# Writing and managing posts

> Write, schedule, publish, and unpublish posts within a blog, and control who is allowed to write them.

Canonical: https://www.clubpal.app/docs/blogs/writing-posts
Section: Blogs

This guide covers creating, scheduling, and publishing posts within a blog.

## Creating a post

1. Go to **Admin > Content > Blogs** and click a blog's name, or use its **Manage Posts** action.
2. Click **New Post**.
3. Enter a **Title**. The post's web address is generated from the title automatically; edit it directly if you want a different one.
4. Optionally add an **Excerpt**, a short summary shown on the blog's listing page. If left blank, the start of the post body is shown instead.
5. Add a **Featured Image** if you want one shown at the top of the post and in the listing. After choosing a file you'll be asked to crop it, using the zoom, rotate, and nudge controls, then click **Crop** to apply it.
6. Add **Tags** to help categorise the post. Visitors can click a tag to filter the blog to matching posts.
7. Set the **Publish Date**. Posts with a future publish date won't appear publicly until that date arrives, even if marked as published.
8. Set **Published?**. New posts default to published.
9. Write the post content in the body editor.
10. Click **Save**.

![The post editor with the featured image, tags, publish date and Published switch on the left, and the title, URL, excerpt and body editor on the right](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/post-editor.png)

## Post settings

**Title**
The post's heading, shown on the blog listing and the post page.

**URL**
Generated from the title as you type. Edit it directly if you want a different address; once you do, it stops following the title automatically. The full address is shown as `<your-club-domain>/content/<blog-url>/<post-url>`.

**Excerpt**
A short summary shown on the blog's listing page. Leave blank to show a preview generated automatically from the start of the post body.

**Featured Image**
Shown at the top of the post and as the thumbnail in the blog's listing. Click **Add Image** to upload one, or use the pencil and remove icons on an existing image to change or remove it.

Every image goes through a crop step before it is applied, so you control what is kept from a photo that isn't already the right shape.

![The Crop the image dialog, with the uploaded photo, a crop frame, and zoom, rotate and nudge controls](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/post-featured-image-crop.png)

**Tags**
Free-text labels for the post. Start typing to see tags already used elsewhere in this blog, or add a new one.

**Publish Date**
Controls when the post appears publicly. A future date schedules the post; it stays hidden from visitors until that date, even if **Published?** is on.

**Published?**
Turn off to keep a post as an unpublished draft regardless of its publish date.

## Publishing and unpublishing

Use the **Publish** or **Unpublish** action in a post's row menu on the blog's post list to change its status without opening it for editing. The same menu has a **View** action, which opens the post on your public site.

The post list's **Live** column is the quickest way to see what visitors can actually see. A post is live only when **Published?** is on *and* its publish date has passed, so a scheduled post shows as not live until then.

![The post list showing a scheduled post that is not yet live and a published post that is, with a post's Actions menu open](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/blog-posts-list.png)

## Deleting a post

Use the **Delete** action in a post's row menu.

## How posts appear on your site

The blog's listing page shows each live post as a card with its featured image, title, date, author, excerpt, and tags. Visitors click a tag to filter the listing to matching posts.

![The public blog listing showing a post card with its featured image, date, author, excerpt and tags](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/blog-listing-public.png)

Opening a post shows the featured image full width, above the post body.

![A published post on the public site, with its featured image, date and author, tags, and body text](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/blog-post-public.png)

## Who can write posts

Anyone with the **Manage Content** permission can manage posts in any blog. Members added as an [editor](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/blogs/creating-a-blog#blog-settings) on a specific blog can manage posts in that blog only, without needing **Manage Content**.

> **Note**
>
> Post content is rich text and isn't reviewed or filtered before publishing. Only add people you trust as editors, since they can publish content directly to your public site.