---
title: "Blog: common cases"
description: "Common Vivlab blog situations, step by step: first article, delayed publication, sections and tags, guest author, links to your products, SEO, look, translation and taking an article down."
url: https://docs.vivlab.com/en/guides/blog
---
# Blog
Each case gives the exact settings.
| Your situation | Case |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| No blog yet | [Launch your blog with a first article](#launch-your-blog-with-a-first-article) |
| Ready, out on Monday | [Prepare an article and publish it later](#prepare-an-article-and-publish-it-later) |
| Help with writing | [Write with Assistant Vivlab](#write-with-assistant-vivlab) |
| Organize your articles | [Organize a recipe blog](#organize-a-recipe-blog) |
| A partner's text | [Publish a guest author's article](#publish-a-guest-author-s-article) |
| The article is on a product | [Feature a product in an article](#feature-a-product-in-an-article) |
| Be found on Google | [Optimize an article for Google](#optimize-an-article-for-google) |
| Redo the article list | [Change the look of the blog page](#change-the-look-of-the-blog-page) |
| Redo the reading pages | [Change the look of articles](#change-the-look-of-articles) |
| Customers abroad | [Translate your blog](#translate-your-blog) |
| The blog is hard to find | [Add the blog to the site menu](#add-the-blog-to-the-site-menu) |
| Outdated article | [Take down or delete an article](#take-down-or-delete-an-article) |
| Editorial break | [Pause the blog](#pause-the-blog) |
## Launch your blog with a first article
**Example**: a sewing workshop opens _The workshop journal_, signed by founder Camille.
1. In **Blog > Articles**, click **Create an article**: with no article and no blog title, a setup assistant opens.
2. Enter the **Blog title**, the **Author name** (_Camille Durand_) and the **Author role** (_Founder_).
3. Choose the blog page theme (**Magazine**) and the article theme (**Reading**), then **Create my blog**.
4. In the editor, type the title, the **Introduction** and the text straight into the page.
5. Add an image with **Add a cover image**, leave **Article visible** on, then click **Publish the article** and **Publish**.
**Result**: the blog is live at `/blogs`, with the article signed by Camille.
Learn more: [Articles](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-articles.md#set-up-your-blog).
## Prepare an article and publish it later
**Example**: a sale article, written on Thursday, to go out on Monday.
1. Write the article in **Blog > Articles**, turn off **Article visible** in the **Article settings** and click **Create article**: it stays a draft, with the **Inactive** badge.
2. On Monday, reopen it, turn on **Article visible**, then click **Refresh the article** and **Publish**.
**Result**: the article appears once turned on. Scheduled publishing isn't available: you publish by hand. The date shown is the last change, so the activation day.
Learn more: [Articles](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-articles.md#visibility).
## Write with Assistant Vivlab
**Example**: fix the mistakes in an article written in one go.
1. In the article, click **Proofread** ("Fix spelling and grammar") in the text toolbar.
2. Read it through, then publish the article.
**Result**: the text is corrected. Assistant Vivlab doesn't write full blog articles: you write, it corrects. In the [page editor](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/editor/index.md), it finds your articles to link to them (a "Latest articles" section on the home page).
Learn more: [Articles](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-articles.md#write-and-publish-an-article).
## Organize a recipe blog
**Example**: a grocer publishes recipes. Sections _Starters_, _Mains_, _Desserts_; tags _Vegan_, _Gluten-free_, _Under 30 minutes_.
1. In **Blog > Sections**, **Create a section** _Recipes_, then (on hover) **Add a sub-section** for each sub-section.
2. In **Blog > Tags**, **Create a tag** for each tag.
3. In each recipe, in the **Classification** section of the **Article settings**, add its section (8 at most) and its tags, then publish the article.
4. To file in bulk, tick the articles and choose **Edit categories** or **Edit tags**.
**Result**: readers browse by section and filter by tag (all _Vegan_, starters and desserts alike). The bulk choice replaces the sections or tags already set.
Learn more: [Sections](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-categories.md) and [Tags](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-tags.md).
## Publish a guest author's article
**Example**: a partner restaurant's chef writes about your products.
1. In **Blog > Authors**, **Create an author**: **Author name**, **Author role** (_Guest chef_), square portrait and a two-line **Description**. Save.
