Posting a Blog (News) Article

How to create and write a new article on your website, and restrict the visibility of articles via the blog category settings.

Jenn Norman, CAE avatar
Written by Jenn Norman, CAE
Updated over a week ago

Keeping your members informed and your website content fresh is a key component to member engagement. So, we made it really easy to add new content to the Blog/News section of your website.

Sections in this article:


Video Tutorial - Creating Blog Articles


Create New Article

  1. On the backend, click Blog in the left sidebar

  2. Click on Articles

  3. Then click the Add Article button in the top right corner

Article Settings

  1. Title the Article (required*)

  2. Select an Author (optional)

  3. Select a Category - or more than one!

  4. Select a Published On date (required*) - if this date is in the future, the article will not show on the frontend until that day

  5. Select an Unpublish On date (optional) - if a date is selected, the article will be hidden on the frontend on the Unpublish On date

  6. Choose an Image - more info on this below

  7. Add Overview Text - this will show as "teaser" text on the main blog page; if left blank the system will automatically show the first 150 characters from the article

Blog Article Featured Images

The image that is displayed on the frontend website for a blog article is determined by the following priority:

  1. Blog Article Image

  2. Blog Category Image

  3. Blog Default Image

What does this mean?

  • If the article has a specific image assigned (which is #6 in the screenshot above), then this image will always show as the image for this article on the frontend.

  • If the article does not have its own image, but it is in a blog category that has a specific image setup, then the image from the category will show.

  • If the article is in more than one blog category the system will determine the image based on: (1) if only one of the categories has an image set, this is the image that will be displayed, or (2) if more than one category has an image set, the default from Association Settings will be used.

  • If both the article and blog category do not have an image assigned, then the default image in Association Settings will be displayed.

Article Details

This is where you can add the content of your blog article (i.e. text, images, links, etc.).

If you've previously crafted your article in a word doc or similar, you can copy & paste the details in the HTML box. A couple of notes:

  • Be sure to paste as plain text or remove the formatting.

  • We recommend styling the text and images from the front-end. Once you've completed setting up the article, click View Frontend to easily access the article even if it's not active yet.

Finish with SEO (optional)

The SEO information section will automatically populate from the page title that you enter, but you have the option to edit the SEO information on any article. Learn more about SEO.

Click Save & Close OR Save & View which will take you directly to the article to proof and edit the text to your liking!

Make the Blog Active

Set the blog article to Active so it can be seen on the frontend immediately! If setting a Published On date, the blog article will still need to be set to Active to allow the posting to occur. Blogs with a Published On or Unpublish On date that are set to Inactive will not automatically post or be hidden.

The blog article can be made Active from within the modal or from the Article List view.


Restrict Visibility of the Article

If you want a blog article to be private (e.g. only visible to members), assign the article to a Blog Category that is locked down to a Novi Group.

Blog Category Setting:

Blog Article Setting:

If someone who does not have access (in other words, they do not meet the Group's conditions) tries to view a restricted blog article/category, they will be directed to the standard "restricted" message:
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What happens if my article is in multiple blog categories with different visibility settings?

If you have an article that is listed in multiple categories, be aware that if one of those categories is restricted to a group (or groups), and another category is public, the public will be able to view the article.

Locked down categories can have preview "teaser text" visible to the public. This allows website visitors to see a "preview" of the content, but only make the content of the full article available to the restricted group.

Checking this box allows the category to be seen by the public in a list view only - when they click to view the article they will see the restricted message.
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