Category Archives: news

news, Releases

Glow Blogs Update 30 Sep 2025

Leave a comment

Glow Blogs has been updated to WordPress 6.8.2.

This update is mostly a behind the scenes one, you might not notice much difference.

The main features of WordPress 6.8 are covered in WordPress 6.8 – WordPress.org

WordPress 6.8 packs a wide range of performance fixes and enhancements to speed up everything from editing to browsing.

100+ accessibility fixes and enhancements touch a broad spectrum of the WordPress experience.

The Style Book is available in some classic themes, this gives you an overview of the standard styles in classic themes in the Site Editor style book. It is read only for our classic themes. Accessed via the Appearance -> Design section of the dashboard.

You can also access patterns for classic sites in the Design section, this allows you to add & edit patterns easily. Usefull if you have repeated content or repeat a type of content. Patterns are used in the block editor.

Block, images, you can set any image to site featured images.

Screenshot of image block with options menu open. Red arrow pointing to vertical ellipses to open menu. Red box round the 'Set as featured image' menu item.

The Full Site Editor

The FSE see some improvements. Especially in the views of Navigation, styles, Pages & Templates in the Editor.

Style Editor

The Style Book has a new, structured layout and clearer labels, to make it even easier to edit colors, typography—almost all your site styles—in one place

screenshot of Full sit editor - styles

Pages in the Editor

Pages listed & can be edited in the Appearance-> Editor section of the dashboard.

screenshot of Full sit editor -
Issues, news

PDF problem

Leave a comment

An issue with pdf uploaded to Glow Blogs has recently developed. Our developers are looking at the issue to create a fix.

The issue is that pdfs uploaded to Glow Blogs are ‘truncated’ to one page.

We hope this is fixed soon. There are a few workarounds you can use in the meantime.

Workaround 1 Media Settings

In your dashboard Settings -> Media 

set the Resize larger images to setting to 0 and save.

This has the disadvantage that it will allow you to upload very large images to you blog without resizing. This will take up space on your blog very quickly. We recommend that you change the setting, then reset it to 1260 after uploading PDFs.

Screenshot of the "Resize Larger images to " section of the Media page of setting in the Glow Blogs Dashboard."

Pdf uploaded after changing settings using the file block.

2pagepdfDownload

It also works with the dFlip plugin:

 Workaround 2 Google docs

If you have access to google docs you can upload a pdf there and share it;

Set General access to ‘Anyone with the link’ and copy the link.

Paste that link into the editor. It will embed the pdf in the post:

You can also just use the url in a link.

 Workaround 3 Onedrive

You can also host pdfs on Onedrive, these files do not embed, so you can only link to them. 

Open the PDF in Onedrive, Click the Share icon in the toolbar. Then the setting icon and set the share to with Anyone. Them Apply.

Screenshot of sharing a file in Onedrive

You can use the link in a post or page.

Neither of these external approaches will work with pdfs for use with the dFlip plugin.

The File block will not accept urls. You need to use a link or a button.

Download Pdf

news, Releases

Glow Blogs Release September 2025

Leave a comment

This release contains a couple of improvements and some general updated.

Additional CSS

We have restored the ability to add additional CSS in the customiser and the Styles of the Site editor.
You can again edit the styles of your site. Read more on the new CSS page.

New Plugin: Contact Form Block

We have added a new contact form with Google reCatcha v3 to Block themes.
The Jetpack contact forms did not work in the block editor. You can now use this plugin in Block Theme sites. Read more about the plugin & other form options on the Contact Form page.

Various plugins & theme have been updated.

How To, news

Glow Blogs Start of Session FAQ 2025

Leave a comment

A few quick tips and some information that might help at the start of this new session.

Check Your Blogs

The Glow Blogs housekeeping has started.

All staff and pupils who administrate blocks shoud check them .

It is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. These have already been archived. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check it, if you see an archived notice you can tell your Key Contact before the 21 August 2025 if you need it restored. More information.

