User:Catrina

The Blog And Posts settings is where you can set up the general structure and appearance of your blog post content all in one place.

This guide will show you how to use the Blog and Posts Settings to change the appearance and visibility of your posts, Post Excerpts, and Full Post Content.

Overview of the Blog And Posts Settings

Blog And Posts Settings Overview

Access the Blog And Posts Settings by clicking on "Settings" under the PageLines tab in your WordPress administration panel.

Blog And Posts Settings Overview Refer to the image "Blog And Posts Settings Overview"

1. These are settings where you can change the overall look of your posts layout
   1. Blog Post Layout Mode will allow you to select between Magazine Layout Mode and Blog Layout Mode
   2. Feature Post Excerpt Mode will allow you to select how Post Thumbnails are handled in full-width posts
2. This setting is where you can add information about the post in the Metabar
3. These are settings where you can change the Post Clip settings
   1. Clip Excerpt Mode will allow you to select how Post Thumbnails should be handled in post clips
   2. Clip Metabar will allow you to add information about the post clip in the Metabar
4. This setting is where you can change the appearance of your post page layout
5. These are settings where you can change the placement of certain types of content and make other small customizations
   1. Change the placement of Post Thumbnails
   2. Change the placement of Post Excerpts
   3. Show or hide Page Titles on regular pages
   4. Customize the "Continue Reading" link text in Post Excerpts
   5. Change the placement of Full Post Content
6. These are settings where you can customize the Post Footer content
   1. Customize the text that shows next to your sharing icons
   2. Select the sharing icons that will appear
7. These are settings where you can customize the Post Excerpts
   1. Select the number of words in a Post Excerpt
   2. Select HTML tags you want to allow in Post Excerpts

Using Layout and Post Modes

The layout and post mode settings allow you to change the blog layout and appearance of content within the layout.

Here's an overview of what each setting can do.

Blog Post Layout Mode Setup

Blog Post Layout Mode

Choose between two layouts available for your blog posts: Magazine Layout Mode and Blog Layout Mode.

1. Select the layout mode you want by clicking one of the options
2. Save the options by clicking the "Save Options" button at the top right

Feature Post Excerpt Mode Setup

Feature Post Excerpt Mode

If you have Post Thumbnails enabled in your full-width posts on your blog page, it's more than likely that you want to change how they're displayed. Let's say that you want the thumbnail to be placed directly to the left of the Post Excerpt. Select that setting, save your options, and you're all set! Experiment with other modes to see which one you like best.

1. Left Justified: Post Thumbnail sits directly to the left of the Post Title
2. On Top: Post Thumbnail sits above the post content
3. Left, In Excerpt: Post Thumbnail sits directly to the left of the Post Excerpt
4. Right, In Excerpt: Post Thumbnail sits directly to the right of the Post Excerpt

Full Width Post Meta Setup

Full Width Post Meta with Author Link Shortcode

Full Width Post Meta

This setting allows you to add specific post information to the Metabar for a full-width post. The types of information you can add include the Post Author, Categories the post belongs to, Posts Tags, Post Date, Post Time, and more.

We're going to take a look at an example to help you see what's possible with this flexible feature.

Let's say that you're running a blog with posts written by multiple authors. To give credit to each author, a shortcode can be implemented in the setting to add their name to the Metabar. The really neat thing is that the same shortcode can also be used to create a link to the author's other posts. If you want the post author name to display without a link to their other posts, that's possible with a different shortcode provided in the shortcode list.

1. Click the More Info link to view the shortcodes for different pieces of information you can add to the Metabar
2. Copy the shortcode [post_author_link] and paste it into the "Configure Full Width Post Metabar" text field

To add more than one shortcode to the Metabar separate each shortcode with a comma (i.e. [post_author_link], [post_categories], [post_date]).

Clip Excerpt Mode Setup

Clip Excerpt Mode

If you have Magazine Layout Mode enabled in your Blog Post Layout Mode setting and Post Thumbnails enabled in your posts, you can use this setting to change where thumbnails are placed within the post clips.

1. Left Justified: Post Thumbnail sits directly to the left of the Post Title
2. On Top: Post Thumbnail sits above the post content
3. Left, In Excerpt: Post Thumbnail sits directly to the left of the Post Excerpt
4. Right, In Excerpt: Post Thumbnail sits directly to the right of the Post Excerpt

Clip Metabar Setup

Clip Metabar

This setting allows you to add specific post information to the Metabar for a clip post. The types of information you can add include the Post Author, Categories the post belongs to, Posts Tags, Post Date, Post Time, and more.

