I’m just experimenting adding a blog to my site(s). The blog option here seems hopelessly out of date in format but I’m probably missing something basic. Blogs I see on other sites have a blog home page in a grid format of boxes each containing a teaser explanation of each blog post, an image and an invitation to “read more…” . How do I do this please? I can’t see any instructions or guidance in the support documentation.
I hate to say this but given the importance of blogging to Google nowadays and the dismal offering from Sparkle, I’m sorely tempted to migrate to WP or Wix.
No but I’m concerned about my bounce rate. If people land on my blog and see the default which looks like it was designed in 1997, they will probably shut the tab and go elsewhere!
One the things that drew me to Sparkle was the ease of use for me as a non-professional. The absence of any meaningful documentation on how to make the blog look modern and attractive is turning out to be a major stumbling block for me. Exhorting me to “be creative” doesn’t really help! Are there perhaps some detailed practical instructions or a video I’ve missed perhaps? Could you point me to them please?
I had similar problems getting to grips with the menu tool but having seen the youtube by Duncan (I think it was) showing click-by-click how to create a menu, I got to understand it. Is there anything like this for configuring a blog section to look up-to-date?
Blog Tutorial: often asked, never really answered.
I myself do not use a blog, just test the various possibilities and design.
I also don’t know if anyone here on the forum has a blog made 100% with sparkle.
Instead of the automatically generated blog index page you can create your own snippets (own index page) and link to the blog entry. Then you are completely free in the design.
Although Sparkle is limited to a 1 grid layout for its Blog Index page doesn’t limit it to being a really good blogging platform. I feel very confident we will see the Blog Index layout updated to allow for more grid options later in the year!
Wordpress is the most hacked platform on this planet!
I don’t know much about WIX because I haven’t tried it.
I can assure you @Mike4 that my revised blog for my Flamin’ Fig 2.0 looks nothing like 1997! So they won’t be shutting my blog page!!!
I know we only have a single grid page layout for the Blog Index for now, but we have full creative scope in how we can use it. For now I’m loving the challenge!
I have a site that is effectively a Blog, but I started it with Sparkle before Sparkle had a “Blogging” function. It uses menus and pop-ups to create what I want. After all, isn’t a Blog just web pages designed to guide visitors to the posts? I add posts by adding a pop-up and a button.
The “style” changed a little over time as I refined my ideas of design. The 2022 posts reflect this “evolution”.
Mike4, I understand your frustration. The same thing happened to me, but I think it’s not Sparkle’s fault but our way of thinking for being used to seeing/using certain styles that flood the Internet.
The truth is that what we see as a limitation of the tool can be a great opportunity to differentiate ourselves from the “competition” and attract more readers to our blog.
As you say, the fashion is to make the blog index in the form of a grid, but that is due to the fixed structure set by Word Press. The result is that all blogs, or most of them, look the same.
Sparkle offers us the possibility to create something different, to be original and stand out without repeating formulas. If a blog looks old, it is not because of the distribution of content, but because of an outdated design or, directly, the lack of design.
Here is an example I found of a blog designed with Sparkle: Sparkle modern blog
It has an absolutely professional finish and, moreover, not very seen. It invites me to stay and read, although what makes me really loyal to a blog is its content, not its aesthetics.
The problem I have is I am running a business and I don’t really have the time and inclination to ‘be creative’ and spend hours figuring out for myself how to re-create some of the wonderful examples of blogs posted so far. I’m just not that clever or committed in the field of web design. What I’ve clever and committed at is the business I run and maintaining my websites is only a tiny part of what I do. I like Sparkle because it makes website design easy, except where the blog is concerned!
What I need is some step by step instructions showing an idiot’s guide of how to achieve a decent looking blog. Or better, the blog looking decent ‘straight from the box’.
It seems such a help file or video does not exist but I’m sure i’m not the only Sparkle user that would appreciate this.
The blog feature was a more recent addition (after much begging from ppl here) and it’s improving with each update. I personally love it & its unique look but I don’t use it for business per se. I also don’t believe Google has penalised me at all because of the design and if anything, my blog is rating far higher now than when I was using WP.
I hope to see more options in future updates but there’s plenty of creativity to be had in the meantime.
Questions (as I have started a blog, but not quite public yet:
Did you create this “new” one with the Sparkle blog functions?
I’d like to create a FB page pointing to any blog I create, but how do I post a new entry as a post in FB? Perhaps with a photo/image thumbnail on the left, and the blog article title on the right?
I’m sure @FlaminFig will get back to with an answer about how he created his blog. But, regarding the Facebook Sharing, blog pages in Sparkle are just like every other page - they all have the option to add a social card Title, description and image. You’ll see the option in the style inspector under Search and Social. In order for this to work, you must enable some features in Sparkle’s settings. If you haven’t yet done that, Sparkle will prompt you to make the changes needed when you select the Social Card Image checkbox for your page. What all this does is allows you to create a title, description and image that will be formatted into a social card for display in social media posts. When it comes to posting a new blog post to social media, just enter the URL of the page. The social card will then display automatically.
This works on all types of sharing, including on messaging apps and most forum posts - it’s not limited to Facebook.
The screenshot you are referring to is my new blog made with the Sparkle Blog widget.
I haven’t launched Flamin’ Fig 2.0 as yet so your link is to my original Blog I created manually.
Yes
@francbrowne explained this well so nothing to add
