1. Introduction to Blogs in SWEHBVD

Initially, blog postings are displayed in the Book A. Introduction page by creating a column on the right for listing the five most recently changed posts that have "swehb" as a label. 

1.1 "Blog Posts" Macro

The "Blog Posts" macro displays the blog posts history. The macro and the parameters in use for the  Book A. Introduction page as well as the New in SWEHB page are included below: 

The macro uses the following parameters: 

• content type to display = excerpts - this gives a small amount of information with the rest of the blog hidden in an Expand macro. 
• restrict to these labels = swehb - this allows for building new posts for review without immediately posting them. 
• Restrict to these spaces = SWEHBVD - this keeps the posts local and not from other spaces
• Maximum blog posts =
  • 5 - limits the number of posts shown in the Introduction page
  • 100 - displays all posts (up to 100) in the "New in SWEHB" history page
• Sort by = Modified , check the Reverse box - this displays the posts based on the modified date and in reverse order, most recent displayed first. 

2. Creating A Blog Entry

Creating a blog post is simple. On any page in SWEHBVD, hover over the blue circle icon with the plus sign at the bottom right of the page.  You will be given two options, select "Create Content". A sub-menu will open for you to select the type of content to create. Select "Blog Post", then click "Create". 

You will be required to put in a title for the post. Then you can start entering the text of the post. The entire body of the post should be inside of an "Excerpt" macro. Put in a sentence or two to explain the new feature in SWEHBVD that you are telling everyone about. If the announcement is longer than two sentences, you can put the rest of the text into an "Expand" macro within the Excerpt macro. Use the example below: 

2.1 Code using Excerpt and Expand Macros

2.2 Finished Product

An Expand macro is used in the Excerpt macro to make the full text of the blog entry visible to the user without their having to open the post in another tab or window. 

When you are done, save the post. It will be available for review in the blog area of SWEHBVD. 

When you are ready to publish it to all users of SWEHBVD, add a label to the post. The label should be "swehb". all posts with this label are viewable in the New in SWEHB page as well as on the Book A. Introduction page in SWEHBVD. 

You can check to see that it is available by going to the Introduction page finding it in the Blog list. Note, if you want it to be at the top of the list, you should make sure that it has been recently edited and saved. 

3. Blog History Area of SWEHBVD

Each space in Confluence has a blog area where all blogs are stored. Blog pages are not stored in the same area as other pages in the space. 

The Blog Area is where we can see posts that are "under construction" as well as those that are published (using the "swehb" label). 

If you click on the title of any blog post, you will be sent to the Blog Area of SWEHBVD, and the blog entry you clicked on will be displayed. 

From here you can edit and update a post if necessary. You can also delete a post if you must. 

In the example, notice that in the top area, on the left is "Blog" followed by a date code "2022 / October / 25" This represents the date on which this blog entry was first created. 

If you look at the "page history" you will find all the dates when changes were made. 

On the right side, you will find a listing of months and years. This list can be expanded and contracted using the "+" and "-" icons in front of the date codes. When a month is expanded, it will show all of the blog entries created in that month. If a user gets into this display, they may be quickly confused by the dates on the blog entries. The Full History page ("New in SWEHB" link) is where users should be looking for history, not in this Blog Area. 

4. "New In SWEHB" Page

The New in SWEHB page, is where all the SWEHBVD posts are displayed. A link to this page is being added to all of the major pages in SWEHBVD. 

It differs from the Blog Area in that it is limited to only the posts displayed for general use by using the "swehb" label on the post. If a post does not carry the "swehb" label, it is not displayed in the New in SWEHB page or on the SWEHBVD Book A. Introduction page. 

The macro used for this page is the "Blog Post" macro. The macro uses the following parameters: 

• content type to display = excerpts - this gives a small amount of information with the rest of the blog hidden in an Expand macro
• restrict to these labels = swehb - this allows for building new posts for review without immediately posting them.
• Restrict to these spaces = SWEHBVD - this keeps the posts local and not from other spaces
• Maximum blog posts =100 - displays all posts (up to 100) in the New in SWEHB history page
• Sort by = Modified , check the Reverse box - this displays the posts based on the modified date and in reverse order, most recent displayed first