README

Magento 2 Better Blog by Mageplaza is integrated right into the Magento backend so you can manage your blog and your e-commerce store all in the one place. It is the perfect marketing tool for your bussiness that not only provides update information to your existing customers but also drive more visitors to your online store.

1. Documentation

Installation guide
User guide
Download from our Live site
Mageplaza Blog has been verified on Magento Marketplace
Get Free Support
Get premium support from Mageplaza: Purchase Support package
Contribute on Github
Releases
License

2. FAQs

Q: I got error: `Mageplaza_Core has been already defined`

A: Read solution: https://github.com/mageplaza/module-core/issues/3

3. How to install

✓ Install via composer (recommend)

Run the following command in Magento 2 root folder:

With Marketing Automation + GraphQL (Support PWA) (recommend):

composer require mageplaza/magento-2-blog-extension mageplaza/module-blog-graphql mageplaza/module-smtp
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy

With GraphQL (Support PWA):

composer require mageplaza/magento-2-blog-extension mageplaza/module-blog-graphql
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy

Without GraphQL:

composer require mageplaza/magento-2-blog-extension mageplaza/module-smtp
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy

✓ Install Magento 2 Blog GraphQL module only

composer require mageplaza/module-blog-graphql
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy

✓ Install ready-to-paste package

Download the latest version at Mageplaza Blog for Magento 2
Installation guide

4. Contribute to this module

Feel free to Fork and contrinute to this module and create a pull request so we will merge your changes to master branch.

Thanks the contributors

6. Blog benefits

Magento 2 blog extension can give you a greate opportunity to communicate with your potential and existing customers. Blog posts can help you to create a 2-way communication platform to publish new information such as news, promotions, comming products. Read more benefits of Blog.

Drive more traffics

“Raise your hand if you need more targeted visitors. Sure, me too.”

Think of total number of pages you can find on your online store. Maybe not a ton, right? And think of how frequently you update those pages. Maybe not that usually, right? Well, running a blog helps resolve both of those problems.

Writing a blog helps as well you get discovered via social networks. Any time you write a blog post, you are building content that many people can share on social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest – which will help expose your web business to a new one audience that will not know you yet.

It may help convert that traffic into leads.

Similar to every blog post you write is yet another indexed page, each post is really a new chance to generate new leads. The way in which this works is absolutely simple: Just put in a lead-generating call-to-action to each blog post.

Boost Search Engine Optimization Ranking

Search Engines like Google loves fresh content. What better method to deliver frequent content compared to blog posts. By writing blog consistently, you provide Google and other search engines new content to index and you also create chances to plug in those all-important keywords to boost your visibility on search engine results pages (SERPS).

Build relationships with your customers

Writing a blog enables you to interact with your website visitors. You can accomplish this by asking your visitors questions at the conclusion of your posts to obtain the conversation going or simply by allowing comments and feedback. By reviewing and answering readers’ comments, you may create a rapport together with your audience, build trust, and gain valuable insight into what your visitors are seeking.

Magento 2 Blog full feature list

Responsive design
SEO friendly
Post attributes
Multiselect tags
Numerous Comment engine: Magento Built-in comments, Facebook Comment, Disqus Comment.
RSS Optimization
WYSIWYG editor in admin
Blog breadcrumbs
Import from AW M1 Blog, Magefan Blog, Wordpress
Integrate Magento Sitemap or Blog sitemap
Multistores support

Blog features for Magento 2

A better blog for your e-commerce store without adding any 3rd-party framework. Better blog extension allows you manage categories, posts, comments on Magento 2 back-end. The system will update you when there is a new comment submit. This is a great solution for building relevant SEO-friendly text links, and serves as assistance in building sales strategy.

Responsive design

Mobile-friendly design will make allow you customers to read your blog posts with maximum comfort on tablets and smartphones. Using the off-canvas menu, they will be able to see widgets and interact with the blog search. Tested on Madison, Ultimo, Porto theme.

Flexible display posts

It is very easy to add recent posts, post in specific category in homepage. Your customers also see recent posts in sidebar.

SEO friendly

Properly optimized blog can get your site higher in search results and lead more potential customers. Better Blog allows you to create meta information not only for posts, but also for categories and tags.

Post attributes

You can create unlimited attributes for post. It is extremely customized your blog by adding as many post attributes as you want to. It displays right in Post Edit and Frontend. No code modification required.

Comments

Better Blog supports 3 types of comments: built-in comment, Disqus comment (coming soon), and Facebook comment (coming soon). You can switch comment solution in configuration.

Sharing posts

Better blog is integrated with Addthis, that why your customers can share posts via about hundred social networks such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Delicious, Digg , StubmleUpon, Linkedin, Reddit or email ….

RSS Optimization

Full RSS integration into Magento 2. The blog RSS feed appears right next to the standard product and Magento 2 RSS feeds, allowing users that are familiar with your website to easily find all the blog RSS feeds easily and simply.

