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Frequently asked questions and other useful tidbits.

How can I add a blog to my store?

Having a blog is a great way to keep your customers up to date with your latest news and promotions, and integrating it into Big Cartel is a snap.

There are many great blogging services out there like Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger. All of them can be integrated with Big Cartel, so just pick the one that is right for you.

Note: this will only work for Platinum and Diamond stores, since it makes use of the <script> tag.

Step 1 – Add a new page

From your Big Cartel admin, go to the Design > Pages section and click Add Page.

Step 2 – Add the code

Give your page a name, like Blog, and check the Show inside theme layout HTML checkbox.

In the big text area, paste in the following code:

<style type="text/css" media="screen">
 
  ul#entries {
    padding: 0 !important;
    }
 
  ul#entries li {
    clear: both;
    float: left;
    width: 100%;
    list-style: none !important;
    margin-bottom: 2.5em;
    }
 
  ul#entries li.loading {
    margin-bottom: 0;
    }
 
  ul#entries li h3 {
    margin: 0 0 .25em 0 !important;
    }
 
  ul#entries li p.blog_date {
    margin-bottom: 1.5em !important;
    }
 
</style>
 
<ul id="entries"><li class="loading">Loading...</li></ul>
 
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
 
  // ================================================
  // Your info here
  // ================================================
  var feedURL   = 'http://blog.bigcartel.com/feed';
  var numEntries  = 10;
  var blogURL   = 'http://bigcartel.com';
  var blogLink  = 'View full blog &raquo;';
  // ================================================
 
  google.load("feeds", "1");
 
  function formatDate(d, f) {
    var d = new Date(d);
    var months = ['January', 'February', 'March', 'April', 'May', 'June', 'July', 'August', 'September', 'October', 'November', 'December'];
    var days = ['Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday', 'Saturday'];
    return f.replace(/(yyyy|mmmm|mmm|mm|dddd|ddd|dd|hh|nn|ss|a\/p)/gi,
          function($1) {
              switch ($1.toLowerCase()) {
              case 'yyyy': return d.getFullYear();
              case 'mmmm': return months[d.getMonth()];
              case 'mmm':  return months[d.getMonth()].substr(0, 3);
              case 'mm':   return (d.getMonth() + 1);
              case 'dddd': return days[d.getDay()];
              case 'ddd':  return days[d.getDay()].substr(0, 3);
              case 'dd':   return d.getDate();
              case 'hh':   return ((h = d.getHours() % 12) ? h : 12);
              case 'nn':   return d.getMinutes();
              case 'ss':   return d.getSeconds();
              case 'a/p':  return d.getHours() < 12 ? 'a' : 'p';
              }
          }
      );
  }
 
  function initialize() {
    var feed = new google.feeds.Feed(feedURL);
        feed.setNumEntries(numEntries);
        feed.load(function(result) {
 
          if(result.error) return;
 
          var list = document.getElementById('entries');
              list.removeChild(list.firstChild);
 
          for(var i = 0; i < result.feed.entries.length; i++) {
            var entry = result.feed.entries[i];
            var link = document.createElement('a');
                link.setAttribute('href', entry.link);
                link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(entry.title));
            var title = document.createElement('h3');
                title.appendChild(link);
            var date = document.createElement('p');
                date.setAttribute('class', 'blog_date');
                date.appendChild(document.createTextNode(formatDate(entry.publishedDate, 'mmmm dd, yyyy')));
            var content = document.createElement('div');
                content.innerHTML = entry.content;
            var li = document.createElement('li');
                li.appendChild(title);
                li.appendChild(date);
                li.appendChild(content);
            list.appendChild(li);
          }
 
          if(blogLink && blogURL) {
            var link = document.createElement('a');
              link.setAttribute('href', blogURL);
              link.innerHTML = blogLink;
            var li = document.createElement('li');
              li.appendChild(link);
            list.appendChild(li);
          }
      });
  }
 
  google.setOnLoadCallback(initialize);
 
</script>

Step 3 – Set your info

Update the code marked Your info here with the URL of your blog for blogURL, your RSS or Atom feed for feedURL, and the number of posts you’d like to display as numEntries.

If you’re not sure what your feedURL is, look for a link in your blog that mentions RSS or Atom, and copy that URL. For example, if you’re using Blogger your feedURL would be something like: http://example.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

That’s it!

Click Save and we’re all done. Go to your store and click the new Blog link to view your new page.

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