How to write content

Your site is running — now you can move on to the creative, fun part: writing. To manage content, log in to the admin interface at /admin and enter the admin username and password shown during first startup. If you don't remember them, delete the .admin-credentials file and the credentials will be recreated on next start.

This guide focuses first on writing posts and pages in the admin UI, then covers images and practical tips. Advanced front matter fields and behaviors are collected at the end.

Writing a post (step by step)

1. Enter a title — this appears at the top of the post.
2. Write the content in the editor using Markdown.
3. Slug — set a custom slug if you want; otherwise it will be autogenerated on first save.
4. Description — enter a short description. It appears below the title in a smaller font and is used as the excerpt on listing pages. If you leave it empty an excerpt will be generated automatically. The description is also used as the HTML meta description.
5. Date — set the post date (this controls ordering in lists).
6. Tags — add a comma-separated list of tags to group topical posts.
7. Enable TOC generation if desired — the table of contents will be inserted between the title/description and the content when enabled.

Publishing tip:

• While a post remains draft: true, saving does not automatically change its date/time.
• When you uncheck draft (publish) and you did not modify the date field, GoBlogger updates the date/time to "now".
• If you want to keep a specific date/time (for example for a future post), set the date/time manually before publishing; that manual value is preserved.

Tips while writing:

• Use headings (##, ###) for structure and scannability.
• Keep paragraphs short; use lists for clarity.
• For code or commands, use fenced code blocks with a language label.
• Make links descriptive so they remain useful out of context.

Managing images

• Image upload is available after the post exists (first save) because the server needs to know the content folder structure.
• From the admin image panel, upload or select an image and use the "Copy Markdown" action.
• Paste the copied markdown into your post where you want the image to appear — this ensures correct paths and alt text.

Creating pages

Pages are created similarly to posts but have different typical uses and options:

• Pages often represent site sections (About, Contact) and use weight to control menu order (lower weight appears earlier).
• Pages can be shown or hidden in the navigation menu.
• To make a page act as a direct link to an external site, add the target URL as the first non-empty line in the page body; enable link: true in front matter if needed.
• Pages commonly live under content/pages/... and are treated as relatively stable site items rather than chronological posts.

Quick practical rules

• Keep slug stable after publishing to avoid broken links.
• Set date deliberately to control ordering.
• Use draft status for unfinished content.
• Enable TOC only for long posts that benefit from intra-page navigation.
• Keep descriptions short and specific for lists and SEO.
• Update lastmod on edits so changes remain traceable.

Advanced: Typical front matter fields

If you ever want to create or edit content files directly (instead of through the admin UI), you should understand the front matter fields and their effects.

Front matter is a YAML block at the top of the Markdown file. It controls metadata, routing, sorting, and behavior.

Common fields:

• title
• description
• date
• lastmod
• draft
• toc
• tags
• slug
• weight (mainly useful for pages)
• link (for pages that should forward to an external or internal URL)

Minimal example:

---
title: My first post
description: Short summary for lists and search.
date: "2026-02-25 10:00"
draft: false
tags: ["notes", "setup"]
slug: my-first-post
---

Write your post body here in Markdown.

Field behaviors (practical notes):

• slug becomes the URL path (example: /my-first-post). Keep it stable.
• date controls ordering; newer dates appear first.
• when switching from draft to published in admin, date is set to "now" unless you manually changed the date.
• lastmod tracks edits; the admin updates it on save.
• draft: true hides the item from public lists and normal navigation.
• toc: true enables an automatic table of contents.
• weight affects page ordering in navigation (lower values come first).
• link: true (pages) — the first non-empty line in the body is used as the target URL (useful for redirect-style pages).

Media, examples, and troubleshooting

• Upload images only after the post exists so the server can create the correct folders.
• Use "Copy Markdown" to avoid manual path errors.
• If images or pages don't appear, verify BLOG_CONTENT_DIR and file permissions.
• If admin login is lost, delete .admin-credentials to reset (backup first if needed).

With these steps you can quickly create posts and pages, manage media, and use front matter for more advanced behavior. Small, consistent habits (stable slugs, clear descriptions, deliberate dates) make the site easy to maintain as it grows.