In this guide, we’ll show you how to add a fully functioning custom blog to your WordPress website with a few lines of code.
WordPress powers many websites across the internet and comes with a wide variety of tools, most notably its own blogging features. But what if you'd like to add an additional blog to your WordPress site? Or maybe you'd like to allow other contributors to add posts to your blog?
Using a tool such as DropInBlog allows you to easily add a second blog to your website. At the same time, it means you can safely give content creators access to your blog to submit posts, and other team members can continue working on the main website.
Table of Contents
The Benefits of Adding a Second Blog to WordPress
Having more than one blog means you can keep each blog neatly focused on a specific topic. However, WordPress can be challenging, and having more than one website can be confusing and time-consuming. If you’re already using WordPress, it’s more convenient, more cost-efficient, and more secure to remain on the same platform.
By adding a second blog to your existing WordPress site, you can reap benefits. You’ll have only one login, which helps to keep your site more secure. Overall, you’ll also experience reduced site maintenance in terms of things like plugins and URLs.
Another benefit of having a second blog is improving your visibility and marketing performance. You can use both blogs for cross-promotion. Cross-promotion can lead to an increase in visibility and traffic, in turn meaning more customer conversions for you.
All in all, there is certainly more than one incentive to integrate DropinBlog into your WordPress.
However, WordPress doesn’t actually allow multiple blogs within one installation. That’s why you need this workaround to connect the second blog.
Prerequisites
There are a few things you’ll need to have set up in order to get started. First, you’ll need to create a DropInBlog account, which you can do for free with a 14-day trial.
You'll also need an existing WordPress installation. You have to be logged in to your WordPress site as a super-admin, which is the primary admin of the WordPress installation. This will give you the right permission levels to add the custom code.
Creating a Blog Page
To create a new page, log in to your WordPress website admin and use the Pages item in the sidebar. You can either hover over the sidebar item and click Add New or click Add New on the Page listings view itself.
Then, name your newly created page. I’m going with the highly creative name of “Blog.”
Adding Your Embed Code
Depending on the version of WordPress you have, the process of adding the DropInBlog embed code may differ a bit.
For newer WordPress versions – 5.0 and above – you’ll be presented with the blocks editor. Within the blocks UI, use the plus icon to add a Custom HTML block to the new page. Once added, you’ll then be able to simply add the DropInBlog embed code.
For older versions of WordPress, you’ll be presented with (or will have access to) the classic WYSIWYG editor. Switch to Text mode so you can add the DropInBlog embed code.
To find the embed code, open a new tab, navigate to DropInBlog and log into your account. After logging in, click Code & Layout in the main navigation.
Copy the code that is shown in step 1 of the DropinBlog guide. It will look something like this:
<script src="https://io.dropinblog.com/embedjs/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.js"></script>
Paste this code into the HTML editor in WordPress. Then go back to DropInBlog and copy the code shown in step 2:
<div id="dib-posts"></div>
You can then switch back to WordPress and paste this additional line of code above the code from step 1.
Note: WordPress comes with an autosave feature that will save the changes you’ve applied to your new page, but you may need to save these changes manually in older versions.
Publishing Your New Blog
Now that your DropInBlog blog has been added to your website, you need to modify your blog settings to account for its new home before publishing it live to your store.
Within your DropInBlog account, navigate to Settings and update the Blog URL field with the URL of your new WordPress blog page.
If you’re not sure what the full URL is, you can open your WordPress website in a new tab, navigate to your blog page, and check the address bar of your web browser. Click Save All Changes once you’ve added your new blog URL.
Once you’ve updated the blog URL, switch back to WordPress and click Publish and/or Update in the top right corner of the Page editing view. This will complete the process and publish your new blog.
Check out your new blog page by clicking the Preview button in the top left corner of your browser.
Mission complete! ✨
How to Create Multiple Blogs on One WordPress Website
If you're looking to create multiple blogs under one WordPress site, there are a few ways you can consider. Start by defining the purpose and target audience for each blog, as this will guide you in designing and creating content specific to each one.
One approach is to utilize DropInBlog's category feature. This allows you to organize and distinguish your content effectively. Within your DropInBlog account, you can manage these categories, add new ones, and sort your posts. These changes will automatically show up on your WordPress site, enabling you to customize the design with ease, even without much technical know-how.
This method is suitable if you're aiming for a setup like this:
your_website.com/blog1
your_website.com/blog2
Alternatively, while WordPress categories and tags can be used to create separate blog pages, DropInBlog offers a more centralized method for better control over your blogs and users.
Another option is to use WordPress's "Multisite" feature. This allows you to manage multiple independent blogs from one installation, ideal for those managing various blogs with unique content and designs. However, setting up and maintaining a Multisite network requires more technical skills. If you're new to this, consulting a WordPress developer is recommended.
This approach is perfect if you're looking at a setup like:
subdomain: blog1.your_website.com
subdomain: blog2.your_website.com
Regardless of your choice, consider the following additional tips:
- Customize blog links for better navigability and relevance.
- Manage user roles, particularly in a multi-author setup, to ensure security and efficient workflow.
- Implement SEO strategies for each blog to enhance online visibility and search rankings.
- Regularly update and maintain each blog for optimal performance and relevance.
- Finally, use analytics tools to monitor performance, adapting your strategies based on audience engagement and feedback. This ensures each blog thrives within your WordPress website.
FAQs
Why should I add a second blog to WordPress?
By adding a second blog to WordPress, you can increase your earnings but also keep your content and blogs separate and distinct from each other.
Maybe you have a second blog idea but don’t want to mix the two topics on one blog. Then, you can start an entirely separate blog (with a second advertising revenue stream). Alternatively, creating a second blog with a similar focus can be useful for affiliate marketing or blog cross-promotion.
How to Separate One Type of Blog Post From Others?
In order to separate blog posts from each other on your WordPress site, one option is to create a new page. The best way to do this is actually to add categories to your blog posts. When you categorize your blog posts, the categories will show up in the header bar, similar to extra pages within the blog page.
This helps to keep your blog organized and helps your audience navigate and find what they want much more easily.
Troubleshooting
For some people, WordPress can be troublesome. It may sometimes remove the script tags that are part of the DropInBlog embed code.
There are a couple of ways to resolve this. If you have super-admin access, you can correct this easily once logged in. If you do not, you can contact your website administrator so they can modify the configuration of the website to enable you to add this code.
Alternatively, you can use the WP Coder plugin. This WordPress plugin gives you a better ability to edit the HTML of your pages, allowing you to add the custom embed code for DropInBlog.
If you need some pointers to write your first blog post with DropinBlog, or you need some assistance getting set up, please do get in touch. We’ll be more than happy to help out.
Happy blogging! 🤓
