How to create a new blog post

For the purposes of our themes, the word “posts” might as well have the word “blog” in front of it, because that’s what posts are — the articles that you publish to your blog feed.  

Posts are the things you read on other blogs, whether published daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Posts tend to be topical, and can often be timely (though of course, some posts feature content so good, they’re of interest for many, many years after you publish them).

At EmPress, you may often see post pages referred to as the "single post page."

This article discusses how to create a blog post for your EmPress theme, as well as how to adjust the post attribute template, or the individual post layout..

CREATING NEW POSTS

1. Start by going to Posts > Add New.

You can also navigate to the + New icon at the top of your WordPress menu bar and select Post there.

2. Next, you'll want to add the following to your post at minimum:

  • A title
  • Select your post attribute template, if different from the default template (more on this below!)
  • Content to the post body (text and images, etc.)
  • A category
  • A featured image
  • Schedule date (if applicable)
  • Optional to add: post tags

Each of these items lives in a slightly different place depending on whether you are using the WordPress Classic Editor or Block Editor.

Here is an example of what the Classic Editor layout looks like. Note that the bottom part of yours may look slightly different depending on what plugins and add-ons you have installed on your site:

And here is an example of what the Block Editor layout looks like:

Based on which editor version you're using, the instructions below will point out where to edit the recommended pieces of each post.

Add a title

  • In Classic Editor, click into the Add Title field, and type in your title.
  • In Block Editor, click into the field that defaults with "Auto Draft," and type in your title.

Select your post attribute template.

Most EmPress themes include the option to turn the sidebar on or off on any given post (the exceptions are the Archer and Miramar themes, which do not include sidebar functionality). Look for the Post Attributes box, and click on the Template dropdown. You can select the Default Template, or a Full-Width Template. 

  • The default template can be edited by going to Appearance > Customize. Look for Single Post options, or Post & Page Display Options if you wish to update your default layout.
  • An example of a full-width (no sidebar) post can be viewed here. An example of a post with a sidebar can be viewed here.

Add your content to the post body

Now you can begin typing in your post content!

In Classic Editor, simply click into the post body editor field, and type.

In Block Editor, you can click to begin typing, or use the + icon to add a Paragraph Block.

Images can be added by either clicking on the Add Media button (Classic Editor), or adding an Image block (Block Editor).

If you need a resource for free images, we recommend Unsplash.

Add a category (or two, or three)

Once you've written the content for your post, add a category. Look for the category box on the right sidebar of the post editor. 

In Classic Editor, it looks like this:

In Block Editor, it looks like this (though you may need to toggle the Category window open, so you can view your categories).

If you need help creating categories, read how to do this here.

Add a featured image to your post

Click here to learn how to add a featured image to a blog post. Featured images are essential for imagery to appear properly in blog post feeds. If you need a place to download free images, check out Unsplash—most of the images on our demo sites are from there, anyway!

Schedule date (if applicable)

If you're ready to publish your post, go for it!

Otherwise, you can schedule your post.

  • In Classic Editor, look for the Publish box, then the Publish Immediately setting. Click Edit, then schedule when you'd like your post to go live (you can set the date and time).
  • In Block Editor, look for the Status & Visibility box. Next to the word publish is a link that reads Immediately. Click on the link, and use the calendar/time setting flyout to select your preferred go-live date and time.

That's it! You've written your next blog post!