If you are unsure whether you can publish a blog on the EIT Food website, please read: Can I submit a blog post to the EIT Food website?


If you have been through the process of writing a good blog and have received final sign off from the communications team for your blog copy, you will need to upload a draft to EIT Food’s Content Management System (CMS), Expression Engine. 


Login access can be requested via communication@eitfood.eu


How do I upload a draft blog to the CMS?


Once logged in to Expression Engine, a draft blog post is created by using the ‘Create Blog’ tool in the top left corner. After being redirected to the ‘New Entry’ page, it is important to ensure the page is saved as a draft, and not ‘open’ publicly on the website. To do this, ‘Draft’ must be selected in the ‘Options’ tab. The author of the blog, which should be agreed with the Head of Brand & Content (Matt Eastland), can also be selected in this tab.


You can now begin entering your blog copy in the ‘Publish’ tab. Here you will find entry options in the following order:

Title and URL Title


The title for your blog should be succinct and include keywords where possible. 


A URL Title will then be automatically produced based on your inputted title. 

Blog Categories


From the list of Blog Categories, it is important to select any themes that relate to the topic of your blog. If there are none in the list that resonate with your blog then please choose the categories that you think most closely align. 

Image


Featured images can be chosen from existing files already uploaded, or you can upload new files. Images must be high-resolution, in .jpg or .png format, below 1MB in size, 700px by 350px in dimension, and include an image title and description once uploaded. 


Note that this image only appears on the blog home page of the EIT Food website, so the image will need to be added separately if you wish for it to appear in the blog itself. If you are unsure which image to choose, please read: What images best represent the EIT Food brand? 

Short Text


The Short Text is the description of the blog that appears on the blog home page. This acts as a hook for the reader, so this must be succinct, clear and give a hero description of the blog. Note that the same rule applies here as the image; this must be copied separately into the main text of the blog if you wish for it to appear within the blog itself. 

Text


This section is the main body of your blog. Text from your signed-off draft should be cleaned and copied here, but formatting must be checked to ensure the blog layout is clear, easy to navigate and consistent. See blog examples here. 


Within the toolbar, there are options to incorporate subheadings (H1, H2, H3), links, pull out quotes, images, embedded media such as YouTube videos and social posts, and other assets. 

What do I do now?


Once you have finished entering your copy, there are a number of tick boxes that need to be completed in order for your blog to appear in the correct places on the EIT Food website. The following must be selected as ‘Yes’:

  • Home page

  • Display Listing

  • Copyright.


The final thing to do is add in SEO elements such as keywords, found in the ‘SEO’ tab at the top of the page. This should include an SEO title, meta description and keywords. Think what the audience might be searching for to come to this blog. 


You can now preview your blog post using the blue ‘Preview’ button on the top right of the page. After you are redirected to the preview, read through the blog carefully and amend any formatting or copy errors. Once you are happy that this works for both desktop and mobile, hit save.

How do I publish my blog?


After sending your draft to communication@eitfood.eu to review for any final formatting amends, you are now ready to go live with your blog post. To do this, you must change the blog from ‘Draft’ to ‘Open’ in the ‘Options’ tab. After you press save for a final time, this will now be published on the blog page of the EIT Food website. 


Once your blog is published it is important to check how the article looks on the web page and on mobile devices to ensure that everything is displaying correctly, ensuring that cache is cleared (CTRL + refresh). 

This article was reviewed in January 2021 and will be reviewed again in May 2021. 

If you have feedback on this article, do let us know. You can drop us a note via our contact form.