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Creating and updating a live blog

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Basic information

User groups: Journalist_2020, Editor_2020, Master Editor_2020
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This article explains how to create and publish a live blog page in Pangea CMS. It also explains how to add new posts and manage an active live blog.

What is a live blog?

A live blog is a text content page for real-time coverage of an event. It allows you to publish a series of posts in a continuously updated feed.



Create a live blog and add key settings

To create a new live blog, go to Create > Text > Live blog.

The edit page for your new live blog opens in the same tab.

Complete Editor settings

You cannot save the live blog until you add the following required settings:

  • (A): Categories
  • (B): Title

The following settings are not required, but we recommend adding them for every live blog:

  • (A): Main visual
  • (B): Main visual caption
  • (C): Introduction

For detailed information about these settings, see the following article:

Add a URL slug

We also recommend adding a URL slug for every live blog.

To add a URL slug, go to General > URL slug.

For detailed information, see the following article:



Set when the live blog is active

While a live blog is active, new posts are regularly published on the page. When the live blog is no longer active, the page stays available on the website, but no new posts are published.

Before you publish a live blog, set when it will be active. The following behavior applies during this time:

  • The Live badge appears on the live blog page and on widgets that promote the live blog.
  • Readers on the live blog page see the New posts notification whenever a new post is published. They can click the notification to refresh the page and go straight to the latest post.

To set when the live blog is active, click Live broadcasting in the left menu.

The following settings are available:

  • Date & time from: The start time for the live blog. The default start time is the time when the live blog was created in Pangea CMS. If you do not change this setting, the live blog becomes active as soon as it is published. You only need to change this setting if you want the live blog to become active later.
  • Date & time to: The end time for the live blog. The default end time is one hour after the default start time. If you do not know exactly when the live blog will end, it is best to overestimate the time you need. If necessary, you can change the end time later.

Enter the times according to the local time for your site (not the local time on your device). You can click the Time and date button in the primary navigation to check the local time for your site.

If you tick Display time stamp, the date and time of publication appears automatically with every post.



Create the first post

You can create the first post before publishing the live blog. This ensures that content is immediately available for visitors. The first post introduces the topic of the live blog and tells visitors what to expect.

Before you can create a post, complete the following steps:

  1. Add the required settings (Title and Categories).
  2. Click Save to save the live blog without publishing it.

To start creating a new post, click + New post.

For instructions on how to create a new post, see Publish more posts.



Publish the live blog

Follow these steps:

  1. Click Published in the selector.
  2. Click Publish or Publish & close.

The live blog is now published. The following behavior applies:

  • (A): Live badge: The Live badge is immediately visible on the page, unless you set a different start time in the Live broadcasting settings.
  • (B): Publication date and time: The publication date and time on the page are set automatically to the moment of publication.

You can also schedule publication for a specific time and date in the future. For instructions, see the following article:



Publish more posts

To add a new post to a live blog, use one of these methods:

  • On the main Search list, click + Add new post.
  • On the live blog edit page, click + New post.

The New blog post dialog opens.

Create the post

Under Content, create the post. You have the same formatting options as when creating an article. You can also insert the following embeds:

  • Images: Images from the Pangea The Graphic Database (GDB) is the centralized image library in Pangea CMS. All images on Pangea websites come from the GDB. In Pangea CMS, Pangea users can browse the existing GDB and upload new images. Learn more. (GDB) or from supported external wire agencies.
  • External media: Supported external media items (including items from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and many more popular platforms).
  • Direct embeds: Content items (such as videos and galleries) that are interactive on the page.
  • See also links: Card-style links (similar to social media previews) that direct readers to a separate content page.

For information about the features in the Pangea CMS text editor, see the following article:

Complete additional settings

The following additional settings are optional:

  • Blog post title: This title appears at the top of the post. It also appears in highlights if highlights are enabled and no custom 'Highlight title' is set.
  • Highlight title: This title appears only in highlights (if highlights are enabled).
  • Author: You can select one or more authors. The name appears at the top of the post. You can only choose an author from the approved list of authors for your site.
  • Feature this post: When ticked, the post is pinned to the top of the live blog page. The value set under 'Duration' controls how long the post remains pinned.

For more information about how to feature a post, see Feature a post.

Publish the post

To publish the post, click Publish.

The post now appears on the live blog page. The following changes also apply automatically:

  • The Updated badge appears next to the original publication date and time.
  • The timestamp next to the Updated badge always shows the publication time of the most recent post, while the original publication date and time stay the same.



Feature a post

You can feature a post for a set number of minutes. A featured post is pinned to the top of the live blog page. While a post is featured, all new posts appear below it.

NOTE: A live blog can have one featured post at a time. If you feature a new post while another post is already featured, the new featured post replaces the previous one.

Find the available actions below:

Follow these steps:

  1. Click See posts on the main Search list.
  2. Click the star next to the post you want to feature. The star turns blue.

The post is now featured. By default, it remains featured for 30 minutes (unless a different default duration is set for your site).

NOTE: To change your website's default duration for featured posts on live blog pages, contact Pangea Customer Care.

Follow these steps:

  1. Click See posts on the main Search list.
  2. Click the Edit button next to the post you want to feature.
  3. Tick Feature this post.
  4. Next to Duration, set for how long the post remains featured (in minutes).
  5. Click Save.

The post is now featured. It remains featured for the set duration.

When you create a new post, the following options are available on the New blog post dialog:

  • Feature this post: Tick to feature this post.
  • Duration: Set for how long the post remains featured (in minutes).

For instructions on how to create a new post, see Publish more posts.

Follow these steps:

  1. Click See posts on the main Search list.
  2. The featured post is marked with a blue star. Click the star. It turns white.

The post is no longer featured.



Set up highlights

Highlights provide an at-a-glance summary of key live blog developments with links to selected posts. This helps visitors quickly understand what the live blog is about.

Highlights appear at the side of the page on desktop, or above the most recent post on mobile and tablet.

The following options are available for setting up highlights:

  • Automated: The five most recent posts that have a title appear in highlights. As new posts are added to the live blog, highlights update automatically.
  • Manual: You select which posts to show in highlights. Highlights do not update automatically.

For detailed information about how to enable highlights, see the following article:



After the live blog ends

When the live blog is no longer active, the page stays available on the website, but no new posts are published, and the Live badge is not visible.

You might perform the following actions when a live blog is no longer active:

  • Add a final post to tell readers that the live blog has ended.
  • Go to the Live broadcasting settings. If needed, change the end time to make sure the live blog is no longer active.
  • If highlights are enabled, replace highlights with a manual summary.

For instructions on how to add a manual summary, see the following article: