When the awesome power of a WordPress blog meets the incredibly easy to use Showit blog template design, wonderful things happen. However it can be tricky to troubleshoot issues when they arise in the blog. This article will provide you with the basic settings you should see in your blog to make sure your blog is live and functioning properly.
Make sure all of the settings in your WordPress blog and in Showit match those below. If everything is set correctly, but you're still experiencing issues with your live blog, please contact our support team for further assistance.
This article will explain:
What settings you should check in Showit if your blog isn't working
What settings you should check in WordPress if your blog isn't working
How to clear your cache from your WordPress account
Settings in Showit
First let’s look at the settings in Showit which can cause the blog as a whole not to display or break if not set correctly.
Blog Templates
If you look to the left sidebar under the site tab you will see the Blog Templates area, here your blog template pages are contained and it’s important to make sure the template settings are correct.
The Blog "Post List (Default)" Template Settings
The "Post List (Default)" blog template should be named Blog. While you can customize the name of the Blog template, it is not recommended as it can easily break the connection between Showit and WordPress if you don't do so correctly.
If you do decide to change the name of your "Post List (Default)" blog template to be something other than Blog, please follow these steps below to make sure it is connected properly to your WordPress blog.
First, in Showit, find the Blog Template that is set with the Post List (Default) WordPress Template. Make note of the name of this template.
Next, you will need to log in into your WordPress Admin which can be found by going to yourdomain/wp-admin
Once logged in, click on the Pages tab in the left side panel. There you should have a page called Blog - Posts Page.
If you have changed the name of your Blog page in Showit, make sure to change the page name in WordPress to match what is set in Showit exactly - Both the Title AND the Slug.
If your Blog page name matches in Showit and WordPress, then all is left to do is publish your design and you should see your blog page live at your site!
Note: Changing a will break all existing links to this page. Be sure to check your menus and links so that all links to your blog on your site are working.
Single Post Template
The Single Post template should be set with the WordPress Template Single Post as shown below.
Blog Domain
Another setting that can affect the blog in Showit is your Blog Domain in your Site Settings.
Make sure that in your Site Settings you have your Blog Domain set in the Blog tab and that you have published this change. If the domain is not set there, you may experience publishing errors and your blog may not display correctly.
Broken Blog Links
Another common hangup on the Showit side is that the links to your blog may be broken. Click on the blog text that would link to your blog in your menu and then navigate to the Click Action tab in the right side Properties Panel.
Make sure that it is set correctly. If your blog is found at the same domain as your site this setting should be set to Page > Blog as seen here:
However, if your blog domain is different than your primary domain where your site can be found, you will need to link to your blog via a URL click action and add the blog URL into the URL field. This is how that click action would look for blogs at a different domain:
Settings in Your WordPress Dashboard
If all of the above settings in Showit are correct, head over to your WordPress Dashboard and use the info below to make sure your settings are correct there as well.
WordPress Pages
First we want to check the pages in the blog. There should a page setup in the blog that has no content and is simply titled blog, this is necessary for Showit and WordPress to communicate with each other. If there is no blog page there, simply click the add new option, name the new page “Blog” and publish the page.
Note: If your Blog page in WordPress does not say "- Posts Page" after the page title as seen in the screenshot above, check to make sure these settings are correct.
WordPress Settings > Showit
If the blog page is properly in place let’s next take a look at our Showit Settings in the WordPress dashboard.
To access these settings click on Settings in the left side panel and then select Showit.
Make sure your blog domain is set here, it should be set automatically. However if this field is editable click inside the field, delete the content and then save changes, it should add your correct blog domain automatically and grey out the box.
Make sure the “Load your custom Showit pages” box is checked.
The “Load the WordPress home page instead of Showit home page” box should be unchecked for the standard setup - unless you are utilizing a WordPress Home Page. If you need help with this contact Support!
WordPress Settings > Reading
If everything checks out in your Showit settings, let’s move on to the reading settings. To access these settings look to the settings tab in the left sidebar and choose the Reading option.
This bubble should not be selected.
This is the setting we want to have selected.
This home page option will only appear if you are using WordPress for your home page. Check out the WordPress Home Page article for more information.
The Posts Page should be set to “Blog.” This is how Showit and WordPress communicate back and forth.
This setting affects how many posts per page you want the blog to show by.
If you're still experiencing issues with your live blog, contact our support team for further assistance in troubleshooting the issue.