Adding a Blog

A Blog is an online journal that’s posted on the web for friends and family to read. For example, you might create a blog that provides a day-by-day account of a trip complete with photos and movies.

iWeb has a specific page type for blogs and you can post multiple blogs on the same website. Friends and family can even subscribe to your blog so that they’ll know when you add an entry.

Tips

Use RSS Feeds

The Blog template includes a "Subscribe to RSS Feed" button on the main blog page. When visitors click the Subscribe button, their RSS reader (Safari, for example) switches to RSS mode and displays your entries. Visitors can include this feed in their bookmark toolbar in Safari to be notified automatically when you update your blog. When you add a multimedia file (audio or video) to the placeholder on the Podcast template, a "Subscribe to Podcast" button is added to the main podcast page. When visitors click the Subscribe button, your latest podcast episodes are downloaded to iTunes on their computer the next time iTunes checks for new episodes.

Add a subscribe button

To add a Subscribe button select a main blog page in the Site Organizer. From the Insert menu choose Button and select Subscribe to RSS Feed or Subscribe to Podcast. If the item is dimmed, you need to select a blog page in the Site Organizer. If the item has a checkmark next to it, the page already includes the button. Only one media file—the one dragged to the placeholder—per blog entry is included in feeds (but the remaining files are displayed when a visitor goes directly to that entry on your website). Note: Some media files are protected under copyright law. Make sure you have permission to use the files you want to include.

Display excerpts of blog entries

On your published website, your blog displays an excerpt—the beginning text—of each entry. Visitors can click a "Read more" link to view the entire entry. You can change the number of excerpts that appear on your blog (up to 50), and you can change the length of the excerpts. In the Site Organizer, select a main blog page. If the Blog & Podcast Inspector isn’t open, click Inspector in the toolbar, and then click the Blog & Podcast Inspector button. If the Blog pane isn’t displayed, click Blog. To change the number of excerpts that appear, enter a value in the field. To adjust the length of excerpts, drag the Excerpt Length slider. If you drag the slider all the way to the left, only the entry date and title are shown. Changing the excerpt length on your main page also affects the length of excerpts in the RSS feed (for visitors who subscribe to your blog).