Blogs are a great way to get your message out to your members and the public. Users with Pro Edition can now create one or more blogs that integrate perfectly with your website and Member Information Center (MIC). Click here for a video on how to create a blog.

1. Click Communication in the left-hand menu.
2. Click Manage Blog in the Other Communication Tools section.

   

3. On the Blog Tool Home tab, click the Create New Blog button.

   

4. Enter a Name (required). This may be displayed on your website.
5. (Optional) Enter a Description for your blog. This may be displayed on your Website.
6. Click Save. The Posts tab is displayed.
7. Click New Post.

   

8. Enter a Title for your post. This field is required. Recommended max characters ~50-60 for best SEO results.
9. Enter your Post. You may use all of the standard rich text editor functions, including adding images and links.
10. Enter a Post Summary.
11. Enter the Date displayed on the post. This will provide your readers with an understanding of how current the post is.
12. Select a Category(ies) for this blog. Categories help organize your blog and make it easy for readers to find what they are looking for. Click the Edit link to add/edit categories.
13. Enter Tags separated by commas. Enter a word or phrase that specifically identifies what is a key topic in this particular post. Tags are meant to describe specific details of your posts. Think of these as your site’s index words. They are the micro-data that you can use to micro-categorize your content. Tags are not hierarchical.
14. Author: Your name will automatically be entered here but feel free to put in the name of your guest blogger if you have one. The author's name shows next to the post title. The author's name will be displayed on the blog posts.
15. Settings: Configure the following settings as desired:

    • Require name and email address when submitting a comment (if not checked, anonymous comments are allowed): Enable this option if you would like visitors to provide their name and email address when submitting a comment.  NOTE: The email address will not be displayed in the blog, but will be available to your staff in the back office.
    • Require comment approval by staff: Enable this option if comments must be approved by your staff before being published on your page. If comment approval is required, an email address must be listed to receive the comment notifications on the Share Blog tab. If you are not too concerned about negative feedback on a post, we recommend allowing immediate display simply to encourage quick and healthy conversations on your post.

    Allow likes: Select this option if you wish to allow visitors to like posts in the blog.

    • Allow/view comments: If Allow/View Comments is selected, visitors to the post will have the option to add their comments to your post and see comments by others that are marked as Approved.
16. Published: To display this post in the blog, select Published. 

NOTE: The post will only be displayed if the blog itself has been made active.

17. Click Close. 

NOTE: After the post is saved, you can edit the post to add a Featured Image. The image will display on the blog page where each post displays a summary and a link to read the full article. See Add a Featured Image to Your Post for instructions.

18. Click Save.

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