--- title: "Managing Articles" description: "Create and manage blog articles" --- > Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.firearmcart.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Managing Articles Write, edit, and publish articles to engage your customers. --- ## Creating an Article 1. Navigate to **Content > Blog posts** 2. Click **Add blog post** 3. Select or create a blog in the **Blog** dropdown 4. Enter article content 5. Choose a status, then click **Create** (the button reads **Update** when editing) A title and content are both required — an article cannot be saved without them. --- ## Selecting a Blog Every article belongs to a blog category. In the article editor: 1. Find the **Blog** dropdown in the sidebar 2. Select an existing blog, or 3. Type a new name and click **Create** to add a new blog If no blogs exist, a "News" blog is created automatically. --- ## Article Details ### Title The article headline displayed to readers. **Tips:** - Use clear, descriptive titles - Include keywords for SEO - Keep it engaging ### Handle The URL-friendly slug for your article. - Generated from the title as you type it, for new articles only - Can be edited directly at any time - Must be unique within the blog (two blogs can each have a `news-roundup` article) - Maximum 100 characters **Example:** `yourstore.com/blogs/news/new-product-launch` Editing the title of an existing article does **not** change its handle, so published URLs stay stable. ### Excerpt A short summary displayed in article listings and previews. - Optional - Maximum 500 characters - If blank, the first 200 characters of the content are used with HTML stripped ### Content The full article content using the rich text editor. **Toolbar:** - Headings - Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough - Bullet and numbered lists, blockquote - Links - Images (opens the media library) - Text alignment - Undo and redo --- ## Featured Image Add a featured image to display in article listings and social shares. ### Choosing an Image 1. Click **Select Image** in the Featured Image section 2. Pick from one of the three tabs in the media library: - **My Library** — images already uploaded to your store - **Stock Images** — searchable stock photography, imported into your library when selected - **Upload Images** — upload new files (up to 10 at a time, 10MB each) 3. Optionally add alt text for accessibility Use **Change Image** to swap it later, or the trash button to remove it. **Supported formats:** any standard web image format (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP) **Recommended size:** 1200x630 pixels — themes are told the featured image is 1200x630, so an image with a different aspect ratio may be cropped by the theme's layout ### Alt Text Describe the image for accessibility and SEO. This text is displayed if the image fails to load and read by screen readers. --- ## Article Status ### Status Options | Status | Description | |--------|-------------| | **Draft** | Not visible to customers | | **Published** | Live and visible on your store | | **Scheduled** | Will publish automatically at a future date/time | ### Publishing an Article 1. Set status to **Published** 2. Click **Create** (or **Update**) The article is immediately visible on your store. The publish date is stamped at that moment unless the article already has one, in which case the original date is kept. ### Saving as Draft 1. Keep status as **Draft** 2. Click **Create** (or **Update**) Continue editing later without making it public. Use the **View** action to preview a draft — the link carries `?preview=true`, which is what makes an unpublished article render on your storefront. --- ## SEO Settings Optimize articles for search engines: | Setting | Description | Character Limit | |---------|-------------|-----------------| | **Meta Title** | Title shown in search results | 70 characters | | **Meta Description** | Description shown in search results | 160 characters | If not set, the article title and excerpt are used instead. Your store name is appended to the page title either way, so the tag renders as `{Meta title} - {Store name}`. The featured image is also used as the article's social sharing image. --- ## Managing Articles ### Viewing All Articles Navigate to **Content > Blog posts** to see all articles with: - Article title and featured image - Blog category - Author name - Published date - Status badge Articles are listed newest publish date first, 10 per page by default (10, 25, 50 or 100). ### Filtering and Searching - **Search** - Find articles by title - **Status filter** - Filter by Draft, Published, or Scheduled - **Blog filter** - Filter by blog (only shown once you have more than one blog) ### Quick Actions Open the **...** menu on any row: | Action | Description | |--------|-------------| | **Edit** | Open the article editor | | **View** | Open the article on your storefront in a new tab; unpublished articles open in preview mode | | **Publish / Unpublish** | Publish the article, or send a published article back to Draft | | **Delete** | Remove the article, after confirming in a modal | ### Editing an Article 1. Click **Edit** on any article 2. Make changes 3. Click **Save** ### Deleting an Article 1. Click **Delete** on an article 2. Confirm deletion in the modal **Warning:** Deleted articles cannot be recovered. --- ## Author Information The **Author** field in the Publishing panel is a free-text name, pre-filled with your own name when you create an article. Edit it to credit somebody else — it is stored as typed and is what themes show as the article author. Editing an existing article does not change the author, so a colleague fixing a typo will not take the byline. --- ## Best Practices - **Use descriptive titles** - Help readers understand what the article covers - **Include featured images** - Visual content increases engagement - **Write quality excerpts** - Compelling summaries encourage clicks - **Optimize for SEO** - Fill in meta fields for better search visibility - **Use tags** - Help readers discover related content --- ## Related Documentation - [Blog Categories](/blogs/creating-blogs) - Organize posts into blogs - [Scheduling](/blogs/scheduling) - Schedule future publications - [Tags](/blogs/tags) - Organize with tags - [SEO](/marketing/seo) - Search optimization Source: https://docs.firearmcart.com/blogs/articles/index.mdx