Create and manage blog posts

How to write, publish, and maintain the blog on your site in SGEN

Your blog is the place to post news, product updates, tutorials, announcements, and anything else that belongs on a timeline. Each post has its own public URL, lands on the blog archive, and — if discussions are on — can collect comments from readers. This walkthrough covers everything you will reach for every week: adding a new post, editing one, saving drafts, duplicating, trashing, restoring, and exporting.

What is this for?

The Blog screen at /sg-admin/blog/ is the list of every post on your site. Reach for it when you want to write something new, update an existing post, retire something, or scan what is currently live. Blog posts are distinct from pages — pages (About, Contact, Services) are evergreen; blog posts are time-stamped and live on a timeline. If the content has a date attached to it and will age, it is probably a blog post.

Before you start

• You are signed in to SGEN as an admin with access to Blog.
• You have created at least one category and at least one tag. On this version, the post-creation form requires both — if either is empty you will not be able to save. Set those up first in Blog → Categories and Blog → Tags. Five minutes of setup there saves you from getting stuck on your first post.
• You know the Title of your post. The Permalink (URL slug) auto-fills from the Title — you can edit it before saving if you want something cleaner.
• You have decided whether this post goes out as Published right away, or saved as Draft to finish later.
• If the post needs a cover image, upload it to the Media Library first (or use the inline uploader on the Thumbnail picker).

Good use cases

Example 1: Weekly product update — Acme Coffee Roasters. Acme wants to announce a new seasonal blend. Click Add New, fill in Title, Permalink auto-fills, write content, pick category Product Updates, add tags, attach cover photo, set Status = Publish, click Create a Post. The post is live immediately.

To confirm the post went live, open its public URL in a private/incognito window. Here is what readers see for each Status option:

Example 2: Draft a how-to tutorial for internal review. Fill in Title and body, assign category, set Status = Draft, click Create a Post. The post is on the Blog list but not visible publicly. Any admin can preview, edit, and publish when ready.

Example 3: Password-gated preview for wholesale partners. Set Status = Password Protected, type a password. Visitors see a password prompt; content stays hidden until correct password entered.

Example 4: Bulk clean up stale drafts before a site launch. On Blog list, click Draft pill, select all rows, pick Move to Trash bulk action, click Apply.

What NOT to use this for

• Do not try to save your first post without creating a category and a tag first. Both are required on this version.
• Do not rely on drafts being hidden from search engines. Draft and trashed posts return a public-site response at their URL on this version. Search engines may index them. Until fixed, avoid posting anything at a URL you don't want indexed before going Live.
• Do not search the Tag admin list — search is broken on this version.
• Do not rename a post's slug without setting up a Redirect. Pair any slug change with a 301 redirect from old slug to new.
• Do not use Blog for evergreen content. About/Contact/Services/legal belong under Pages, not Blog.
• Do not assume restoring an old revision rolls back the URL. Restore replaces title and body only — slug stays current.

How this connects to other features

• Media Library — cover images come from here.
• Categories & Tags (organize-with-categories-and-tags) — required for every post.
• Discussions — each Published post can collect comments.
• SEO — per-post SEO title, description, canonical URL.
• Pages — for evergreen content use Pages instead.
• Redirects — pair slug changes with 301 redirects.
• Import / Export — Export row action backs up post as JSON.

Where to go

1. Open the left navigation.
2. Select Blogs → All Blogs. You land on /sg-admin/blog/.
3. Top-right: Add New to create a new post. Hover any row for View/Edit/Duplicate/Trash/Export.

Steps to add a new post

1. Click Add New

From the Blog list click Add New in the top-right.

2. Fill in Title, Permalink, Content

• Title — auto-populates the Permalink.
• Permalink — click to edit slug.
• Content — Text Editor (rich text) or SG-Builder (visual).
• Excerpt (optional) — blog archive blurb.

3. Pick a cover image (optional)

Click Select cover image on Thumbnail card. Media Library modal opens.

4. Assign at least one category and at least one tag

Both required. Type into pickers or create new.

5. Toggle discussions (optional)

Enable discussions, close discussions, allow ratings — all checkboxes in the right column.

6. Pick Status

• Publish — live immediately.
• Draft — saved but hidden from public.
• Private — visible only to admins.
• Password Protected — gated by password.

7. Click Create a Post

Primary red button. Lands on Edit screen with success message.

Steps to edit an existing post

Hover any row, click Edit (or click the title). Same form pre-filled. Change what you need, click Update a Post.

Duplicating a post

Hover a row, click Duplicate. SGEN creates a Draft copy with "(Draft)" appended. Useful for reusing structure without overwriting.

Trashing and restoring

Trashing is a soft delete. Post moves to Trash tab, public URL stops serving content. Restore returns post to Draft (not back to its prior Publish state — flip manually if needed).

Before trashing a post with inbound links, add a 301 redirect.

Exporting a post

Hover a row, click Export. JSON file downloads with title, content, settings.

What success looks like

• Post appears on Blog list with expected Title, Category, Author, Created At.
• Public URL loads in private/incognito window.
• Password Protected shows password form to anonymous visitors.
• Private shows Not Found to anonymous, content to admins.
• Revisions accumulate as Published edits — see View History.

What to do if it does not work

• Create a Post did not save. Missing Category or Tag — both required.
• The public URL still serves old content. Cache. Try incognito or ?cb=1.
• The post I trashed is still on Blog list. Reload, switch to Trash tab.
• Duplicate is named "(Draft) <title>". Expected.
• Permalink change redirected to opaque URL. Normal save flow response.

Next step

• Organize topics — see organize-with-categories-and-tags.
• Review revisions — see review-blog-post-revisions.
• Browse media — see browse-the-media-library.