Squarespace doesn’t offer a native filtering option for blog posts, but with a creative use of the Summary Block widget, tags, categories, and some custom functions, you can create an intuitive filtering experience for your blog visitors. This blog filtering system is designed to help visitors easily navigate through a large collection of blog posts. The main purpose of creating this feature is to improve user experience by allowing them to find relevant content quickly based on categories, tags, or search criteria.
1. Improved Content Discovery
When your blog covers a wide range of topics, your visitors may be looking for something specific. By offering filters for tags, categories, or search, you make it much easier for visitors to quickly locate posts that match their interests. Whether they’re interested in reading about “Technology,” “Health,” or “News,” filters allow them to access exactly what they want without unnecessary scrolling.
2. Enhanced User Experience
Providing a filtering mechanism elevates the user experience by allowing visitors to engage with your blog more effectively. Without filters, users might feel overwhelmed by the volume of content on your site. By giving them the ability to filter posts by tags, categories, or keywords, you’re enabling them to focus only on the most relevant content. This leads to better engagement, a smoother navigation experience, and a positive impression of your website.
3. Increased Time on Site
When users can easily find the content they’re interested in, they’re more likely to stay on your site longer. With a well-organized blog that has an intuitive filtering system, visitors are more likely to explore multiple posts and spend more time browsing. This increased time spent on your site can also improve SEO, as search engines track engagement metrics like session duration.
4. Efficient Content Organization
The filtering system helps you maintain a well-organized blog. Categories and tags not only allow visitors to easily navigate your site but also help you organize and structure your content better. With appropriate use of categories like “Events,” “Case Studies,” or “Updates,” and tags such as “Sustainability” or “Innovation,” you ensure that posts are categorized effectively, improving both the reader’s experience and your content management system.
5. Better Searchability
A good search feature is a valuable addition to any blog. When you add a search bar alongside your tags and categories, you’re giving visitors the option to search for specific topics or keywords, further enhancing their ability to find what they need. This is particularly helpful for visitors who may not know which category or tag a post falls under but are looking for content that matches a particular keyword or phrase. If a visitor is only interested in reading about “Technology,” they can simply apply the filter to see only the posts under that category or tag, rather than scrolling through unrelated content.
Step 1: Create Blog Posts
Before setting up filters, ensure you have your blog set up in Squarespace with blog posts ready. Each post should include:
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Tags: Tags help categorize content into specific topics. For instance, you could tag posts with “Technology”, “Sustainability”, or “Innovation”.
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Categories: Categories offer a broader classification, such as “News”, “Events”, or “Case Studies”. Categories help users quickly identify the type of content they are looking for.
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Summary Text: Add a summary to each post. This text is important because it will be displayed when users filter the posts.
Step 2: Add the Summary Block Widget
Now that your blog posts are ready, the next step is to display them on your website using the Summary Block Widget.
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Navigate to the page where you want to display your blog posts.
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Add a Summary Block to this page. You can choose from different layouts such as Grid, List, or Carousel, depending on how you want to present the blog posts.
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The Summary Block will automatically pull in all blog posts, but we’ll later use tags and categories to filter these results.
Step 3: Use Tags and Categories for Filtering
Tags and categories are the core of your filtering system.
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Tags: Tags help categorize content into specific topics (e.g., “Technology”, “Innovation”).
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Categories: Categories help group content more broadly (e.g., “News”, “Events”).
Ensure that each blog post is assigned relevant tags and categories to make filtering effective.
Step 4: Customize Summary Block with Filter Options
Squarespace doesn’t offer an in-built filtering system, but you can use custom JavaScript to add this functionality.
Here’s how you can customize:
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Add Custom Code: In the Summary Block Settings, there’s an option to inject custom code. You can add JavaScript to allow filtering by tags, categories, or even search terms.
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Tag and Category Filter: Use JavaScript to listen for tag or category selections and filter the displayed posts based on those selections.
Summary
The purpose of this blog is to guide you through the process of creating a custom blog post filtering system on Squarespace. Since Squarespace doesn’t offer a built-in filtering option for blog posts, this guide shows you how to use tags, categories, and custom JavaScript to implement a dynamic filter.
The blog focuses on:
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Creating blog posts with relevant tags, categories, and summaries.
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Using the Summary Block widget to display your posts.
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Customizing the filter system through JavaScript to allow users to filter blog posts by tags, categories, or even search terms.
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Making the filtering process user-friendly by adding dropdowns or checkboxes for tags and categories, along with a search box.
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Styling the filter UI to match your website’s design.
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Testing the system to ensure it works smoothly and responsively.
