use the Set Publish Date dropdown to select if you'd like to Publish Now or Schedule for date/time you want the post published.
   

   Pro Tip: The Scheduling option can be used to schedule a post to be published in the future, or you can choose a day in the past to publish the blog immediately with a publishing date in the past.

4. If you haven't already selected the Cover Image, you can do so at this time. Or you can Edit the photo being used.
5. Then click on Publish Now (or Schedule) once you're ready.

 

 

Adding the Blog to Your Website

Now that you've added a post, you need to make sure that your Blog is actually visible on your website. 

1. In your Zenfolio account, click on the Website icon on the left-hand side to enter the Editor.
2. Click on the icon in the top left-hand area to add a new page.
3. Select the Blog Page option.
4. Click Add Page.

 

The Blog page will be added to your website and you can adjust a couple different options for the page.

1. Select the Blog page from the list of pages, on the left-hand side. 
2. Click within the Blog Page itself, on the right-hand side.
3. The Blog Posts options will appear on the left-hand side. Here you can choose whether or not you want the Featured Post to be displayed at the very top of the page, and if you want this particular post to also appear in the grid view. Note: The Featured Post will be your most recent post.

 

As always, once you're done making changes to your website, be sure to Publish so that your changes can be seen on your live website. Note: You will be required to Publish your site with the Blog Page added before you can share the direct links of your Blog posts.

 

 

Editing Existing Posts

Blog posts can exist in three different statuses – Draft, Scheduled, Published.

1. To edit your posts, in your Zenfolio account, click on the Blog icon on the left-hand side.
2. You can edit Draft posts at any time by clicking on the post to load the post editor page.
3. To edit a Scheduled or Published post, click on the vertical ellipsis icon, to the right-hand side of the post.
4. From the menu that appears, select Revert to Draft and confirm this action. You can then click on the post that now appears as a Draft, to edit it.

 

Also found in the vertical ellipsis menu for your posts will be the options to View Post, Copy Direct Link, Duplicate Post, and Delete Post. Note: Deleting posts is a permanent action that CANNOT be undone.