This tutorial shows how to make a simple site with Glow Blogs. You can read through the tutorial or follow along on the videos.
The tutorial will use the Twenty Sixteen theme & the block editor.
This will be a Class Blog that a teacher, or teacher & pupils could use to share news from their class.
The tutorial will also help you to understand some of the basics of the Block editor.
You need to logon to Glow when you visit the site. It contains example images and text created with the aid of ChatGPT and other AI tools. This text should not be taken seriously.
This is the one of several tutorials sites that are in the works. We would very much appreciate any feedback.
This tutorial shows how to make a one page site with Glow Blogs. You can read through the tutorial or follow along on the Video.
The tutorial will cover using the block editor, patterns & the document overview.
This will be a Links in Bio type of page or site that is common on the internet now, sometimes called Link Trees sites. There are several services that will help you create such a site but it is pretty easy with Glow Blogs.
You could add a page like this to an existing site or create a a one page site just for sharing a set of links.
The tutorial will also help you to understand some of the basics of the Block editor.
The site will be a simple list of links. I might use it to provide a set of resources, or list different places on the internet I’ve got a presence.
The latest release of Glow Blogs makes a slight change to how you create a new site.
There is an added choice when creating a site:
You can choose between the Classic and Block editor.
Choosing Classic will create a site with the default editor for posts and pages is the classic editor and the theme is Twenty Fourteen. This is the default choice.
Choosing Blocks with make the default editor the newer blocks editor. The Theme will be Twenty Twenty-three.
In both cases you can change the editor later in the settings-> Writing page of your blog’s dashboard. You can also set it to allow yourself and other users of the site to swap back and forth between editors.
You can also change the theme in the Dashboard-> Appearance page.
The Twenty-Twenty-three theme is a block theme and is very customisable using the Site editor to edit the templates. This is a bit more complex that using the customiser on older themes.
You can use either editors to edit pages and posts on your site they are not theme dependent. The exceptions are the Make and Agama themes which do not work with the block editor.
The block editor is the future of WordPress, it allows for a modular design for flexible content creation. You can make more complex layouts than with the old classic editor. Many features, columns, groups which have been much requested by glow users are in the Block editor.
We have a page on the help blog: The Block Editor which outlines some of the differences.
We have also a blog which give a lot more details on using the blocks editor Blocks – Using the Blocks Editor in Glow Blogs. This lists all the available blocks, shows examples and has links to even more information.
We have currently a problem with the list block in the Block Editor on Glow Blogs. When you create a list, it only allows you to have one item. Pressing return does not give you another item in the list.
A fix has been found and will be release soon.
Workarounds
Use a classic block. This adds the older classic editor to a post where you can add a list.
Use a markdown block.
Markdown bullet list:
item 1
item 2
Markdown numbered list:
item a
item b
The about list was produced with the markdown block, here is a screenshot:
Glow Blogs has had another update. Here are some highlights
Use H5P content on other blogs via shortcode
You can now allow your hp5 interactive content to be used on other Glow Blogs. See the H5P example blog Sharing page for details.
Plugin Copy Posts
This post allows you to create template posts that can be copied to other users blog and edited there. This will be useful for providing a starter for e-Portfolio posts by pupils. More information here on the help blog.
Plugin Block/e-Portfolio compatibility
The e-Portfolio plugin has been updated so that profile posts can now work with Gutenberg blocks: Gallery, Cover, Audio File, Video, Media/text, Pull quote, Table, Verse, Next page.
Some inappropriate blocks: Buttons, Search Field, Social Links, will not be shown in a pdf profile.
Other Changes
Many plugins and themes have been updated to newer versions
Security Update for WordPress
A bug in the comment form was fixed
A bug in Jetpack Sharing links was fixed
Other recent changes
Remember you can use the newer Blocks Editor for composing posts now. We have started a Block Blogs to give more information.
The H5P plugin allows you to make all sorts of interactive content. See the H5P examples blog for examples and more information.
WordPress has been updated. As usual we are slightly behind the latest version from WordPress.org
Many of the plugin and Themes have been updated.
It is now possible to use the Gutenberg Blocks editor on Posts and Pages. You can read more about the Blocks editor. We will be updating the help site to cover this over time.
The Lightbox plugin has now been removed, if a site has used the Lightbox plugin then this will be picked up and Jetpack will be enabled with the Carousel module also enabled.
There is a new plugin Advanced Search and filter plugin This allows large complex sites to create searches which include filters for categories, tags and other taxonomies.
You can now upload ppsx (PowerPoint Slide Show) files to Glow Blogs. These files may be large if they contain audio narration, this will take files space in your media library.
We are looking feedback on how people use Glow Blogs this will help us develop new functionality. Please fill in this short survey. It is linked from all the LA home pages.
There is a new ‘jQuery Migrate’ plugin that is activated across the service. This requires no activity from blog users. The plugin does send email to some blog admins, these can be ignored. We hope to stop the service sending these emails.