Simple Sites Feed (Blog)

The CMS does not have blog functionality, but our self-service website option, Simple Sites, does. 

Simple Sites' strengths are best suited to small sites and blog functionality. The CMS' strengths are best suited to large and complex sites. The Simple Sites Feed lets us combine these strengths to add a blog to your CMS site.

The page in the CMS will display your blog posts or post previews based on the settings you select. When users click on the story, they will be taken to the full blog entry on your Simple Site.

Requirements and preparation

1. You will need to request a Simple Site.
   1. Review how Simple Sites differs from the CMS.
   2. Note especially that support is provided by Campus Press, not WTS.
   3. Request your site when you are ready.
   4. We suggest using 'blog' in the site name where feasible. For example, if your CMS site is sitename.ucsd.edu, your Simple Site can be sites.ucsd.edu/sitename-blog
2. Set your Simple Site to display as a traditional blog.
3. Email wts@ucsd.edu and ask for the 'simple sites feed' module to be added to your site.
4. Note: There is no automatic link back to your CMS site from your Simple Site. We suggest you add one to the Simple Site's navigation with a 'Custom Link':
   1. Navigate to your Simple Site dashboard
   2. Select: Appearance > Menu > Add menu items > Custom links
   3. Fill in:
      1. URL: The homepage of your CMS site (https://sitename.ucsd.edu)
      2. Link Text: The text you want to display (for example 'Return to Sitename')
   4. Click Add to Menu
   5. You can also see Campus Press' documentation
5. Note: Access to your Simple Site is separate from CMS access. Learn how to manage your Simple Site users.

To edit the Simple Sites feed display on your CMS page:

1. Navigate to your _modules folder and select simple-sites-feed.
2. Click Edit to bring up the edit screen.
3. Complete these fields:
   • Site URL: enter your Simple Site URL, for example https://sites.ucsd.edu/sitename-blog/
   • Post Style: choose how your posts will display
     • List Style: displays in a vertical list
     • News Module Style: similar to the news with images module
   • Intro Heading: formatted as h2
   • Intro Text: WYSIWYG text before the blog entries (edited in the CMS, rather than in Simple Sites).
   • Post Length: select how much of the blog content is shown on the CMS page
     • Short Version: Shows a brief preview.
     • Full Version: Displays the entire post.
   • Pagination Style: select how many posts or previews will display on the CMS page
     •  Pagination
     • All Post Link: only the 5 most recent entries are displayed, followed by a link to view more.