2. Create the article with her text. In the **Classification** section of the **Article settings**, choose her under **Authors** (with your profile if you co-sign), then publish the article.
**Result**: the article shows her name, role and portrait; she needs no dashboard access. **Author status** set to **Inactive** removes her from her articles without deleting her.
Learn more: [Authors](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-authors.md#have-a-guest-author-sign-an-article).
## Feature a product in an article
**Example**: "How to care for a leather bag" points to your nourishing balm.
1. On your site, copy the product page's address.
2. In the article, select _our nourishing balm_, click **Link** and paste the address.
3. Add a photo with **Add image** if needed, then publish the article.
**Result**: the text leads to the product page. Articles have no product block with price and buy button: a link is the only option.
Learn more: [Articles](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-articles.md#write-and-publish-an-article).
## Optimize an article for Google
**Example**: a photographer targets the search "choosing a wedding photographer".
1. In the **Search & sharing** section of the **Article settings**, put the searched words in the **Article title**: _5 tips for choosing your wedding photographer_.
2. **Article SEO description**: _Our tips for finding the right photographer and keeping every moment of your wedding._
3. Add a **Cover image**: the share image uses it.
4. File it under a described section (the **Section description** serves its page's SEO), then publish the article.
**Result**: Google shows this title and description; the image appears when shared. The address follows the title: don't rename an article that ranks well, or create a [redirect](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/redirects.md) from the old address.
Learn more: [Articles](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-articles.md#seo) and [SEO](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/seo.md).
## Change the look of the blog page
**Example**: a featured article, then the others as a list, 9 per page.
1. In **Website > Themes**, open **Blog article list** and click the page background. In **Templates**, click **Change**, pick **Magazine theme** and confirm with **Replace**; in **General**, set **Sort by** and **Articles per page** (9).
2. On the **Articles** element, choose the magazine layout (first article featured).
3. Check the **Mobile** view, then **Publish layout**.
**Result**: the blog page and section pages change; until published, visitors see the old layout.
Learn more: [Blog article list](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-themes-list.md).
## Change the look of articles
**Example**: a narrow reading column, the author at the bottom and share buttons.
1. In **Website > Themes**, open **Article page** and click the page background. In **Templates**, click **Change**, pick **Reading theme** and confirm with **Replace**.
2. In **Elements**, add the authors as an introduction card and the share buttons below the content.
3. On the page background, in **Search & sharing**, click **Edit** and pick the **Share image** style, then **Publish layout**.
**Result**: all your articles use this layout, the blog's only one.
Learn more: [Article page](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-themes-article.md).
## Translate your blog
**Example**: your site is in French and you add English.
1. In **Website > Translations**, add English, save and confirm.
2. Add the names that must not be translated (blog name, brand) as custom terminologies.
**Result**: articles, sections, tags and authors are translated automatically within 24 hours, at `/en`, with no per-article work. The number of languages depends on your plan.
Learn more: [Translations](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/translations.md).
## Add the blog to the site menu
**Example**: a "Journal" link in the navigation bar, to the blog.
1. In the editor, select the navigation bar and add a link or button with **Element**.
2. In its settings, choose **Blog and blog articles**, then the blog page (or an article). Name it _Journal_ and publish.
**Result**: the blog is reachable from every page of the site.
Learn more: [Header](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/editor/menu/header.md) and [Button](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/editor/menu/button.md).
## Take down or delete an article
**Example**: a Christmas offer that has ended.
1. To keep it for next year: turn off **Article visible**, click **Refresh the article**, then **Unpublish**.
2. To delete it: in the editor, click **More actions** (the three dots at the top right), then **Delete**, and confirm (or tick several articles in the list, then **Delete**).
3. If Google sent it visits, create a [redirect](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/redirects.md) to the blog or a similar article.
**Result**: a taken-down article stays in the dashboard with the **Inactive** badge; a deleted one is gone for good, with no undo.
Learn more: [Articles](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-articles.md#take-down-or-delete-an-article).
## Pause the blog
**Example**: two months without publishing.
1. In **Blog > Settings**, turn off **Enable the blog on your site** and save.
**Result**: articles stay in the dashboard, hidden from visitors. Turn the switch back on to republish everything.
Learn more: [Blog settings](https://docs.vivlab.com/en/sections/blogs-settings.md).