Brother Tyler Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 One of the most powerful features available to you for sharing your hobby-related content at the Bolter & Chainsword is the Blogs feature, especially when combined with the image-hosting capabilities provided by the Gallery feature (see this tutorial). By creating blogs (you may create any number of blogs), you can document projects and present your thoughts on the hobby, with comments enabling other members of the community to discuss your entries. Projects can range from things like assembling and painting a single miniature, assembling and painting a full force, developing a DIY Chapter, building a gaming table, writing fan fiction, creating an alternate history setting, etc. - just about any kind of Warhammer 40,000-related project that you can imagine. Blogs also provide you with a high degree of control over the organization of your projects. There are standardized categories that roughly equate to various discussion forum categories (facilitating content curation and announcements), but blog creators can create custom categories within their blogs. In addition, blog creators can change both the main blog category (the standard categories) and the blog entry categories (the custom categories created for entries) at any time, allowing reorganization as projects grow and develop. Creators can also edit blog entry titles and select the sorting method for those titles, enabling control over how those entries appear to viewers. Blogs are also easy to find simply by opening up the Blogs tab on a member's profile page - no matter what the subject matter and categorization (including blogs that are created within clubs), all of a member's blogs can be found in one place. Members will also find that creating blogs and composing blog entries is very easy, being virtually identical to creating topics and comment replies in the discussion Forums. This series of tutorials provides information on using the Blogs feature and presenting your projects at the Bolter & Chainsword. All tutorials provide screenshots using both the dark and light themes. You can click on all images to see full-size versions. In cases where you are directed to click on a link or button, an orange cursor arrow is shown. Creating a new blog Manage blog Edit blog Delete blog Viewing a category Sorting entries Add a new blog entry Managing a blog entry Editing an entry Deleting an entry Blog visibility W.A.Rorie 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index CREATING A NEW BLOG 1. To create a blog, you'll have to open the main Blogs page. You can do this by clicking on the BLOGS button along the top of the page... ...or you can click the BLOGS link in the ++ SITE FEATURES ++ category: 2. You'll see the main Blogs page. If you do not yet have a blog, you'll see the main blogs page with the "Create a blog" button: If you already have one or more blogs, you'll see the main blogs page with the "Create a new blog" and "Add new entry" buttons: 3. Click the "Create a blog" or "Create a new blog" button: 4. You'll see the Create a blog page. The version shown in the images below is the one you'll see if you are creating your first blog: If you already have one or more blogs, the Create a blog page will appear as: For the purpose of this tutorial, we'll be creating a blog about the Blood Angels, which follows the category chain of Imperium > Adeptus Astartes/Legiones Astartes > Blood Angels & Successors. The following steps are shown as if you already have one or more blogs and are creating a new blog. 5. Click the v at the far right of the Category cell to open the Category dropdown menu: 6. The Category dropdown menu will appear: 7. Some categories have subcategories, indicated by the > at the left. Click the > to see the subcategories. 8. The subcategories will appear. Continue drilling down as far as you need: 9. Once you see the (sub)category you desire for your blog, click it. A check will appear at the right of the (sub)category. 10. The category dropdown menu will disappear and the (sub)category that you selected will appear in the box. The following steps are shown as if you are creating your first blog. 11. Blog names are a catchy way to draw other hobbyists' attention and to help them remember your blog. Enter the name you desire for your blog in the Name cell. 12. Blog descriptions help members to understand what your blog is about. Enter the description you desire for your blog in the Description cell. 13. You can also include other media in your blog by clicking the Other Media button and selecting your desired media. Also note that you can select whether or not to allow anonymous comments and to allow certain groups to post such comments. No member groups have permissions to post anonymous comments, however. 14. Once you are finished, click the Continue button: 15. The blog page will appear: It is also recommended that you include a cover (or banner) image for your blog, though this is optional (if you don't include a cover, a default background image will appear). Blog cover dimensions are 1,289 pixels wide by 300 pixels high. If your image is smaller than those dimensions, the software will automatically scale the image to fit. If either of the dimensions, whether original or scaled, is larger, you will be able to adjust the placement of the image in the banner area. 16. To include a cover image, click the Photo button: 17. The Choose Photo option button will appear below: 18. Click the Choose Photo option: 19. The Choose Photo box will appear. You can drag and drop your image from your device, or you can click the Choose Single File button to search for your image and select it. 20. A thumbnail of your selected image will appear: 21. Click the Save button: 22. You'll return to the blog page. Note the "Drag the cover image to reposition it" text immediately below the cover image and the "X Cancel" and “✓ Save position” buttons that appear at the top right of the cover image: 23. If desired, reposition the image to achieve the desired appearance. 24. Click the “✓ Save position” button when you are done. 25. You'll return to the blog's main page. Note that I've clicked the "Read more" button that appears at the bottom of the ABOUT THIS BLOG section so that you can see the entire description in the screenshot below: 26. If you want to change the cover image, click the Photo button. 27. Several options will appear, allowing you to Remove the photo (reverting to the plain default cover image as shown in step 15), Reposition the photo (as done in steps 22-24), or Choose [a new] Photo (as done in steps 17-21). Congratulations, you have created a new blog. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124559 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index MANAGE BLOG At any point after you have created a blog, you can make further edits to it. On the main blog page, click the Manage Blog button. The Manage Blog options will appear, allowing you to either Edit or Delete your blog. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124560 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index EDIT BLOG It is not uncommon for hobbyists to change the scope or scale of their projects, and you can edit your blog to reflect any changes you might make in the project. You can also affect the internal organization of your blog by editing the categories. Select "Edit blog" from the options. The Edit Blog page will appear with the Blog Settings tab showing, allowing you to change the Name, Description, or Allow anonymous comments? entries/settings. For this tutorial, I've opted to change the name of the blog to "Space Marine Heroes 2" and I've centered the image in the Description. Blog entry categories are one of the most important tools you have for organizing the entries in your blog. While the categories for the overall blog are limited, you have full control over the categories of the entries within the blog. If you want to edit the categories of your entries (the internal categories you create to organize the entries within your blog), click on Entry Categories. If you have previously added categories to the blog, they will be listed here. Since the blog used in this tutorial is new and no categories have been added yet, no categories are showing. To add new categories, click the Add New Category button on that tab. A cell will appear so that you can enter new categories. For this tutorial, I've opted to add "Heroes of the First Company" as a category. Click the Save button when you are finished adding new categories. All of the categories you have created for your blog will be listed. Since this is the only category I've created for this blog, it is the only one showing. I've created a few additional categories to illustrate some other things that you can do. To rearrange the sequence of the categories, simply drag a category by the three horizontal lines that appear at the left of the category. When you release the mouse button, the categories will be listed in the new sequence. If you decide that you want to delete a category, simply click on the X button that appears at the far right. The system will confirm that you desire to delete the category. If you don't want to delete the category, click the Cancel button. If you want to delete the category, click the OK button. You'll return to the Edit Blog page with the Entry Categories tab showing and the adjusted listing of categories. If you want to change a category, click on the edit button (the one with the pencil icon). You'll be able to edit the category name. For this tutorial, I've opted to change "Terminators" to "tactical dreadnought armour." Once you are satisfied with the category's new text, click the Save button. The updated categories are shown. Once you're done editing the blog categories, click on the Blog Settings tab. You'll return to the main Edit Blog tab. Click the Save button at the bottom right. You'll return to the blog page. Since categories have now been created, you can see the View a category option. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124561 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index DELETE BLOG At some point you may decide to abandon a project, in which case you may delete the blog, permanently deleting the blog and all associated entries (we cannot restore deleted blogs). We recommend against that as you may decide to return to the project in the future, and deletion of a blog will lose the achievements associated with the submitted content. Ultimately, however, whether or not to delete a blog is up to you. Click "Delete Blog." The system will confirm that you want to delete the blog. If you are sure that you want to permanently delete the blog and all its entries, click the OK button. If you don't want to permanently delete the blog and all its entries, click the Cancel button. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124562 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index VIEWING A CATEGORY When browsing a blog, you can narrow your search down by viewing only the entries in a single category. Starting at the main page of the blog: Click the View a category button. Select the category whose entries you want to see. In this case, I’ve chosen the tactical dreadnought armour category. The blog page now shows only those entries assigned to the selected category, replacing the text on the button with Viewing category (category name). If you want to either change the category or revert to showing all blog entries, click the Viewing category (category name) to see your options. For this example, I want to revert to showing all blog entries, so I click on SHOW ALL. Once you click your selection, either the new category or SHOW ALL, the blog page shows the corresponding blog entries Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124563 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index SORTING BLOG ENTRIES The default sorting for the blog will be by Start Date (i.e., the most recently submitted blog entry showing first with the rest in descending order). If you want to sort the blog entries in a different order, click the SORT BY button that appears at the top right corner. The sorting options will appear. The method by which your blog entries are currently sorted will be in bold text with a check mark. It should be noted that the sequence is effectively Z → A. If you want to display in the blog entries in an order that isn’t available as an option, including A → Z, you should edit the title of each so that the entry that you want to appear first (i.e., in the top left) has “01” at the start of the title, the entry that you want to appear second has “02” at the start of the title, and so on. In this case, I selected the Title for the new sorting order. Once you’ve selected the sorting style, the sorting options will disappear and the blog entries will be displayed in the order you selected. You can see the Z → A sequencing with the entry whose title starts with the letter closest to Z appearing in the top left and the entry whose title starts with the letter closest to A appearing last. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124564 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index ADD A NEW BLOG ENTRY You can add a new blog entry by clicking the Add Blog Entry button on the right. If there are no entries in your blog, you can also add a new blog entry by clicking the Submit New Blog Entry button that appears at the bottom. You’ll be taken to the Create Blog Entry screen. The Title is the title of your blog entry. Think of this as a headline intended to draw other hobbyists' attention and provide a basic idea of the scope of the blog entry. The Content is all the important stuff in the blog entry. You can compose the content in the same manner as you would compose a discussion topic/comment. You can associate an Album in the Gallery with the blog entry. Your blog entry must have an Entry Category, allowing you to organize the entry within the larger blog. You can use an existing category or you can create a new one. A Feature Photo allows you to have a cover image for the blog entry, providing visual appeal. If you have Publish selected, the blog entry will be published to the community when you submit the entry. Alternatively, you can not publish the entry, working on it in draft form until it is ready or holding off on publication until a time and day of your choosing. Once you’ve entered all the blog entry content and setting selections, click the Submit Entry button. You’ll be taken to the blog entry page. The example shown above illustrates why, when using blog entry feature photos, it is best to have images prepared before submitting the entry. The image I chose is much taller than the dimensions of the blog entry feature photo area and the software automatically centers the image in the area. Unlike the blog cover image, the blog entry feature photo cannot be repositioned. If the focal point of the image is not at/near the vertical center, you may get a result such as here. The blog entry feature photo area is the same as the blog cover image: 1289 pixels wide by 300 pixels high. The original blog entry feature photo has been replaced with an edited version of that image, ensuring that the focal point of the image is at/near the vertical center. Discuss each of the other areas, especially the tags/topic prefix, the images (which appear because the blog entry was linked to an album, with all of the images in that album showing on a carousel) and the Comments (which allow discussion/engagement) Once you have completed the blog entry, you can return to the blog by clicking on the blog title that appears in the breadcrumbs at the top and bottom of the blog entry. The blog now shows the blog entry. In this case, this is the first and only blog entry that has been made so far, so only the single blog entry shows. Additional blog entries have been added to illustrate how these will appear. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124565 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index MANAGING A BLOG ENTRY Just as you can manage the entire blog, you can also manage each entry in the blog. This allows you to reorganize your projects at any time. In addition, you can report entries, either entries that you think somehow violate the community rules (presumably others' blog entries) or your own when you need assistance from the staff. Click the Entry Actions button on the lower left of the blog entry page. The entry actions options will appear, allowing you to Report [the] Entry, Edit [the entry], or Delete [the entry]. Report[ing an] Entry is done when you perceive that the entry violates the community rules in some way. You can see a tutorial on reporting content here <this tutorial is not yet available>. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124566 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index EDITING AN ENTRY If you wish to edit the blog entry (you can only edit blog entries in blogs that you own), click the Edit button. The Edit Blog Entry screen will appear. Aside from the name of the screen, it is functionally identical to the Create Blog Entry screen and content is edited in the same way. The only addition is the Reason for edit field, allowing you to provide an explanation for the edit. If you compare this screen with the way it appeared when the blog entry was made, you’ll note that the tags have been reversed. This is because the Terminator tag, though it was entered second, was selected as the item prefix so it is now listed first. For this example, I have opted to edit the Content to include the model’s name and armament for more consistency with the other entries in this blog. Once you have completed editing the blog entry, click the Submit Entry button. You’ll return to the blog entry page showing the edited entry. Depending on the fields that you edited, those edits may even appear when viewing the blog entry card on the blog page. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124567 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Return to Index DELETING AN ENTRY At some point you may decide to reorganize a project, in which case you may delete one or more entries in the blog, permanently deleting the blog entries (we cannot restore deleted entries). If you wish to delete the blog entry (you can only delete blog entries in blogs that you own), click the Delete button. The software will ask if you are sure. If you are, click the OK button and the blog entry will be deleted. If you’re not, click the Cancel button and the blog entry will be preserved. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6124568 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted August 2 Author Share Posted August 2 Return to Index BLOG VISIBILITY The Blogs feature provides members of the community with a great way to share their hobby-related projects. Composing blog entries is virtually identical to composing discussion topics/comments, and other members of the community are able to engage in discussion just as easily as they do in the Forums. Moreover, the ability to compartmentalize different aspects of a project via categories and individual blog entries means that discussion can remain more focused than they can in a discussion forum-based "blog." In addition, the ability to reorganize and rearrange one's blog gives hobbyists much more control than the discussion forums allow for "blogs" conducted therein. The only real weakness with the Blogs is a result of this community being Forums-centric (i.e., the main Forums page serves as the site home page and most members navigate and search for content via the discussion Forums). As a result, many members overlook the blogs in the Blogs feature. In addition, many members conduct their own "blogs" within the discussion Forums. Those "blogs" work well enough, but they are sub-optimal compared to actual blogs in the Blogs feature. Unfortunately, the software does not create announcement topics for blogs/blog entries in the same way that such topics are created for articles in the Articles feature and files in the Downloads feature. So how can members take advantage of the superior capabilities of the Blogs feature while ensuring that their content receives the visibility that it deserves? There are two main options for promoting visibility of your blogs in the Blogs feature: Include a link in your signature Manual discussion forum announcements A link in your signature might as simple as the "Liber Bellum" link in my signature (granted, that's an image and text would be simpler). This simply serves as a permanent (until you remove it, that is) link that allows members to go straight to your blog/blog entry by clicking on the link in your signature. Some members like to include information about when the blog was most recently updated via text in their signature, making maintaining the signature content a bit more work-intensive, but being a bit more helpful to other members who might check the blog out when they notice that it has been updated recently. This only works when members see signatures, however. Members who use the default (white) theme don't see signatures, and members can manually adjust their settings to not see signatures. Creating manual discussion forum announcements is the preferred option. Using this option, instead of conducting a "blog" in the discussion forums, you conduct the blog in the Blogs feature and use one or more discussion forum topics to post updates to other members of the community. You might create a running discussion topic in the forums for your blog, but instead of posting the content therein, you simply post a link to the blog or the blog entry. You might include text if you think that will help to draw other members' interest. In addition, you can create topics in multiple forums if it is appropriate. For example, you might have a blog for your Drukhari kill team. You might create topics in the + KILL TEAM + forum, the + DRUKHARI + forum, and the + WORKS IN PROGRESS + forum, posting links to each of those topics as you create blog entries in the blog. And if you extend the blog to include battle reports, you might also post announcement topics in the forums for each of the enemy kill teams that your Drukhari face (e.g., a battle against a Dark Angels kill team might be announced via a topic in the + DARK ANGELS + forum whereas a battle against an Orks kill team might be announced via a topic in the + ORKS + forum. All you have to do is copy and paste the URL of the blog/blog entry into a discussion topic/comment (and in some cases you'll have to create the actual discussion topic, including a topic title). The software will automatically convert the URL into a "baseball card" that members can click on to see the blog/blog entry. Members then have an opportunity to check out the rest of your blog, or even look at your other blogs if they or other blogs in the same category, exposing themselves to more great Warhammer 40,000 content. For example, using the blog created by @Test Account (that's the account used by the administrators to create stuff like this ), a running announcement topic for the blog might appear in any number of forums: + ADEPTUS ASTARTES + + BLOOD ANGELS + (because the models in the images are painted in Blood Angels colors - if I was actually painting these models up myself, I'd put the topic in the appropriate sub-forum for the Chapter) + WORKS IN PROGRESS + + OTHER GAMES + (if the project involved painting these miniatures up for the Space Hulk game) + HALL OF HONOUR + (only for the finished models, of course) + THE LIBER + (if I was painting these models up for a DIY Chapter) And you might have multiple announcement topics for different purposes. For example, running topics for the entire blog might appear in a few of the forums whereas topics for specific blog entries might be created when the larger blog isn't necessarily appropriate to a subforum but the content of a blog entry might be (as in the previous battle report examples). All I would have to do would be to create a discussion topic in the relevant forum(s), giving it some title that I think clearly conveys the context either of the overall blog or the individual blog entry. For example, running announcement topics for @Test Account's blog might be posted in the + ADEPTUS ASTARTES + and + WORKS IN PROGRESS + forums and they might look something like: Quote Topic title: Space Marine Heroes 2 blog Please come check out my blog tracking my progress in assembling and painting the models from the Space Marine Heroes 2 line. You won't be disappointed. And each time I submit a new blog entry, I would simply post a reply in that topic with a link and maybe a little text, such as: Quote Latest update, July 2, Vastus Feurran steps out of the armoury... Woe to any foul xenos in range. If I were to have a blog entry for a battle report using these models against Genestealers in a game of Space Hulk, I could then create an announcement topic for that blog entry in the + OTHER GAMES + forum (I don't have such a blog entry, unfortunately, so I can't post a link ) while also posting updates in the existing topics. Even though there might be announcement topics in multiple (sub)forums, the content in those topics would be limited and members would have to follow the link to the blog/blog entry to see the full content. This means that most discussion about the content will [hopefully] take place within the blog (instead of being scattered across multiple topics in the Forums). In some cases, the staff will maintain indices of links to blogs in the Blogs feature, with running discussion topics enabling members to post links to new blogs and blog entries in those topics. The mechanisms for doing this will vary from forum to forum and based on purpose. Bouargh 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386287-the-blogs-feature/#findComment-6125710 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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