Glow Blogs Housekeeping Announcement 5

Forgotten username or password

Your RM Unify Admin, who may be in your establishment or Local Authority, will be able to help.

I need to access a blog where I do not have a role. For example you have moved school.

An Admin of the blog should be able to add you. Adding Users, Setting Roles | Glow Blog Help

No one in school can access a blog (perhaps staff have moved or retired)

You need to get your Local Authority to raise a call with the RM help desk.

Make sure you include the usernames you want added to a blog and the URL of the blog.

I can log on to Glow but I can’t access a blog where I have a role.

If you have just be added to the blog, get an admin for the blog check you have been added in the right way. If you are showing as NOT LOGGED IN YET, see this tip. If that doesn’t help you need to get your Local Authority to raise a call with the RM help desk.

Make sure you include your username and the URL of the blog.

I can’t work out how to…

  1. Search the help blog
  2. Check the FAQ
  3. Use the contact form to get personal help.
  4. Leave a comment on one of the pages that your problem is related to.
  5. email gw09johnstonjohn4@glowmail.org.uk

New to Glow Blogs

News from the last year on Glow Blogs:

Recent Features you might not know about

Block Editor

We now recommend using The Blocks Editor  to create posts & pages on your sites. Itis a newer way to edit posts and pages. It allows a lot more flexibility as to content and layout.  We have a blog that explains more:  Using the Blocks Editor in Glow Blogs.

Site Editor

The site editor is a new way to edit the look and design of your site. It goes much further than changing themes. More improvements should come to Glow Blogs in the session, when we wil provide more information.

H5P

H5P

H5P is a plugin that allows you to create & display on your site a whole range of interactive content, from quizzes, multi-choice and close exercises all the way to 360 tours. H5p examples.

Accessibility

Accessibility they are new ways to make you sites accessibly to different visitors. Accessibility is becoming even more important in web design and should be considered for all public blogs.

Useful pages on the help blog

news, Releases

Glow Blog Release 6 Aug 2025

Leave a comment

There was a new release on Glow Blogs today.

Civic Cookie

We have changed the way users can control cookies with the civic cookie plugin. This allows visitors and users to set the cookies they will accept from Glow Blogs. You can change this at any time by editing your cookie preferences. These are accessed from the icon that will appear at the bottom right of every page.

Civic Cookie Setting icon
Civic Cookie Setting icon
Civic Cookies Settings.
Civic Cookies Settings Click to expand.

You can choose to accept or reject cookies in different categories. We have also an new Glow Blogs Cookies Policy page.

Other Plugins

The Following plugins have been updated to the latest versions:

WP Draw Attention, Akismet, Jetpack, Civic Control Cookie, WP Accessibility, MegaMenu, 3D Flipbook and You Tube embed.

A Reminder – Housekeeping

Check your sites & tell your Key Contact before the 21 August 2025 if you need any restored.

It is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check:

Glow Blogs Housekeeping Announcement 5

news

Glow Blogs Housekeeping 5

Leave a comment

Read the Official Announcement on Glow Connect.

it is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check it out.

Do you have a Glow Blog? Most likely the answer is yes! Glow Blogs is one of the most popular services in Glow with hundreds of new blogs created each month.

This is fantastic news and we want to make sure Glow keeps performing well to support your blogs. To help with this we’re carrying out a housekeeping exercise to remove older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a while.

On 1 May 2025 we archived older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a number of years.  Following this, commencing 28 August 2025, we will permanently delete these from the system to free up space and help improve overall performance.

This will affect; blogs with no users and no updates in the past 3 years, private blogs with users but no updates in the last 3 years and e-portfolios with or without users that have not been updated since 2017. Please note there are a small number of blogs and e-portfolios that have updates in the past three years that are also being archived as they have no users and do not use a home theme. If you have any questions regarding this then please speak to your local Glow Key Contact.

If your Glow Blog is archived but you want to continue using it you have the opportunity to restore it back to the live environment. Simply email your Glow Key Contact before 21 August 2025 and they will raise a service call on your behalf. Otherwise there’s nothing you need to do.

Thanks for your help and happy blogging.

news

Glow Blogs Housekeeping 4

Leave a comment

it is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check it out.

Do you have a Glow Blog? Most likely the answer is yes! Glow Blogs is one of the most popular services in Glow with hundreds of new blogs created each month.

This is fantastic news and we want to make sure Glow keeps performing well to support your blogs. To help with this we’re carrying out a housekeeping exercise to remove older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a while.

On 1 May 2025 we archived older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a number of years.  Following this, commencing 28 August 2025, we will permanently delete these from the system to free up space and help improve overall performance.

This will affect; blogs with no users and no updates in the past 3 years, private blogs with users but no updates in the last 3 years and e-portfolios with or without users that have not been updated since 2017. Please note there are a small number of blogs and e-portfolios that have updates in the past three years that are also being archived as they have no users and do not use a home theme. If you have any questions regarding this then please speak to your local Glow Key Contact.

If your Glow Blog is archived but you want to continue using it you have the opportunity to restore it back to the live environment. Simply email your Glow Key Contact before 21 August 2025 and they will raise a service call on your behalf. Otherwise there’s nothing you need to do.

Thanks for your help and happy blogging.

news, Releases

Glow Blogs Update May 2025

Leave a comment

Glow Blogs was updated yesterday.

The Following Plugins were updated. Jetpack, Syntax Highlighter, WP Accessibility, Mega Menu, H5P, Youtube Embed , 3D Flipbook, Userway Accessibility, WP Draw Attention.

The Plugin updates in the main as small fixes and compatibility with the latest version of WordPress.

Jetpack

Fixed: A problem with the Jetpack icon not being visitable in the dashboard. Access to turn on and off the jetpack modules has been restored to the dashboard. The interface has changed a little. The Modules have been split into tabbed sections in the Setting screen.

Screenshot of jetpack icon and settings

You can access the older simpler interface by using the Modules link in the settings or Dashboard.

H5P

Fixed: Various problems with the H5P plugin. You now can install all of the H5P content types.

You may see a problem with installing some content types. In particular the Games Map, Interactive Video and other large content types. The libraries are large and need other libraries to be installed. You may occasionally see a 503 error but refreshing the page will show the content type installed and ready to use. We would recommend installing the interactive Video content type before adding the Game Map, Branching Scenario or Column types.

news

We would love to hear from you

Leave a comment

The Glow Team are looking for feedback on Glow Blogs.

As part of our ongoing effort to support education staff and students with a platform that truly works for you, we’re inviting a moment of reflection on the Glow Blogs service.

from: Reflect, Review, Refine – We’d Love to Hear From You – Glow Connect

You can read more on Glow Connect, and fill out the form.

news

Glow Blogs Housekeeping 2

Leave a comment

Do you have a Glow Blog? Most likely the answer is yes! Glow Blogs is one of the most popular services in Glow with hundreds of new blogs created each month.

This is fantastic news and we want to make sure Glow keeps performing well to support your blogs. To help with this we’re carrying out a housekeeping exercise to remove older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a while.

On 1 May 2025 we archived older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a number of years.  Following this, commencing 28 August 2025, we will permanently delete these from the system to free up space and help improve overall performance.

This will affect; blogs with no users and no updates in the past 3 years, private blogs with users but no updates in the last 3 years and e-portfolios with or without users that have not been updated since 2017. Please note there are a small number of blogs and e-portfolios that have updates in the past three years that are also being archived as they have no users and do not use a home theme. If you have any questions regarding this then please speak to your local Glow Key Contact.

If your Glow Blog is archived but you want to continue using it you have the opportunity to restore it back to the live environment. Simply email your Glow Key Contact before 21 August 2025 and they will raise a service call on your behalf. Otherwise there’s nothing you need to do.

Thanks for your help and happy blogging.

The Glow Team