Monthly Archives: March 2023
A blog sitemap plays a vital role in your page rankings. If it is not configured correctly your blog pages won't be crawled, indexed and ranked properly. Since our Shopify Blog App allows you to configure blog sitemap in a few clicks, all you need to do is submit it to search engines.
However, if you don't want some pages to be crawled and indexed, you simply need to exclude them from the sitemap. And you'll learn how to do that in this article.
Note: this feature is available in the Pro plan.
To exclude pages from the Shopify blog sitemap:
1. Go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Posts and choose a blog post you'd like to exclude from the sitemap.
2. Find the General settings section and switch the Exclude from XML Sitemap option to Yes.
3. Save a blog post, go to the blog sitemap and check if a post is removed from it.
Note: the Exclude from XML Sitemap option is available for blog posts, category and tag pages, so you can exclude these pages from the blog sitemap if you like.
Once you
Hello, dear friends,
We are ready to share with you the first news and updates digest of spring 2023. A lot of great updates from Magefan this March. Let’s start!
New features of the Magento 2 Blog!
Big updates to our bestseller – Magefan Blog! We added an option to set a custom blog category canonical URL. Another great addition — is an option to reset extension configuration options to use system values.
We also updated some localization vocabularies and improved import for Hubspot Wizard and via CSV. We made some design improvements for compatibility with different themes. New PHP 8.1 code compatibility changes was added too.
We have also fixed the "Previous" and "Next Post" links that lead to the wrong articles.
New features of Magento 2 Dynamic Category Extension!
We changed the default value for the "Apply By" option. We also removed the option "Assign Product With Attributes" from the category. Now, this
XML sitemap is one of the most important SEO concepts that helps to get your pages crawled and indexed. Think of it as a roadmap for search robots who need to discover new "routes" (pages) while crawling your website.
As you might know, Shopify generates a sitemap.xml file with all the product images, pages and collections automatically. However, in our Shopify Blog App we have our custom blog XML sitemap and in this guide, you'll learn how to find and configure it.
How to Find Shopify Blog Sitemap?
Your blog sitemap will always be available via the following path by default:
https://your-shopify-domain.com/a/blog/sitemap.xml
Note: if you've changed your app proxy — /a/blog/ — the sitemap path will be different.
Once you find your blog sitemap you can submit it to Google and other search engines.
Google Search Console Throws Errors
Sometimes it happens that Google Search Console can read your sitemap but has errors. Most often it happens because you use your admin domain in the URLs.
Featured blog posts are posts that you choose to display. These could be some specific pieces of content you want to promote or be easy to discover for your blog readers. In Shopify Blog App, you can easily add featured posts to a blog sidebar and define their position.
To display featured blog posts in Shopify:
- Go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration > Sidebar.
- Unfold the Featured Posts Widget tab and enable the widget.
- Select the Template for the featured blog posts and choose whether to Display Post Image.
- Specify the IDs of the Posts you'd like to display in the sidebar (coma-separated) and set Sort Order.
Note: the Sort Order option defines the position of your featured blog posts widget in the sidebar. The lower the number, the higher it will be displayed.
Don't forget to Save the settings and check how the featured blog posts are displayed.
However, sidebar, is not the only place where you can show your featured posts. You can also add featured blog posts to the Shopify
As your blog grows, the number of blog posts will grow too. To keep the latest Shopify blog posts "at hand" you need to display them somewhere where they are easy to discover. And there is no better place to display your latest pieces than the blog sidebar.
Our Shopify Blog App allows you to enable Shopify recent blog posts, and choose a template for them.
To display recent blog posts in Shopify:
- Navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration > Sidebar.
- Enable the recent posts widget.
- Select the Template for the recent posts, List or Grid, and choose whether to Display Post Image.
- Set the Posts Number and specify the Sort Order. The latter defines the position of the recent posts in the sidebar. The lower the number the higher it will be displayed.
Don't forget to Save the settings and go to the frontend to check how the blog posts are displayed in the sidebar.
Once you save the settings, your recent blog posts will be displayed and changed in the sidebar and Shopify homepage
When you manage an e-Commerce store, you probably have a lot of things going on. Keeping up with every task you have without scheduling is quite challenging. One of those tasks could be publishing blog posts.