Importer (NEW)

Import Blog Posts, Categories, Tags from Wordpress, AW M1 Blog, Magefan M2 Blog

7. USER GUIDE

General Configuration

Login to Magento Admin, Better Blog > Settings.
Open General section,
- Enable the module when choosing “Yes” in the required field.
- Set name for the new blog
- Enter the URL Prefix and URL Suffix. If leave empty for no suffix, use the default configuration (html)
- To make the blog link visible on the top/ footer links on your site, set Show Blog Link in Top/ Footer Links to "Yes".
- To show the sidebar on the storefront, select "Yes" in the Show Sidebar Right/ Left field.

Open Sidebar section,
- Enter Number of recent posts that display on the sidebar.
- Enter Number of most view posts that display on the sidebar.

Open Comments section,
- Set Number of recent posts to one of the following options:
  - Disqus Comment
  - Facebook Comment
  - Disable Completely

Open SEO section, you can configure the meta that is useful for your better SEO
- Set Meta title for posts list page
- Set Meta description for posts list page
- Set Meta keywords for posts list page

Open Social section,
- Enable social buttons on the blog page
- In the Pubid field, insert ID for Share buttons that get from https://addthis.com.
In Social share session, we use Addthis.com to add more than 200 share buttons, and display only 4 most popular share buttons. You can custom these buttons by add your own Addthis Pub-id

Click on Save Config when complete.

How to Create a New Post

Step 1: Complete the post information
Step 2: Assign to Topic
Step 3: Assign to Categorie
Step 4: Assign Tags to the post

Step 1: Complete the post information

To display the new post, choose "Yes" in the Enabled field
Login to Magento Admin, Better Blog > Posts
On the upper-right corner, tap Add New Posts button
Set Name for the new post
Enter Short Description if you need
Use WYSIWYG Mode to insert the post content that allows showing right as in the storefront.

If you want to show the content under code, tap Show/ Hide Editor button.
Upload image from your brower in the Image option.
Enter the URL Key that the visitor can access the blog post
To allow the readers leave comments on your post, choose "Yes" in the Allow Comment field.
Complete Meta Title, Meta Description,and Meta Keywords for your better SEO.
Set Meta Robots to one of the following opitons:
- Index, Follow
- NoIndex, NoFollow
- NoIndex, Follow
- Index, NoFollow
Tap Save and Continue Edit

Step 2: Assign the post to Topic

You can do it when you create a new post in the Topics tab, or go to Posts tab
In the list of the available posts, mark the checkbox that is next to the posts you want to assign
Tap Save and Continue Edit

Step 3: Assign to Categories

You can do it when you create a new post in the Categories tab, or go to Posts tab
In the list of the available posts, mark the checkbox that is next to the posts you want to assign
Tap Save and Continue Edit

Step 4: Assign Tags to the post

You can do it when you create a new post in the Tags tab, or go to Posts tab
In the list of the available posts, mark the checkbox that is next to the posts you want to assign
Tap Save and Continue Edit, then hit Save Post to finish.

How to create a new Tag

Login to Magento Admin, Better Blog > Categories
To active the new tag, set Enabled to "Yes"
Set Name for the new tag
Use WYSIWYG Mode to enter the description of the tag
Enter the URL Key that the visitor can access the tag
If need, you can assign the new tag to specific post.
Click on Save Tag when complete.

How to Create a new Topic

Login to Magento Admin, Better Blog > Topics
To active the new topic, set Enabled to "Yes"
Set Name for the new topic
Use WYSIWYG Mode to enter the description of the topic
Enter the URL Key that the visitor can access the topic
Complete Meta Title, Meta Description,and Meta Keywords for your better SEO.
Set Meta Robots to one of the following opitons:
- Index, Follow
- NoIndex, NoFollow
- NoIndex, Follow
- Index, NoFollow
If need, you can assign the new topic to specific post.
Click on Save Topic when complete.

How to Create a new category

Login to Magento Admin, Better Blog > Categories
To active the new category, set Enabled to "Yes"
Set Name for the new category
Use WYSIWYG Mode to enter the description of the category
Enter the URL Key that the visitor can access the category
Complete Meta Title, Meta Description,and Meta Keywords for your better SEO.
Set Meta Robots to one of the following opitons:
- Index, Follow
- NoIndex, NoFollow
- NoIndex, Follow
- Index, NoFollow
If need, you can assign the new category to specific post.
Click on Save Category when complete.

How to add custom CMS Static Block in Blog Post

In this guide, we will show you how to add a custom content in Blog post such as: Call to action, promoted banner ...

There are few hidden tricks in Mageplza Blog for Magento 2. Here are hidden CMS Static Block:

mageplaza_blog_view_under_content : Under Content section
mageplaza_blog_view_above_comment : Above Comment section
mageplaza_blog_sidebar_above_popular_widget : Above Popular/Recent posts widgets
mageplaza_blog_sidebar_above_categories_widget : Above Categories widgets
mageplaza_blog_sidebar_above_tags_widget : Above Tags widgets
mageplaza_blog_sidebar_under_tags_widget : Under Tags wigets

See this: