This article will show you how to create a post in the Posts module.
In this Article
- Step 1: Choose your board
- Step 2: Create a post
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Step 3: Configure other options
- Step 4: Preview and publish a post
Step 1: Choose your board
- Navigate to the board you want the post to appear on.
- Click on Boards to find the list of folders and navigate to the board.
Where can I find the Posts module?
- Site admins can find Posts on the Composer menu under Modules.
- Non-admin users will find a link to Posts in their portal menu.
Step 2: Create a post
To get started, select the board you'd like to post on and click the green Create Post button in the top right corner.
The post creation window will open up.
In order to send a post, there are four required pieces of information that must be completed:
- Title
- URL
- Body / External URL OR Summary
- Date
Title
A title is required before the post can be saved.
URL
Each post has a unique, customizable “slug” to allow links directly to it.
- URL defaults to the name of the post, with hyphens instead of spaces.
- If a post by the same name exists on the board, it will be necessary to rename the slug before publishing the post.
- You can copy a direct link URL to this post, but first, a default board post page must be set for this board.
- If the URL doesn't appear, first Save the post, then click on the link icon to copy the full URL
Body Content / External Redirect URL
Add body content, or redirect the post to an external link or resource.
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Body Content: Stay on the tab to write the content of the post, add images, hyperlink text, and add styling.
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External Redirect URL: Select either Resource Redirect OR External Redirect URL.
- Resource Redirect: Click Browse to select an item from Resources so that when a user clicks on the post, this resource will open automatically.
- External Redirect URL: Enter the address of the destination site in the field. Select the Open in New Window/Tab checkbox to have the link open in its own window when clicked on.
Important Note
Selecting either of these redirect options means that any body content entered will not display as a part of the post.
Summary
Some will choose to display a Summary instead of Body Content on a Composer page. Use the text area in the Summary section to write a short description of the post content. This content can also be displayed separately from the body content in Composer Post elements.
Plain-text summary
The Plain-text Summary field can accept text-only descriptions that accompany the post in RSS feed readers and email alerts. This is automatically derived from the content entered in the Summary field, but it can be edited separately.
The Plain-text summary of a post is shown to users who subscribe to a board via its RSS feed. For more about Posts subscriptions, see Subscribe to post updates.
Date
At the top of the settings side of the screen, there are three different fields for dates to be chosen: Start, Featured Until, and Expire.
- Start sets when the post will become visible on the website. Posts are not visible to end users before they reach their Start date.
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Featured Until is optional.
- If you enter a date here, the post will be marked as Featured from the Start date up to when the Featured Until date is reached.
- Composer Post elements can be configured to display Featured posts on site pages.
- Any post with a Featured Until date set will appear in any corresponding Featured Post elements during the selected time frame.
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Expire controls when a post will be archived and removed from site pages.
- Expired posts cannot be displayed in a Composer element. An expired post is invisible to end users, but still remains accessible on the back end in Posts and can be re-published if desired.
Step 3: Configure other options
There are other options that can be configured to display a certain way in a Post element, as well as some conveniences such as the ability to Share to Social Media.
Here are some details about how these options work:
Share to Social Media
Share posts directly to Facebook and/or Twitter once accounts are added in Social Media Connections. You can learn more about this in the article, "Share posts to Twitter ("X") or Facebook."
Categories and Tags
Use the Category & Tags controls to select which Categories this post will belong to, and which tags will be applied to it. For a more detailed breakdown of best practices for categories and tags, refer to Tags and Categories FAQs.
Categories
- Are specific to a specific board and broadly define the types of posts that board will contain.
- Filter by categories using a Post Tools element.
- Cannot be used to filter the content in the Content Filters section in a Post element.
How categories work:
- Click the Manage Categories button in the Categories & Tags section of the post screen or the + Categories link on the board's three-dot Action Menu.
- Type the name of your category in the text field at the top of the dialogue box.
- Click the green + Add Category link to add a new category.
- Existing categories will be displayed in a list underneath.
- Change the title in the field, or click the trashcan icon next to the category to remove it.
- Categories always appear in alphabetical order.
- Once defined, categories will appear as buttons in the Categories & Tags box.
- Toggle these buttons to add one or more categories to a post.
Tags:
- Are used across multiple boards.
- Filter by tags using a Post Tools element.
- Can be used to filter the content in the Content Filters section in a Post element
How tags work:
- To add an existing tag to a post, begin typing into the text field. Suggestions for existing tags will pop up underneath the field.
- Click on a suggested tag to apply it to a post.
- Create a new tag by typing the name of the tag into the text field and click the green + icon.
- Remove a tag from a post by clicking the X icon next to the tag.
Tag Manager Feature
The Knowledge Base article, "Organize tags in Posts with Tag Manager" will show you how the Tag Manager feature can help you create a tagging system and stay organized.
Thumbnail & Resources
Configure a Post element to display a post thumbnail.
- Select a Thumbnail image from File Manager or Resources using the Thumbnail controls (optional).
- Add Alt Text to the thumbnail. Use this field to add a short description of the image contents. Alt text helps boost your site's SEO rankings. In addition, describing images is considered a very thoughtful and polite way to interact with visually impaired site users. For more information about using alt text, refer to the article Add alt text to images.
- Click on Attach Resources to build a collection of one or more resources to go along with your post.
- Once you have selected all the resources, click Back to Post to return to the post-editing screen.
- The number of resources attached will be specified under the Attach Resources button.
- Click the button again to review and edit them.
- Follow these steps to add them to your Composer page: Display resources with a post.
Posts-Resources Connection
After a resource is attached to a post, that resource will automatically populate in a Resource folder that is automatically created in the Posts parent folder which can be found by scrolling down in your Resources left navigation. Expand out the Posts parent folder to see folders with the same names as your Board naming system.
Comments
- Use the checkbox to activate comments on this post.
- If comments are turned on, you can choose to require that readers be logged into the site in order to leave a comment.
- You can also force comments to be moderated manually by the post author or an admin.
Display comments
Comments for a post can be displayed in a Post Single element or a pop-up, provided the Comments checkbox is also enabled on the Composer element. To view and moderate comments, navigate to the post in the module and click the comment icon on the bottom toolbar. For more information on comments, see Comment on posts.
Consider additional settings
Role/group display
- Target this post to a selected role or group by clicking Select Groups.
- Hide this post from any user who does not belong to the selected role or group by selecting a role or group.
- Targeted posts will appear on any Composer Post element displaying the corresponding board, and Role/Group Display settings will apply as long as a group member is logged in.
- Bear in mind, though, that targeted posts are not private and will still be visible to any user who’s not logged into the site! For additional information on this feature, see the article Post visibility.
Step 4: Preview and publish a post
On the bottom toolbar, there are several icons that allow you to take some quick actions, such as:
- manage comments (if enabled),
- move a post to a different board,
- delete a post,
- preview a post,
- and either view the status of the post, or save/publish/update it.
- If you don't see one of these icons, save your post to make them appear.
See what a post will look like when finalized. To preview the post with the theme applied:
- Click Update to save your changes before selecting the eyeball in the bottom right corner to Preview this post. A Default Board Post Page must be created and connected before you will be able to preview the post in Composer.
- Styles will not be reflected in the Posts content editor because styles come from the theme which is applied in Composer.
- When a post is viewed via the Preview button in the bottom right corner, styles will be visible as this post will open in another tab in Composer with that site's theme applied.
Once you are ready to publish your post, click Update. If no date is selected, the post will publish immediately. Or you can Schedule your post to publish at a specified date and time.
Comments
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