Blog articles

You can use blog articles to share news, updates, and announcements with your digital workplace. Blog articles offer a formal writing platform typically used to create and house timely content that stays relevant for more than a day. Blog articles live in Blog channels and can be aggregated using a Blog Articles widget.

A labeled blog article.

Sections in this article: 

Article layout

Blog articles consist of the following components:

Area 1: Title section

The title section contains the following features:

  • Breadcrumbs: Select links to go to a location.
  • Article title: The title of the article. 

Area 2: Space navigation

If the blog is part of a space, this area contains the following features:

  • Space navigation links: Select links to go to locations at the root of the space.

Area 3: Blog header

The blog header contains the following features:

  • Channel link: Select to go to the parent channel.
  • Follow: Select to subscribe or unsubscribe from email notifications about new articles being added to the parent channel.
  • Publish date: Displays the date when the article was published.
  • View count: Displays the number of views on the current location.
  • Followers: Displays the number of followers. Administrators and members with at least Edit access to the article can select the number of followers to view who is following.
  • Actions: Visible to administrators and members who have at least Edit access. See Actions button.
  • Author profile image: Hover over for their profile card.
  • Author title: Displays who published the article. Select to go to the author's profile page.
  • + Add an article: Select to create a new article. Only visible to administrators and members who have at least Write access.
  • Add an article dropdown: If Email Content is turned on for the channel, this option is visible to members with at least Write access to the channel. Selecting this brings up a menu with the following options: 
    • Post via email: Select to open up an email in your system's default email application. The To field of the email is pre-populated with the channel's email address. 
    • Download Contact Card: Select to download the VCF file for the channel. 
  • Summary: Displays the summary section of an article.
  • Labels: Displays any labels applied to the article. Members can select a label to search for other content with that label.

Area 4: Content section

The content section contains the following features:

  • Feature image: Displays the article's feature image if turned on.
  • Body: Displays the article's description.
  • Read Tracking: If turned on, select to respond to a Read Tracking prompt. 
  • Like: Select to like the article. Select the number of likes to view who has liked the article.
  • Follow: Select to subscribe or unsubscribe from instant notifications about comments and edits to the article.
  • Copy link: Select to copy the article's URL so that it can be pasted elsewhere.
  • Article attachments: Select to open an attached file. 

Area 5: Comments and Related Content tabs

Members can alternate between these tabs to view and interact with their content. See Comments and Related Content. 

Area 6: Tasks

If turned on, members can create tasks on the article. See Tasks.

Area 7: Trailer bar

The Trailer bar contains the following:

  • View count: Displays the number of views on the current location.
  • Follow: Select to subscribe or unsubscribe from email notifications about new articles being added to the current location and set the frequency of these notifications.
  • Email Link: Select to draft an email that contains a link to the current location. 
  • Broadcast: If turned on in the workplace, select to send, schedule or cancel a broadcast to this location to selected workplace groups. See Broadcast.
  • Feedback: If turned on in the workplace, select to send a feedback message to workplace administrators. See Feedback.

Create a blog article

You can start creating a blog article in the following ways (you require at least Write access to a blog channel to be able to add content to it):

  • Navigate to a blog channel and select + Add an article.
  • On the Userbar, select + Add Content and then Blog Article.
  • On a Blog Articles widget configured to show an add link, select + Add an article followed by a channel you want to post on.
  • On an Add Button widget configured to post to a blog channel, select + Add an article.
  • Email content to the blog channel. The channel must be configured to allow emailed content. For more information, see Add content via email.

Except for the email method, the options above will bring you to the Add Article page, where you can craft your blog post. The Options section of this article provides more information about the various fields and settings.

After you have finished crafting your article and configuring its various options, you can select:

  • Save as Draft: You can save the article as a draft and return to editing it later or add additional authors. See Drafts and Ghostwriting content.
  • Publish / Send to Moderator: Add the article to the selected channel. If the channel has moderation turned on, the article will only get posted after being approved by a moderator. See Moderation.

