Blogs & News: Frequently Asked Questions for SoCast Broadcasters

This Article Is For:

• All users who have access to Blogs & Blog Categories
• Applicable to all themes

Below are answers to common questions about the Blogs & News section in SoCast.

Where Do I Find My Blog Category's RSS Feed?

1. Navigate to Website > Blogs > News Aggregation.
2. Scroll down to the Flipboard section to find the Category RSS.
3. On the right-hand side, under Categories, locate the RSS feed icon.
4. Hover over the RSS feed icon.
5. Copy the URL/link address.
6. This URL is your RSS feed for the selected blog category.

How Do I Remove the Byline from Blog Posts?

To remove the byline from all blogs:

1. Go to http://admin.socastsrm.com/website/blogs.
2. Scroll to the Byline Template section.
3. Remove all code from the Byline Template field.
4. Click Update/Save.

To remove the byline for a specific blog category:

1. Go to Website > Blogs & News.
2. Select the category you want to edit.
3. Click the pencil (Edit) icon.
4. In the Header HTML section, add the following CSS code:

<style>
.news-meta { display: none; }
</style>

5. Click Save Category.

How Do Blog Layouts Work When Displaying Multiple Blog Categories?

Tips:

• We recommend assigning categories based on pages. For example, if you add a blog widget to an Entertainment page, select only the Entertainment blog category.
• If you assign multiple categories to the same page, posts will be displayed in order based on either the publish date or modified date, as chosen when adding the blog widget.

Here’s how the layout works if you select three blog categories to appear on one page:

1. Suppose you have three categories: Entertainment, Sports, and News.
2. You assign two blogs to Entertainment (1, 2).
3. You assign two blogs to Sports (3, 4).
4. You assign two blogs to News (5, 6).
5. The blogs will appear on the page in the following order (based on publish/modified date):
   1. News - Blog #6
   2. Sports - Blog #4
   3. Entertainment - Blog #2
   4. News - Blog #5
   5. Sports - Blog #3
   6. Entertainment - Blog #1

How Do I Make My Blog's Featured Images the Optimal Size for Facebook & Twitter?

Tips:

• Match Your Mood: Choose images that fit your brand’s voice, style, and mood.
• Don’t Forget the People: Including people in your visuals helps create a personal connection with your audience.
• Capture a Feeling: Images that evoke emotions like security, trust, or confidence are more effective than literal images.

To maintain a strong social media presence, it’s important to use the right image sizes for your blog’s featured images.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Prepare your image in the optimal size ratio before uploading to SoCast.
2. For Twitter: Use 440 x 220 pixels for in-stream images.
3. For Facebook: Use 1200 x 627 pixels for shared link images.
4. For more information, see these resources:
   1. How to Optimize Images for Twitter's Stream Image Preview
   2. Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet
5. We recommend a 2:1 ratio for optimal sharing across platforms.