Let's say that you want to display the tags for a post.

1. Click the More Info link to view the shortcodes for different pieces of information you can add to the Metabar
2. Copy the shortcode [post_tags] and paste it into the "Configure Full Width Post Metabar" text field

To add more than one shortcode to the Metabar separate each shortcode with a comma (i.e. [post_author_link], [post_categories], [post_date]).

Full Width Posts Setup

Full Width Posts

If you have Magazine Layout Mode enabled in your Blog Post Layout Mode setting, click the dropdown menu and select the number of full-width posts you want to display at the top of your main blog page.

Default Posts Page Layout Setup

Default Posts Page Layout

This setting allows you to choose the layout for your Posts Pages. The Posts Pages include your main blog page, Author Page, Category Page, and any other non-meta pages on your site. Choose the posts page layout by clicking one of the options. That's it!

1. Full Width: Posts occupy the width of your main page without sidebars
2. Left Content, Right Sidebar: Posts occupy the left with a right sidebar
3. Right Content, Left Sidebar: Posts occupy the right with a left sidebar
4. Left Content, Dual Right Sidebars: Posts occupy the left with two smaller right sidebars
5. Right Content, Dual Left Sidebars: Posts occupy the right with two smaller left sidebars
6. Center Content, Left and Right Sidebars: Posts occupy the center with smaller left and right sidebars

Displaying, Hiding, and Customizing Content

The display and hide settings allow you to display or hide certain types of content in posts pages and post clips. These settings also allow you to make small customizations within your posts, post excerpts, and post clips. We're going to take a look at how each setting works using different examples.

Post Thumbnail Placement Setup

Post Thumbnail Placement

Let's say that you want to display a Post Thumbnail in your Single Post Pages but not in yoour Posts/Blog Page, Search Results, Category Lists, Post Archives, and Post Clips.

1. Check the box next to "Single Post Pages" and leave the boxes next to Posts/Blog Page, Search Results, Category Lists, Post Archives, and In Post Clips (Magazine Mode) unchecked
2. Click "Save Options"

Post Excerpt or Summary Setup

Post Excerpt or Summary Handling

What if you wanted to display the Post Excerpt on the main blog page, but not in the single post pages? That's possible!

1. Check the box next to "Posts/Blog Page" and uncheck the box next to "Single Post Pages"
2. If you want the Post Excerpt to show in Search Results, Category Lists, and Post Archives, you can leave those checked
3. Click "Save Options"

Page Titles Display Setup

Page Titles

Check or uncheck the box to enable or disable Page Titles on all pages above the page content.

Continue Reading Link Text Setup

"Continue Reading" Link Text (When Using Excerpts)

If you have Post Excerpts enabled, you can change what the "Continue Reading" link text says.

1. Enter your own custom text in the "Continue Reading Link Text" text field
2. Click "Save Options"

Full Post Content Placement Setup

Full Post Content

Let's say that you want to display Full Content in your single post pages, but not in your Search Results, Category Lists, and Post Archives. That's possible, too!

1. Check the box next to "Single Post Pages" and uncheck all other boxes
2. Click "Save Options"

Post Footer Social Links Text Setup

Post Footer Social Links Text

This setting allows you to change the text that displays next to your social icons when sharing links are shown in the Post Footer.

1. Enter your own custom text in the "Post Footer Social Links Text" text field
2. Click "Save Options"

Post Footer Sharing Icons Setup

Post Footer Sharing Icons

This setting allows you to select which social icons you want to display in the Post Footer. These icons give your visitors the option to share your posts on a variety of social networking websites. We'll take a look at an example in which the Facebook and Twitter sharing icons are enabled.

1. Check the boxes next to the Facebook and Twitter sharing icons and uncheck the rest
2. Click "Save Options"

Excerpt Length Setup

Excerpt Length

Enter the number of words you want to display in your Post Excerpts in the "Number of words." text field.

Allow Tags in Excerpt Setup

Allow Tags in Excerpt Setup

WordPress automatically strips all HTML tags (such as line breaks and paragraph tags) from excerpts. This setting allows you to enter HTML tags you want to allow in your excerpts. Let's say that you want to allow paragraph tags, line breaks, and links.

1. Enter the HTML tags <p><br><a> in the "Allowed Tags" text field.
2. Click "Save Options"