PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to manage Blog

This tutorial shows how to manage Blog in PrestaShop.

PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to manage Blog

Blog in PrestaShop is controlled by the Smart Blog module.

A Smart blog module is a set of modules for adding Blog into your store.

It consists of the following modules:

• Smart Blog;

• RSS Smart Blog Feed;

• Smart Blog Archive;

• Smart Blog Categories;

• Smart Blog Home Latest;

• Smart Blog Latest Comments;

• Smart Blog AddThis Module;

• Smart Blog Popular Posts;

• Smart Blog Recent Posts;

• Smart Blog Related Post;

• Smart Blog Search;

• Smart Blog Tags.

It also has its hooks to display blog modules on the site as well as in columns only.

1. Smart Blog is a main module with a great amount of settings for blog functionality.

   After its installation the Blog menu tab will display in the main menu of your admin panel where you can add/remove/edit the posts/categories or select the type of images and their dimensions used in the posts (types and dimensions of post images are different from product images settings in your store).

   In order to configure the Smart Blog module settings and parameters, please navigate to Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog and add all the parameters like:

   • Meta Title – your blog title to display on the pages.

   • Meta Keyword – keywords that will be used by search engines for better SEO optimization.

   • Meta Description – your blog description used by the search engines for better SEO optimization.

   • Main Blog URL – the URL of your Blog.

   • Use .html with Friendly URL – enable/disable adding .html to the blog pages URLs using Friendly URLs.

   • Number of posts per page – number of posts that show up per page (category/archives pages, etc.).

   • Auto accepted comment – enable/disable the auto accepted user comments. If enabled, comments will be available without admin moderation.

   • Enable Captcha – enable/disable Captcha under Leave Comment form on products pages.

   • Enable Comment – enable/disable leaving comments by users.

   • Show Author Name – enable/disable showing author of the posts on the blog pages and post single pages.

   • Show Post Viewed – enable/disable showing number of times the users viewed the post. It will show up under the post on the blog pages and blog single pages.

   • Show Author Name Style – changing the format of the author name.

   • AVATAR Image: – adding the standard avatar image for all users.

   • Show No Image – enable/disable the image. No Image is set if there is no image for post/category, etc.

   • Show Category – enable/disable the category image and description on the blog category pages.

   • Blog Page Column Setting – setting the display of Blog related modules. It often requires additional settings, therefore it is recommended that you install additional modules in the same way that standard PrestaShop modules are installed.

   • Custom CSS – you can add additional styles in this field. Be careful using the classes that are already used in the theme since some conflicts may occur.

   • Delete Old Thumblr – is used to regenerate blog images in case image dimensions were changed or the new type of image was added. To regenerate, select Yes and click ‘Regenerate’:

     

2. RSS SmartBlog Feed is the module generating the new feed for the Blog.

   To manage the RSS SmartBlog Feed module, follow the steps below:

   1. Navigate to Modules -> Front Office Features -> RSS SmartBlog Feed in your admin panel.

   2. Click ‘Configure’:

      

   3. You can edit the following module settings:

      • Update Period – allows to display posts from specific time period (hour/day/week/month/year).

      • Update Frequency – allows to set the frequency of update (1 week, 2 hours, etc.).

      You will see a file path where news will be generated at the top of the page. It consists of the website URL + /modules/smartblogfeed/rss.php.

   4. Do not forget to click ‘Save’ in order to save the changes:

      

3. Smart Blog Archive module is displayed in the left/right column of the Blog page and is used to sort posts by period of time (month).

   To manage the Smart Blog Archive module settings as well as to enable/disable it, navigate to Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Archive in your admin panel:

   

4. Smart Blog Categories module is displayed on the left/right side of the Blog page and is used to sort posts by category.

   The Blog Categories are located in Blog – Blog Category on the left of your admin panel. The Smart Blog Categories module settings can be found in Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Categories:

   

   To add the new blog category, please click ‘Add New’ at the top right corner of the page, fill in the category fields and click ‘Save’:

   

5. SmartBlog Home Latest Posts Module

   This block is displayed in homepagecontent hook only and is used to show the latest posts on the home page.

   It can be reached from Modules – Front Office Features -> SmartBlog Home Latest -> Configure in your admin panel.

   You can configure the number of posts to display on the home page in the Number of posts section of the module:

   

6. Smart Blog Latest Comments Module.

   This block is displayed on the left/right side of the Blog page and is used to display the latest comments added for the Blog posts.

   Navigate to Modules – Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Latest Comments -> Configure in your admin panel to set the Number of Comments to Show in the block.

   Click the ‘Save’ button to save the changes:

   

   To edit the Blog Comments, please click the ‘Edit’ button in Blog – Blog Comments on the left of your PrestaShop admin panel:

   

7. Smart Blog AddThis Module is displayed on the post single page and allows to share this post in social networks.

   Go to Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog AddThis module to enable/disable it:

   

8. Smart Blog Popular Posts Module is displayed in the left/right column of the Blog page and is used to show the most popular posts viewed.

   You can set the Number of popular Posts to Show in the block in Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Popular Posts -> Configure in your Prestashop admin panel.

   Do not forget to save the changes:

   

   The Blog Posts are located in Blog -> Blog Post on the left of your admin panel:

   

   To edit the Blog Posts, please click ‘Edit’ button.

9. Smart Blog Recent Posts is used to display the latest posts and is usually located on left/right of the Blog page.

   You can reach the module settings in Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Recent Posts -> Configure.

   Set the number of Recent Posts to display in the Show Number Of Recent Posts field for the module.

   Do not forget to save the changes by clicking the ‘Save’ button:

   

10. Smart Blog Related Posts module is located on the post single page and is used to display related posts.

    You can set the number of related posts by filling the Show Number Of Related Posts field in Modules -> Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Related Posts -> Configure in your admin panel:

    

11. The Smart Blog Search Module is displayed in the left/right column of the page and is used to search through the blog.

    To enable/disable the Smart Blog Search module, navigate to Modules – Front Office Features:

    

12. Smart Blog Tag Module is used to display tags used in the blog.

    Navigate to Modules – Front Office Features -> Smart Blog Tag -> Configure.

    Set Number of Tags to Show. Do not forget to click ‘Save’:

    

Feel free to check the detailed video tutorial below:

PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to manage Blog