Luckily, Shopify Blog App from Magefan offers you an opportunity to schedule blog posts in advance, with just a few clicks.
To schedule blog posts in Shopify:
1. Go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Posts and find a blog post you want to schedule or press Add New Post if you want to create a new post
2. Specify the Date when you want a blog post to be published.
3. Enable a blog post and press Save or Save and Continue Edit if you want to continue editing it.
Note: you can also specify the End Date if you want to disable a blog post automatically at a specific date.
Once blog posts are enabled and saved (with the future date) they won't be visible on the frontend before a specified date. This feature frees you from the hassles of manual post-publication and allows you to plan in
If you want to share some information, announce special offers or just make your pages more engaging you need Magento CMS blocks. You can create them directly in the admin panel and then display them on different pages of your store.
To go even further you can schedule CMS blocks and display them automatically. But we'll get there later.
In this article, you'll learn how to create CMS blocks in Magento and how to display them using various methods.
Create CMS Blocks in Magento
Creating Magento CMS blocks is the easiest part. However, let's go through it step by step.
1. Navigate to Content > Elements > Blocks and press the Add New Block button.
2. Enable the CMS Block, and give it a Title and Identifier.
3. Assign your CMS Block to the Store View it should be displayed on.
4. Create CMS Block Content adding images, videos, links and other content.
Note: you can also press the "Show / Hide Editor" button and insert your HTML code in the text area.
Don't forget to Save a block,
Magento 2.4.6 has been launched on March 2023. It features scalability and performance enhancements, over 300 quality fixes and updated core composer dependencies and third-party libraries.
In this guide, you'll learn how to download Magento 2.4.6 and what important changes it offer before you update your Magento version.
Download Magento 2.4.6
Version | Release Date | Link |
2.4.6-p8 | October 8, 2024 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p8.zip |
2.4.6-p7 | August 2024 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p7.zip |
2.4.6-p6 | June 2024 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p6.zip |
2.4.6-p5 | April 2024 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p5.zip |
2.4.6-p4 | February 2024 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p4.zip |
2.4.6-p3 | October 2023 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p3.zip |
2.4.6-p2 | August 2023 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p2.zip |
2.4.6-p1 | June 2023 | Download Magento 2.4.6-p1.zip |
2.4.6 | March 2023 | Download Magento 2.4.6.zip |
Magento 2 Download using Composer
Alternatively, you can download Magento using the following composer commands. But note that this could take a while and requires a composer.
Imagine having to go back and force to fix the title tags, images or any other element of the blog post page once the post is already published. Not very convenient, especially if yours is a high-traffic blog. That's why publishing new blog posts without seeing them on the frontend first might be a disadvantage.
But not with the Shopify Blog App. There is an option to preview blog posts before publication or once they are already published.
Note: this feature is available in the Standard and Pro plans.
Ready to learn how?
To preview blog posts in Shopify:
1. Navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Posts and press the Add New Post button.
2. Press Save and Continue Edit once you finish creating your post to see the Preview button appear.
3. Preview blog post before publication.
The secret link to the post will look like this:
https://myshopify.com/a/blog/post/my-blog-post?secret=AJti4o5QrAq5EK2WG2xP3mLLl225M5s4
You can use the preview option to make sure the content looks as expected
Engaging and informative content helps you to drive more organic traffic and increase your visibility in search. However, for those people to convert and become potential customers you have to make sure your blog is shoppable.
One way to do that is to add links to your products within the post content or write product reviews. The other is related products.
So, in this article, you'll learn how to add related products to Shopify blog posts. Spoiler alert — you just need Shopify Blog App, no additional apps for related products are required.
Note: related products are bidirectional in the Magefan Shopify Blog which means that once you add a related product to a post, that post appears on a product page automatically.
How to Enable Shopify Blog Related Products?
You can add related products to posts while creating blog posts. However, their display is defined by the post view settings. That being said, before adding related products to posts, you should enable this feature and specify
Related blog posts are one of the best ways to encourage visitors to stay on your website longer. Besides, it is a way to offer them to read something they are already interested in, which makes them stay on your blog longer.
Shopify Blog App offers you to add Shopify related blog posts with no additional app required. And today you'll learn how to do that.
Note: this feature is available in the Standard and Pro plans.
How to Enable Related Blog Posts in Shopify?
Before you add any related posts, you have to make sure they will be displayed. For that, you have to check the post view settings, enable related posts and specify how many of them to display.
How to Add Shopify Related Blog Posts?
You can add related posts in Shopify when creating blog posts. Just go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Posts and choose a post to which you'd like to add related posts.
Then, scroll down to the Related Posts section, start typing the name of the article you'd like to add and choose one from the dropdown.
Creating blog posts in Shopify is a breeze if you use the right tools. Our Shopify Blog App allows you to use the feature-rich editor to create blog posts and manage all other blog elements like categories, tags and authors.
In this guide, in particular, you'll learn how to configure a post view page, and the elements you add to it.
Although featured images and blog post content are the main things of the page, you'll also need to set up other elements to promote other posts and products for better engagement.
To configure other elements of the blog posts page, go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration > Post Page (Post View).
Note: some features are available only in the Standard and Pro plans.
Posts From The Same Category
If you want to display posts from the same category on a post page, you just need to enable the Display Posts From The Same Category option. Don't forget to specify the Template and the Number of Posts to display.
Related Posts
Here you have to enable the Display
The blog homepage is the main page of your blog where people land once they click on the blog link in the navigation menu. It is also one of the most important blog navigation pages with all the relevant content.
While post list settings define how the page is displayed, our Shopify Blog App still allows you to configure the blog index page, title and metadata in particular.
To configure the blog homepage in Shopify:
1. Go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration and find the Blog Index Page section at the top.
2. Give your blog a Title and Description that will be displayed on the frontend.
3. Choose a Template for your blog index page.
4. Specify how Sort posts By on the blog homepage.
5. Fill out the Meta Title, Keywords and Description.
Press Save once you finish and check your blog homepage on the frontend.
One more blog element visible on the blog homepage is the sidebar. It helps your blog readers to navigate through your blog and find relevant content using search,
Once you install Shopify Blog App on your store and create your first blog posts, you'll start getting organic traffic from search. However, if you want people who initially come to your store to discover your blog, you need to ensure the blog link is visible in the menu.
So, in this guide, you'll learn how to add a blog link to the navigation menu in Shopify.
To add a blog link to the Shopify navigation menu:
1. Click on Sales channels once you're in the backend and choose Online Store from the dropdown.
2. Move to the Navigation section.
3. Go to the Menus section and click on the Main menu option.
4. In the Main Menu > Menu items press Add menu item button.
5. Give the new item a Name and a Link.
Note: the /a/blog is the blog path by default. If you change the /a/ app proxy and /blog/ paths in the blog permalink settings you need to change them in the menu item as well.
6. Don't forget to press the Save menu button after you add the blog link to the menu.
Once you save the
Blog homepage, categories, tags, archive and search pages are post lists featuring certain posts. Correspondingly, the display of these posts is defined by the post list settings. Our Shopify Blog App enables you to choose between different templates and layouts for post list pages and arrange a certain number of posts there.
Eager to learn how to do that?
To configure blog posts lists in Shopify:
1. Navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration and find the Post List section.
2. Choose the Template for the posts list.
3. Define how to Sort Posts By: Position or Publish Date.
4. Specify the number of Posts per Page. If this number is exceeded, pagination will appear.
5. Set the Default Short Content Length.
Note: regardless of whether you specify the Short Content when creating a blog post or not, short content will be limited by the number of characters you set in this field.
6. Set the Short Content End Characters that are displayed in case short content exceeds the
Want to improve navigation through your blog, display some popular posts on all blog pages or enable search? In this case, you need to add the Shopify Blog sidebar. Magefan Shopify Blog App features 7 different blog sidebar elements including posts, categories, search, archive and others. The biggest benefit is — you don't need to know any coding to enable them. Just click a few buttons and that's it.
So, today you'll learn how to configure each sidebar widget to improve customers' experience on your blog.
To add Shopify blog sidebar you need to navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration and find the Sidebar section. Here you can enable and configure all Shopify blog sidebar widgets.
