Blog posts and articles are the most familiar content types for most people. This content type is frequently used to convey specific, helpful, even time sensitive information to a specific audience.
Use Case Information
In Thought Industries native authoring tool, articles are used to display informative material to be read as a single page. The article base content type creates a standalone, scrollable text page with multiple settings and features available.
Learner View:
Creating an Article Content Type
By default, your platform provides you with an Article base content type, allowing you to easily create and build your articles without any extra set up. However, before you start creating your articles, first determine if "article" is in fact the Content Type language that should be reflected to your learners. For instance, you would rather your learners see Blog as the Content Type rather than Article. You can update the name of the Content Type if no content is attached to it, or you can create a new custom content type based on the article base content type.
To create a new content type based on the Article base content type, see this article.
Tip
If you've already completed this step, or you're good to go with the term "Article" displaying to learners, skip ahead to creating Articles!
Creating an Article Content Item
Now that you've set up an Article Content Type, you'll see it as an option when you go to add a new content item.
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click the plus icon in the top right corner to Add New Content.
- From the content creation flow, click the Select button on the Article tile.
- Next, decide if you'd like to build your article from Blank (scratch) or off of a previously built article (template).
- If starting from Blank, select the content type you would like to build off of and then title your article. You'll only see the content type step if there is more than one content type available for the article structure.
- If not starting from Blank, select an existing template from the dropdown menu and title your new article.
Tip
If you are taking advantage of templates, the content type and many other settings will be carried over to the new article. To learn more about templates, check out this help article.
- Click Create.
- Select the Variant Label (Language).
- Enter copy to be displayed for Headline (users will see above the Subtitle), Subtitle, Body, and Copyright.
- Other options:
- Upload PDF for Download: This will create a "Download PDF" button on the left menu.
- Add Audio Narration File: This will create a "Play Audio" button on the left menu.
- Enter External URL and Call To Action: This will create a "Purchase" button on the left menu.
- Click Save Language Variant.
- If you need to add additional language variations of this article, click Add Language Variant and follow the above instructions to continue building out your article.
- Like any other content, changes can be made to design, pricing, availability, testimonials, etc. by applying the necessary edits in steps 1 through 5.
- Click Publish Changes.
- Navigate to the Release step and click Release if you choose to make the article visible in your public facing catalog.
Note
Currently, articles are considered complete once the learner has spent a minimum of 60 seconds on the page and scrolled through 75% of the page. If scrolling isn't necessary and the entire short article is visible, the second criteria will not apply, and the learner only needs to spend 60 seconds on the page.
You can modify the completion criteria by selecting the Completion step > Add Completion Criteria and selecting the criteria you'd like to apply:
- Percentage of Page Viewed - enter a number in the % Required Field.
- Time Spent Viewing - enter in the MM:SS field as many minutes and/or seconds you'd like your learners to spend on the article before it is marked complete.
Tip
To preview the article as a learner would see it, click the eye icon at the top right of the page.
Article Layout
By default, all article content types follow a standard layout, which features two primary widgets: the Back to Dashboard widget and the Article Content widget.
Back to Dashboard
The Back to Dashboard widget displays a back button option, allowing learners to navigate directly back to the learner dashboard with ease. This enhances the user experience by providing a quick and intuitive way to return to their dashboard.
Learner View
Article Content Widget
The Article Content widget is where all of your article content will be displayed. This widget is designed to showcase the content you create, ensuring that your articles are presented clearly and effectively to your audience.
In addition to the default widgets, the Related Articles widget and the Article Discussions widget are unique options to the article layout and can be selected in the Site Builder:
Related Articles
The Related Articles widget is designed to encourage users to explore and engage with additional content. It can suggest related articles, videos, courses, or any other content you've created. Related content is unique to each article content item. This feature can also serve as an effective upsell tool if you're using e-commerce, and it helps keep users on your site longer, increasing overall engagement. To set up, simply:
- From your homepage, select Site > Site Builder.
- In the left menu, click Layouts.
- From the Article Layout option, select Actions > Edit.
- From the Find Preview Item dropdown, select any article to get started.
- Click View.
- In the left menu, select the Related Articles widget.
- Click Save.
- Now navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click on the title of the Article for which you want to suggest related content.
- Select the Design step.
- From the left menu, click Display.
- Click in the Related Content Query field and either type in the content you want to appear or select from the dropdown list.
- Decide, from the Related Content Sort Order dropdown list, the sort order in which these pieces of content should appear in the widget.
- Choose how many items should display in the widget, from the Number of Items to Display field (Max 10).
- Decide whether or not you would like images and/or descriptions, for the related content, to be visible in the widget.
- Click Save.
Article Discussion
Would you like to enable comments on your article layout? If so, follow these steps to set it up.
- Follow steps 1-5 from above.
- In the left menu, select the Article Discussions widget.
- Click Save.
- Now navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click on the title of the Article for which you want to enable discussions for.
- In the Content step, scroll to the bottom of the page to the Utilities section.
- Toggle Discussions Enabled to Yes.
While the default layout provides a consistent and user-friendly experience, you have the flexibility to customize the layout for any article, either globally or individually. Here’s how:
Customizing Article Layouts Globally
To customize the layout for all articles, follow these steps:
- From your homepage, select Site > Site Builder.
- In the left menu, select Layouts.
- From the Article Layout option, select Actions > Edit.
- From the Find Preview Item dropdown menu, select an article.
- Any customizations you make to this article will apply to all your article layouts.
- Click View.
- Feel free to edit or remove existing widgets, and add new ones to customize your global layout for all of your articles.
Customizing Article Layouts Individually
Follow these steps to change the layout for a specific article.
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click on the title of the article you would like to modify.
- Select the Design step.
- In the left menu, select Display.
- From within the Article Page Layout box, click Add Custom Layout.
- Click Design Layout.
- Feel free to edit or remove existing widgets, and add new ones to customize your customized layout, for this one article, as desired.
Note
To remove a custom layout from an article: click on the article title from the main content list > select the Design step > Display > Click Revert To Default. Reverting to default will automatically restore the layout to the global design applied to all your articles.
FAQ's
Is Related Content set up the same way across content types?
The option to add Related Content is available for detail pages on all content types except in Articles and Videos. Find it under the Design step Edit Catalog Settings Detail Page Related Content.
Can I edit the left sidebar on the article layout?
Not in the Site Builder. You can potentially use CSS to hide some of the sidebar options. Read more about using CSS on your site here.