Options

These options are available when creating or editing a blog article:

Option Description
Title

Enter a name for the article. This name will appear above the article and will also be used to generate a unique URL.

This field is required.
Channel

Select which channel you want to publish to. When you start the content creation process from a widget or channel, the Channel field defaults to the channel you selected or were on.

In contrast, creating content using + Add Content on the Userbar leaves the Channel field blank. In all cases, you have the option to select a different channel. 

To select a channel:

  1. Select the Channel drop-down.
  2. Search for a channel by its name or the name of its parent page or space. This search will return up to 100 results. You will only see channels to which you have at least Write access and their parent page or space (regardless of access level).
  3. Select a channel.

This field is required.
Article Feature Image

Select a feature image to use in digital workplace blog feeds.

Image specifications:

  • Supported file types include PNG and JPG.
  • The file size of an image must be less than 3MB.

To add or edit an image: 

  1. Select an image box. 
  2. On your device, navigate to the desired image and select it. 
  3. To edit the image:
    1. (Optional) Select an image to set the focal point by moving the image within the selection window. Once the blog article has been published, you cannot revert any focal point changes and must follow Step 4 below. 
    2. (Optional) Select an image to add image alternative text for accessibility purposes. 
    3. Select Save. 
  4. (Optional) Select X to remove the image and upload an image that fits that aspect ratio better.

The default feature image is the first image in the article's body if an image is not provided. To use the feature image in the article's body, select Include Feature Image in published article. 

The four image boxes correspond to the four common aspect ratios (width : height) used in the digital workplace. For more information on how these images are displayed in the digital workplace, see Feature image.
Summary

Enter an overview of the article. The summary is displayed in plain text above the blog post's main body and can also be displayed in Blog Articles widgets.

Summaries can be a maximum of 2048 characters.
Description Enter the body of your article. For more information about the available tools, see WYSIWYG Editor.
Attachments

Drag files from your computer into the attachments field, or select Select files from your computer to browse your computer. Attachments appear directly below the body of your published article and are available for download.

When attaching files, a security scan automatically runs to ensure the safety of your content. After the scan is complete, you will see a color-coded message indicating the file's status:

  • Green: "The file is safe to upload."
  • Yellow: "Scan Failed. File is Encrypted." You can still publish encrypted files.
  • Red: "Malicious Content detected." A pop-up will alert you that unscannable files will be removed. Select OK to clear the file.

To avoid any issues, ensure your files are safe and readable before uploading them. See Attachments.
Labels Select what labels to apply to your article. You may be required to select a label depending on how the channel is configured. To add a label, select the Label drop-down and search for the label you want. Once you have found it, select it and apply it to your article. See Labels.
Standard options
Option Description
Related Content Search for content to add as related. See Related content.
Broadcasting Select what groups to broadcast the article to and the type of broadcast to send. Which groups you can select, if any, is determined by roles. See Broadcasting and Roles.
Commenting Toggle whether members can post comments on the article. See Comments.
Notification settings Toggle whether the body of your article is included in subscription notifications. When this option is selected, notifications will only include the article's title, summary, and a link to the content. New content will inherit this setting from the channel. However, you may override this channel setting when drafting your content. See Disabling blog body content in email notifications.
Future publishing Schedule your article to be published in the future. See Scheduled content.
Pinning Only available for published articles. Toggle whether the article appears at the top of a blog channel's feed and for how long it stays there. See Pinned Content.
Archiving Select an archiving policy for your article. See Archiving.
Read tracking Select whether your article has read tracking turned on and customize the text of this button. See Read Tracking.
Advanced options
Option Description
Current language Select to change which language version of the article you are looking at. See Languages and Translation.
Translate

The title, summary, and body of the initial language are translated into the selected language. The language you are currently viewing will change to the one that you translated to.

Translated fields will have a verify checkbox appear under them. After reading the translated content and verifying its accuracy, check this box to audit whether the translated text was reviewed.
Languages & Translation options

Other actions