Note: each sidebar widget has the Sort Order option. It defines the position of the widget in the sidebar. The lower the number, the higher the widget will be displayed in the sidebar.
Search Form
Here you only need to enable the blog search form and set the Sort Order for it. The advanced algorithm
Blog comments are one of the best ways to keep your blog readers engaged. They help you to build trust, keep a dialogue with your audience and get ideas for your future blog posts.
Unlike many other apps, which require additional Shopify blog comment apps to enable comments, our Blog App comes with three comment types out of the box.
Today we'll discuss all of them so you can choose which type of Shopify blog comments to choose for your blog.
Shopify Blog Comment Types
Since blog comments are related to a blog post, you can configure them in the Post Page (Post View) section. For that go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration > Post Page > Comments. Here you can disable blog comments or choose which type to use.
Magefan Comments
To configure Magefan comments in Shopify you need to specify the Number of Comments and the Number of Replies you want to allow. If you go with this comment type you will be able to approve and edit Shopify blog comments.
This is how Magefan blog comments
Creating great content is not always enough to get ranked high in search. Except for the SEO-optimized content, you need to configure blog sitemap, canonical tags, breadcrumbs, metadata, rich snippets, etc. Shopify blog URL structure is also one of the important factors to pay attention to.
Our Shopify Blog App offer you very flexible URL settings. So you can create SEO-friendly blog URLs. Today we'll discuss how you can configure blog URLs and change them when needed.
Note: the option to change blog pages paths is available in the Standard and Pro plans.
Blog URL Structure
To configure the Shopify Blog URL structure:
1. Navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration and scroll down to the Permalink Settings section and set the Blog Route.
Note: if you want to keep the /a/blog/ path in the blog URLs you can leave Blog Route empty.
2. Define Post Path Schema. Available variables here: {
{parent_category}}, { {id}}, { {year}}, { {month}}, { {url_key}}.e.g. some examples
Adding authors to your blog builds trust and increases credibility. People know who is the source of the information and can refer to it when needed. In Shopify Blog App, you can create an unlimited number of blog authors. And that's what you'll learn to do in this article.
Note: this feature is available in the Standard and Pro plans.
Check this short video to see how to create blog authors in Shopify or follow the instruction below:
How to Manage Blog Authors in Shopify?
Before you move on to creating blog authors in Shopify, you need to make sure they are enabled in configurations. For that go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration and find the Author section.
- Choose whether to Display Author Information.
- Decide if you want to Display Author Block at the bottom of the post page.
- Enable the Display Post List by Author if you want to show the author's posts on the author page and chose the Post List Template for it.
How to Create Blog Author in Shopify?
1. Navigate to Apps >
When covering a lot of topics in your blog, you need to find a way to group them, so it is easier to find relevant posts. With Shopify Blog App, you can do it either via blog categories or tags.
Since we've already covered how to create blog categories in Shopify, today you'll learn how to create and manage blog tags.
Watch this short video to track the process, or follow the instructions below:
To create blog tags in Shopify:
1. Go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Tags and press the Add New Tag button.
2. Give your tag a Title and add a description in the Content section.
3. Set Tag status to enable.
4. Specify whether to Exclude a tag page from XML Sitemap.
5. Enter a URL Key for the tag page, specify the Metadata and change the Meta Robots if necessary.
6. Save your tag once you finish and assign it to a blog post.
Additionally, you can enable tag cloud in the blog sidebar. So readers can navigate through your blog using tags too.
Shopify blog tags will be displayed under the
Categorizing blog posts helps to make navigation through your blog easier, especially if you cover different topics. Shopify Blog App makes it even more convenient since you can not only create categories but add them to the sidebar category tree for better navigation.
In this article, we'll discuss it in more detail. However, if you prefer to follow video instructions, jump to the bottom of the article.
To create blog categories in Shopify:
1. Go to App > Magefan Blog > Categories and press the Add New Category button.
2. Give your category a Title and write a description in the Content section.
3. Change the Category status to enable.
4. Specify the Publish Date and End Date. The latter will make a blog category disabled when a certain date comes.
5. Specify whether to Include a category in Menu.
6. Set the Parent category for your category. If a category you're creating is to be a parent category, just leave this field empty.
7. Choose whether to Exclude a category