Blog Plugin

A simple, extensible blogging platform for October CMS.

Editing posts

The plugin uses the markdown markup for the posts. You can use any Markdown syntax and some special tags for embedding images and videos (requires RainLab Blog Video plugin). To embed an image use the image placeholder:

![1](image)

The number in the first part is the placeholder index. If you use multiple images in a post you should use an unique index for each image:

![1](image)

![2](image)

Implementing front-end pages

The plugin provides several components for building the post list page (archive), category page, post details page and category list for the sidebar.

Post list page

Use the blogPosts component to display a list of latest blog posts on a page. The component has the following properties:

• postsPerPage - how many posts to display on a single page (the pagination is supported automatically). The default value is 10.
• categoryPage - path to the category page. The default value is blog/category - it matches the pages/blog/category.htm file in the theme directory. This property is used in the default component partial for creating links to the blog categories.
• postPage - path to the post details page. The default value is blog/post - it matches the pages/blog/post.htm file in the theme directory. This property is used in the default component partial for creating links to the blog posts.
• noPostsMessage - message to display in the empty post list.

The blogPosts component injects the following variables to the page where it's used:

• blogPosts - a list of blog posts loaded from the database.
• blogCategoryPage - contains the value of the categoryPage component's property.
• blogPostPage - contains the value of the postPage component's property.
• blogNoPostsMessage - contains the value of the noPostsMessage component's property.

The component supports pagination and reads the current page index from the :page URL parameter. The next example shows the basic component usage on the blog home page:

title = "Blog"
url = "/blog/:page?"

[blogPosts]
postsPerPage = "5"
==
{% component 'blogPosts' %}

The post list and the pagination are coded in the default component partial plugins/rainlab/blog/components/posts/default.htm. If the default markup is not suitable for your website, feel free to copy it from the default partial and replace the {% component %} call in the example above with the partial contents.

Category page

Use the blogCategory component to display a list of a category posts. The component has the following properties:

• postsPerPage - how many posts to display on a single page (the pagination is supported automatically). The default value is 10.
• postPage - path to the post details page. The default value is blog/post - it matches the pages/blog/post.htm file in the theme directory. This property is used in the default component partial for creating links to the blog posts.
• noPostsMessage - message to display in the empty post list.
• paramId - the URL route parameter used for looking up the category by its slug. The default value is slug.

The blogPosts component injects the following variables to the page where it's used:

• blogCategory - the blog category object loaded from the database. If the category is not found, the variable value is null.
• blogPostPage - contains the value of the postPage component's property.
• blogPosts - a list of blog posts loaded from the database.

The component supports pagination and reads the current page index from the :page URL parameter. The next example shows the basic component usage on the blog category page:

title = "Blog Category"
url = "/blog/category/:slug/:page?"

[blogCategory category]
==
function onEnd()
{
    // Optional - set the page title to the category name
    if ($this['blogCategory'])
        $this->page->title = $this['blogCategory']->name;
}
==
{% if not blogCategory %}
    <h2>Category not found</h2>
{% else %}
    <h2>{{ blogCategory.name }}</h2>

    {% component 'category' %}
{% endif %}

The category post list and the pagination are coded in the default component partial plugins/rainlab/blog/components/category/default.htm.

Post page

Use the blogPost component to display a blog post on a page. The component has the following properties:

• paramId - the URL route parameter used for looking up the post by its slug. The default value is slug.

The component injects the following variables to the page where it's used:

• blogPost - the blog post object loaded from the database. If the post is not found, the variable value is null.

The next example shows the basic component usage on the blog page:

title = "Blog Post"
url = "/blog/post/:slug"

[blogPost post]
==
<?php
function onEnd()
{
    // Optional - set the page title to the post title
    if (isset($this['blogPost']))
        $this->page->title = $this['blogPost']->title;
}
?>
==
{% if not blogPost %}
    <h2>Post not found</h2>
{% else %}
    <h2>{{ blogPost.title }}</h2>

    {% component 'post' %}
{% endif %}

The post details is coded in the default component partial plugins/rainlab/blog/components/post/default.htm.

Category list

Use the blogCategories component to display a list of blog post categories with links. The component has the following properties:

• categoryPage - path to the category page. The default value is blog/category - it matches the pages/blog/category.htm file in the theme directory. This property is used in the default component partial for creating links to the blog categories.
• paramId - the URL route parameter used for looking up the current category by its slug. The default value is slug
• displayEmpty - determines if empty categories should be displayed. The default value is false.

The component injects the following variables to the page where it's used:

• blogCategoryPage - contains the value of the categoryPage component's property.
• blogCategories - a list of blog categories loaded from the database.
• blogCurrentCategorySlug - slug of the current category. This property is used for marking the current category in the category list.

The component can be used on any page. The next example shows the basic component usage on the blog home page:

title = "Blog"
url = "/blog/:page?"

[blogCategories]
==
...
<div class="sidebar">
    {% component 'blogCategories' %}
</div>
...

The category list is coded in the default component partial plugins/rainlab/blog/components/categories/default.htm.