# Blog posts
The **Blog posts** section displays a carousel of featured blog posts. Select which articles to feature and customize the content and style of the section.
{% hint style="info" %}
Check out Shopify's guide on [How to start a blog and grow your audience](https://www.shopify.com/blog/how-to-start-a-blog).
{% endhint %}
## Add images and excerpts
For the **Blog posts** section to display properly, you will need to add **Featured images** to posts in your Shopify admin.
STEPS
In your **Shopify Admin**:
1. Find your blog posts under **Online Store > Blog posts**.
2. In the **Featured image** section, click **Add image** to upload an image file.
> There are no required dimensions. We recommend using the same shape and size for all blog images with a minimum width of **`2500px`** for optimal quality across all devices.
3. In the **Excerpt** section, add a summary of your post.
> If left blank, Spark will automatically display the first few sentences of the post. For the best results, add excerpts that are around the same length for all blog posts.
4. Click **Save**.
## Set up section
Add this section to any template (except Checkout) and use the drag-and-drop handles to re-order its position. You can add this section multiple times with different content and settings.
{% hint style="warning" %}
Editing a template changes all pages that use that template. To edit specific pages, you can [create new templates](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/general/editing-themes/using-templates#create-and-assign-multiple-templates) or [insert dynamic content with metafields](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/general/adapting-your-theme/dynamic-content-with-metafields).
{% endhint %}
STEPS
In your theme editor (**Customize**):
1. Select a **Template** to edit from the dropdown menu in the top bar.
> Learn how to use templates in our [Templates guide](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/general/editing-themes/using-templates).
2. Under **Template**, click **(+) Add section** and select **Blog posts**.
3. Change the order of your sections by using the drag and drop handles **`⋮⋮`**
## Select blog posts to show
Add up to 12 blog post articles to display in a grid and change the order in which they appear.
STEPS
In your theme editor (**Customize**):
1. Click **(+) Add Article**.
2. Click on an **Article** block to open the block settings.
3. Click **Select Article** then choose an article from the list.
> After you have selected a blog post, you can follow the **Edit article** link if you need to **add a featured image**.
4. (*Optional*.) Click and hold the drag handles **`⋮⋮`** to rearrange the blocks:
> Click **Remove block** in the block settings to delete a block.
> Click the **Eye icon** to hide or unhide a block.
5. Click **Save**.
## Section content and layout
Change the section style, adjust the number of columns, and crop the shape of your blog images. You can also change the section headings and link text for the buttons.
STEPS
In your theme editor (**Customize**):
1. Click on the **Blog posts** section to open the section settings.
2. Choose whether to **Show published date** by checking the checkbox.
3. Use the **Columns per row** slider to adjust the number of articles per row, between *2*, *3*, or *4*.
> On mobile, articles are displayed in a single column carousel.
4. Enter **Heading** text to display above the section.
5. (*Optional*.) Add **Subheading** text to display beneath the Heading.
6. Use the **Max width of text** slider to control the maximum width of the article subheading.
> Use this setting to create a clean visual shape for your text and avoid unwanted line breaks.
7. To make your images a uniform shape and size, select the **Image aspect ratio** to crop your images to **Square**, **Landscape**, or **Portrait**.
> The default **Natural** setting will display the original orientation of your image.
8. Click **Save**.
## Section style
Customize the section **Style** with options for section **Spacing**, **Animation**, and **Alternate section color**.
STEPS
In your theme editor (**Customize**):
1. Click on the section to find the **Section style** settings.
2. Choose whether to **Enable animation** to show visual effects when scrolling, hovering, or interacting with the section.
> Learn more about [Section animations](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/theme-styles/animation) in Spark.
3. Choose to enable the **Alternate section color** to apply the secondary section colors selected in your theme settings for colors.
4. Select a **Spacing** option to add padding around the section content.
> Add padding to either the **Top and bottom**, **Top only**, **Bottom only**, or set it to **None**.
5. Select the **Spacing amount** for the padded sides of the section: **Full**, **Half**, or **Minimum**.
6. Click **Save**.
## Settings reference
Click on the **Blog post** section to find the following settings:
| Setting | Description |
| ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Show published date | Display the date your blog post was published below the blog post title. |
| Columns per row | Choose how many articles to display in each row: either 2, 3, or 4 columns. |
| Heading | Enter heading text to display as a section title. |
| Subheading | Enter subheading text to display below the heading. Use the formatting buttons to add text styles, links, or lists. To learn more, see Shopify's Rich text editor guide. |
| Max width of text | Use the slider to control the maximum width and line breaks of the section headings. |
| Image aspect ratio | Choose to crop all images to be a single uniform shape. Select Portrait (2:3), Square (1:1), or Landscape (3:2). Select Natural to display images in their original shape (without cropping). Learn more about aspect ratios in our [Image settings guide](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/general/image-guide/theme-image-settings). |
#### Section style
| Setting | Description |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Enable animation | Choose whether to display visual effects when scrolling, hovering, or interacting with the section. See our [Section animations](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/theme-styles/animation) to learn more. |
| Use alternate section color | Apply the alternate section colors as chosen in your Theme Settings. See Spark's [theme color settings](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/theme-styles/colors) to learn how to create a secondary color scheme with alternate section colors. |
| Spacing | Add padding around the section content: either the Top and bottom, Top only, Bottom only, or set it to None. |
| Spacing amount | Increase or decrease the amount of space around the section: either Full, Half, or Minimum. |
|
| |
***
> **Related links**
>
> [Blog posts template](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/pages/templates/blog-posts-template)\
> [Blog page template](https://help.fluorescent.co/spark/pages/templates/blogs-page)