This tutorial will demonstrate how to add a module that will automatically display the most recent blogs from members of your chapter or from all IAAP members. This module can be added as its own page or as its own content item within a page.
Adding recent blogs module as a content item
If you are tackling user controls, by now you should be familiar with the process for creating new content items.
Your first step will be to create a new content item within the page folder that you would like the blogs module to appear. So if you'd like recent blogs to display on your home page, you will need to create a new content item within your Home folder.
You can name the content item "Recent blogs" or "Recent member blogs" but it doesn't matter because we won't be displaying that title on the site. You'll want to uncheck the "Show?" box. If your site is using a custom 2- or 3-column layout, you will want to choose the section in which you'd like the new content item to appear.
Next, we need to select the correct "Type of content" option, which can be found just above the WYSIWYG editor. When a new content item is created, it will select HTML as the type of content by default. You will need to change the type of content to "User Control." The WYSIWYG editor should then disappear and you will see two new fields below.
The "User Control class or path" field will be used to tell the system we want this content item to call recent blogs. In order to do that, paste the following text into the "User Control class or path field":
ws:RecentBlogs
The next step is to add some default "User Control Parameters," which you can tweak to fit your needs after it has been added. Copy and paste the following text into the "User Control Parameters" field:
NumberToShow="3" ShowAuthor="True" ShowPublishedOn="True" ShowSummary="True" ShowPicture="True" ShowAllCommunityBlogs="True" TitleLength="0" SummaryLength="100" MoreLinkText="Read more IAAP member blogs"
Also, you will want to check the "Send Title?" box.
So at this point your user control options should look like this:
Now let's break down what each user control parameter does:
NumberToShow: Controls how many blog posts to display in this content item. Since 3 is the default value, only the 3 most recent blog posts will be displayed in this content item. To display a different number of blogs, simply change the number within the parenthesis.
ShowAuthor: Displays the author name for each blog post. It is set to "True" by default. If for any reason you do not want to display the blog author's name, changing the parameter to "False" will hide the author's name from displaying.
ShowPublishedOn: Displays date of blog post by default. Change to "False" to hide the published date.
ShowSummary: Displays a portion of the blog post, starting at the beginning. Change to "False" to display just the blog title.
ShowPicture: Displays the blog author's profile picture, if one has been uploaded. Profile pictures will only display for IAAP members who are logged in. Non-members who may access the site will see a default outline of a person. Change to "False" to display no picture.
ShowAllCommunityBlogs: When this parameter is set to "True" every blog posted by any IAAP member, regardless of chapter affiliation, will be displayed. If you would like to display only blog posts from members of your chapter, you will need to change this parameter "False" will need to be used. *
TitleLength: Allows you to set a maximum length for a blog title. If left at "0" there will not be a maximum.
SummaryLength: Sets the summary length (in characters). To expand or reduce the summary length, simply change the number of characters.
MoreLinkText: At this time, this parameter will take you to the main blog feed that displays the most recent blog posts from ALL IAAP members. You can edit the text that appears there or you can set it to "False" to hide that link completely.
*If you choose to display blog posts from only members of your chapter, be advised that your members will need to associate their blog posts with your chapter's online community. An easy way to teach them how would be to write your own blog message explaining the process. Here's what you do:
- Go to your personal profile page and click the "Blogs" tab along the top.
- Click the "New Blog" link (there is a large green plus sign next to it.)
- Type your blog as you would normally but, also, at the bottom, use the "Associate this blog with a community" menu to select your chapter.
By choosing to associate your blog with your chapter's community, that tells the system that your blog should be displayed on your chapter's site.
Adding recent blogs module as a separate page
If you'd like to display blogs on a separate page within your site (and not on a page that already exists), the process is exactly the same, except instead of creating a new content item within a current page folder, you will create a new page folder (you can call it "Blogs" or whatever you want and place it as a main navigation link or as a child of another section). After you create the new page folder, you can create the new content item and follow the same steps above. If you are displaying blogs on a separate page, you likely will want to display at least 10 blogs, so you'll want to change the NumberToShow from 3.
