Writing Blog Posts

## Create and Publish Content on Spaghetti Showdown The blog system on Spaghetti Showdown lets authorized users create and publish articles, guides, news posts, and community updates. Whether you are covering tournament results, writing a character guide, or sharing FGC news, the blog editor provides all the tools you need to create professional-looking content. ### Accessing the Blog Editor To write blog posts, you need **Blog Editor** permissions. These are granted by platform administrators. If you are interested in contributing content, reach out to an admin through the platform or community Discord. Once you have permissions, access the blog editor from the **Admin** section in the navigation menu. Click **New Post** to start writing. ### The Block Editor The blog editor uses a block-based system where each piece of content is a separate block that you can add, rearrange, and style independently: **Text Blocks:** - **Paragraph** — Standard body text with formatting options (bold, italic, links) - **Heading** — Section headings in multiple sizes (H2, H3, H4) - **Quote** — Styled blockquote for highlighting key statements - **Code** — Monospaced code blocks for technical content **Media Blocks:** - **Image** — Upload images or paste URLs. Images are automatically optimized and hosted on the platform - **Video Embed** — Embed YouTube, Twitch, or other video content by pasting a URL - **Gallery** — Display multiple images in a grid layout **Interactive Blocks:** - **Divider** — A horizontal line to separate sections visually - **List** — Bulleted or numbered lists - **Table** — Structured data in rows and columns ### Cover Images Every blog post can have a **cover image** that appears at the top of the article and in preview cards on the blog listing page. Upload a high-quality, landscape-oriented image (recommended size: 1200x630 pixels) that represents the content of your article. Good cover images significantly increase click-through rates from the blog listing. ### Tags Tags categorize your post and help readers find related content. Add relevant tags like game names, event names, or topic categories. Tags also power the Related Posts section that appears at the bottom of each article. Use existing tags when possible to maintain consistency across the blog. ### SEO Settings Each post includes SEO (Search Engine Optimization) fields: - **SEO Title** — The title that appears in search engine results. Keep it under 60 characters and include relevant keywords. - **SEO Description** — The description snippet shown in search results. Keep it under 155 characters and write a compelling summary that encourages clicks. Good SEO settings help your content reach readers beyond the Spaghetti Showdown platform through Google and other search engines. ### Publishing When your post is ready: 1. **Preview** your post to see how it will look to readers 2. **Set the status** — save as **Draft** to keep working on it later, or set to **Published** to make it live immediately 3. **Click Publish** — your post goes live and appears on the blog listing page Published posts can be edited at any time. You can also change a published post back to draft status to temporarily hide it.