Customise your blog

Social Media Preview

You can add a social media image (dimensions: 1200 x 675 px) to your blog. We make sure, that you will have a standardised image for the preview. If you wish to exchange this with an individualised image, please send it to admin@uaces.org and we will replace it for you in the backend. We use the plugin Yoast SEO for this service.

Example of the provided preview image:

 

You also have the possibility to add a different social media image when creating a blog post. Scroll down in the Add New (post) to the Yoast SEO option. Under social, you can upload a specific Facebook and Twitter image, as well as change the title and the text.

 

Categories

On Ideas on Europe, we added several categories based on broad general topics which help readers to find your article when looking for a specific topic. Categories are listed at the bottom of the Ideas on Europe landing page. Used in conjunction with tags (to provide more specific subject information) this is a powerful way of ensuring that the content from all Ideas on Europe contributors is efficiently categorised.

To add categories to your article, simply tick the appropriate boxes in the category window to the right of the main article entry box when writing an article.

 

Tags

Think of tags as entries in the Ideas on Europe index, or as your article’s keywords – they are designed to help people find articles on subjects in which they are most interested. They can be entered in the tags box to the right of the area where you write your articles. 

The more (relevant) tags that you include, the greater the chances of people finding your article in the search function of the blog and tags also help search engines to pick up relevant content, meaning that your article may continue to be found and read by people interested in its subject-matter for months, even years after it has been published. 

As you type, suggestions of existing tags may appear below the tag box – try to use existing tags whenever possible, as this will ensure that the site’s tag index works more efficiently, without repetition. Tags can be both upper- and lower-case, and can include spaces. They should be separated with commas when entering them. For example, were you to write an article on Britain’s early efforts to join the European Union (or EEC, as it then was), you may want to include tags like Britain, UK, EEC, Harold Macmillan, Charles De Gaulle, Edward Heath, 1960s – and so on. 

 

 

Add a page 

If you need to include more information about your blog, organisation or authors, you can create more pages. Pages are static and are not listed by date like posts are. Pages do not use tags or categories. The additional page of the Crossroads Europe blog is an example of what the additional page will look like and how it could be structured. 

On your left-hand side, you find Pages in the menu bar. Select Add New. We suggest to include the link to this page including additional information about the individual blog in your blog description.

 

 

Monitoring traffic to your blog 

Ideas on Europe is integrated with Google Analytics providing blog owners with a sophisticated means of monitoring traffic to their blog (see below for an installation guide). 

If you’d prefer not use Google Analytics other services such as Stat Counter perform a similar role. For guidance on how to setup your blog with StatCounter please refer to this article: http://statcounter.com/wordpress.com/ 

Create a Google Analytics account 

To enable Google Analytics to start monitoring traffic to your blog you will need a tracking code, this can be obtained from the Google Analytics website. If you already have a Google account, then you’ll be able to access the Google Analytics administration area very easily – just type in your username and password into the login form. If you don’t have a Google account then you’ll need to create one first. Find more help here.

 

Setting up your account in Google Analytics 

If you are not already tracking a website, the first thing you’ll need to do is create an account in Google Analytics. Head to the admin area by clicking on the ‘Admin’ link situated at the top of your screen in the horizontal menu. You will then be presented with three columns. In the left column labelled ‘Account’ there is a drop-down menu; click on this and choose ‘Create New Account’. 

• At a minimum you will need to complete the following fields in the presented form: 

• Account Name 

• Website Name 
• Website URL Select http:// from the drop-down menu and then enter your blog’s URL (eg. blogname.ideasoneurope.eu) If you are unsure about the exact name of your blog’s URL, navigate to your blog and look in the address bar of your site. 

After completing the form click the ‘Get Tracking ID’ button at the bottom of the page. You will then be redirected to a new page which displays a unique tracking code. Make a note of this number. 

 

Adding the tracking code to your blog 

Open a new browser window and head to Ideas on Europe. Log in to the administration area of your blog. 

Look for the Settings tab along the left-hand side of the screen and click this to reveal further options; select ‘Google Analytics’ from the list of options. Paste your Analytics ID into the provided form and click save. 

That’s it – your blog is now registered with Google Analytics. One thing to note is that it can take up to 24 hours before your tracking code is recognised. 

For further information on how to use Google Analytics please refer to the Google Analytics documentation.