Overview
This article helps you create, manage, and publish blog content on your Access Volcanic website. Blog management lets you schedule posts, control publication timing, organise content with tags, and export blog data for analysis or integration with other platforms.
Key benefits
Strengthen SEO strategy for recruitment agencies with regular, searchable content that attracts candidates and clients.
Demonstrate thought leadership by sharing industry insights and expertise.
Schedule content in advance to maintain consistent publishing without manual intervention.
Export blog data through JSON feeds for analysis or integration with third-party tools.
Manage visibility timing with precise control over when posts appear publicly.
Before you start
Before creating or managing blogs, make sure you have:
Admin access to your Access Volcanic website.
Content strategy outlining your blog topics and publishing schedule.
Media assets ready for upload (images, videos, or other content).
Site timezone correctly configured for accurate publication timing.
Correct site timezone set during your site build for accurate publication timing.
📌 Note: Blog posts publish at 00:00 (midnight) platform time. If you suspect your timezone settings are incorrect, contact Support to review and update them.
Understanding blog structure
Your blog operates within Access Volcanic's platform architecture with specific rules and behaviours. This explains how the platform page structure works, URL generation, and publication timing.
Platform page structure
Your main blog listing lives at /blog, which is a core platform page with a fixed permalink that cannot be changed. This is similar to other platform pages like /jobs or /clients.
URL generation
Individual blog posts follow a date-based URL structure: /year/month/day/permalink. This path is automatically generated from your publish date and optional custom slug.
Publication timing
Posts become publicly visible at 00:00 (midnight) platform time on the selected publish date. For same-day visibility later in the day, set the publish date to the previous day.
📌 Note: Platform caching may delay the appearance of new posts or updates. Allow time for cache refresh or contact Support if issues persist.
Accessing the blog area
Log in to your Admin Area.
Click Your Website in the top navigation.
Select Blogs from the dropdown menu.
Here you can:
View and filter your existing blogs
Create a new blog post via the green New button.
Modify existing blogs by clicking the edit icon.
Click the grey Visit Blog button (top-right) to view the public blog page.
Creating a new blog post
Access the blog area in the admin area
Click the green New button.
Complete the relevant blog fields.
Click Submit to save your post.
⚠️ Important: The publish date controls both when your post appears publicly and generates the URL path. You can backdate posts or schedule them for future publication.
Blog fields
⚠️ Important: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required and must be completed before you can save your post.
Blog field | What the field is for |
Title* | Your blog headline. The title is used to auto-generate the permalink if the latter is left blank. |
User | Select a registered site user to associate with the post. |
Author name | Override the display name; leave blank to use the selected user. |
Author image | Choose an image from the Media Library using the orange Browse button. |
Permalink | Custom URL slug; leave blank to auto-generate from the title. |
Blog image | Featured image selected or uploaded via Media Library. |
Blog body | Main content area with the admin area CMS toolbar for rich text editing. |
Publish date* | Controls when the post appears publicly and generates the URL structure. |
Tag list | Type tags and press Enter to add; helps categorise and filter content. |
Language | Choose the default language for the post. |
Equivalent in [language] | Link to translated versions for multilingual sites. |
Editing existing blog posts
Via the admin area
Access the blog area in the admin area.
Locate your post and click the edit icon.
🤓 Tip: Use the filter bar to search blogs by title or author, and sort blogs by Newest, Oldest, Most Views and Less Views.
Make changes in the Content/Body field via the Admin Area CMS.
Click Save Changes.
Front-end editing
Depending on your site configuration, some elements may be editable directly on the page through Edit Mode and/or Design Studio.
📌 Note: You cannot duplicate blog page templates in Design Studio due to platform restrictions.
Scheduling and hiding posts
Schedule future posts
Set a publish date in the future to prevent a post from appearing until that specific date and time.
Temporarily hide published posts
Change the publish date to a future date to remove the post from public listings. Direct links may still work, and search engines may take time to remove content that have already been indexed.
🤓Tip: Use scheduling to maintain consistent publishing even when you're unavailable to manually publish content.
Managing SEO and on-page elements
You can adjust H1 headings and meta descriptions through Edit Mode and SEO Settings, depending on your site configuration. The main /blog landing page remains a platform-managed page with fixed structure.
📌 Note: For more guidance on H1 headings and on-page SEO, see the Getting started with SEO guide.
Exporting blog data
Access Volcanic provides a live JSON feed (a structured data format) for published blogs, ideal for exports and integration with third-party tools.
📌 Note: For detailed instructions on accessing and using the JSON feed, see the Blog JSON Feed help guide.
Best practices
Follow these guidelines to ensure effective blog management:
Set realistic publishing schedules you can maintain consistently.
Use descriptive, SEO-friendly titles and permalinks.
Tag posts consistently to help with organisation and discovery.
Contact Support to verify timezone settings, especially after system updates.
Preview posts before publishing to ensure formatting appears correctly.
Keep backup copies of important content before making major edits.
FAQs
Q1: Can I change the /blog URL to something else?
Answer: Platform pages like /blog have fixed, platform-generated permalinks that cannot be changed or customised.
Q2: Why isn't my blog post showing even though I set today's date?
Answer: Posts publish at 00:00 platform time. For same-day visibility later in the day, set the publish date to the previous day. If posts don't appear at the expected time, contact Support to review your site's timezone settings.
Q3: Why aren't my blog updates showing on the live site?
Answer: Changes may not appear immediately due to platform caching. Allow time for cache refresh or manually clear cache. If problems persist, raise a support case for investigation.
Q4: Can I export my blogs with images included?
Answer: The JSON feed only includes text content. For images, consider professional services or third-party site-scraping tools.
Q5: Can I customise the URL structure for individual blog posts?
Answer: Individual post URLs include date elements based on publish date (year/month/day/permalink): this structure is not configurable and is part of the platform architecture.
Q6: Can I duplicate the blog template in Design Studio?
Answer: Blog templates are part of the core platform structure and cannot be duplicated or customised through Design Studio.
Q7: Are there any editing limitations I should know about?
Answer: Some editing capabilities depend on your specific site build and configuration. Plan your blog structure and URL strategy carefully, as core elements cannot be changed after implementation.
Q8: How do I fix timing issues with blog publication?
Answer: Contact Support to review your site's timezone settings if posts consistently appear at incorrect times. Remember that posts publish at midnight platform time, so timing issues are usually related to timezone configuration.
Q9: What happens to direct links when I hide a published post?
Answer: Direct or bookmarked links may still work even when posts are hidden from listings. Search engines may also take time to remove already indexed content.
Q10: How many blogs can I export at once through the JSON feed?
Answer: The recommended maximum is 100 posts per request. Use pagination with the page parameter for larger exports.
Q11: Can I schedule posts more than once per day?
Answer: Yes, but all posts scheduled for the same day will appear at 00:00. Consider spacing posts across different days for better distribution.