The Blog

Canvas renders the blog from two sets of decisions: what an archive of posts looks like, and what a single post shows. Both are made once, site-wide, in the Blog tab of Theme Options, and both can be overridden per page and per post where one place needs to differ. Read this page when you are setting the blog up, or when one page needs a layout the rest of the site does not use.

How To Choose The Archive Layout

Starting screenCanvasTheme Options, the Blog tab.

The Blog Layout setting is the big decision: standard stacked entries, a grid, small thumbnails, list cards, masonry or a timeline. Pick the layout first, because the settings below it adapt to the choice, with Columns appearing for the grid and masonry layouts. Then work down the Archive group: the featured image and its size, which meta items each card shows, the excerpt and its length, the read more link, and the Pagination Type, which is also where the load more button and infinite scroll live.

The archive can carry a sidebar. Turn on Show Sidebar and choose its Sidebar Position, and edit the sidebar's content as a template part, which is covered in Widget Areas In Canvas.

How To Configure Single Posts

The same tab's Single group makes the equivalent decisions for a post's own page: the Single Post Layout, its sidebar, the featured image, the meta line, and the row of extras below the content, the reading bar, tags, share buttons, post navigation, the author box, related posts and comments. Each extra is a toggle, so trimming a post page down is a matter of switching off what you do not want.

How To Override The Layout In One Place

Two side-column meta boxes carry the per-place overrides, and both leave every field empty by default, which means follow Theme Options:

On a page, the Blog Layout Override box sets that page's Blog Layout, Columns, Sidebar and Sidebar Position. This is how a page that lists posts can run a grid while the main blog stays standard. The layout list here also includes a custom choice driven by a post card template, for a card design of your own.
On a post, the same box sets that post's Single Post Layout, Sidebar and Sidebar Position, with a custom choice driven by a post single template.

Posts additionally carry a Post Media box, which decides what the post shows in its entry card and at the top of the single post. Auto follows the post's Format panel, and every other choice pins a medium explicitly: a video or audio embed, a gallery slider, a thumbnail grid, a quotation, a link or a status card. Cards read it when the archive's Card Media setting is on Post Format Media.

Listing Posts On A Page You Compose

The Canvas Posts category in the block inserter holds the loop parts. The Blog Archive Loop block renders the main archive loop inside a template, the Canvas Posts block lists posts anywhere with its own query, and the remaining blocks are the pieces of a single post, its title, image, meta, share row and related posts, for building a custom post design.

Pitfalls

Columns is missing from the Blog tab. It appears only when Blog Layout is the grid or masonry choice. The other layouts define their own geometry.

The sidebar shows on posts but not on the archive. The archive and single sidebars are separate settings with different defaults: the archive's Show Sidebar starts off, the single post's starts on. Set each where it lives.

A page override seems ignored. Empty means inherit. Check the page's Blog Layout Override box actually holds a value, because a box full of global defaults changes nothing by design.

Cards ignore the Post Media box. Cards read format media only when the archive's Card Media setting is Post Format Media. On Featured Image, the box still styles the top of the single post but the card stays a featured image.

Every Setting

Both groups of the Blog tab are listed below, generated from the product, so they are current by construction:

Blog LayoutDefaultStandard

Choose how blog posts are displayed on archive pages.

ChoicesStandardGridSmall ThumbsSmall Thumbs AltList - Overlay CardList - HorizontalList - MinimalMasonryTimeline
ColumnsDefault3 Columns

Number of columns for grid and masonry layouts.

Choices2 Columns3 Columns4 Columns5 Columns6 ColumnsShown when Blog Layout is "Grid" or "Masonry"
Columns (Custom Layout)Default3 Columns

Number of columns used when a page sets its own Blog Layout to Custom. Unlike the grid layouts, a single column is allowed.

Choices1 Column2 Columns3 Columns4 Columns5 Columns6 Columns
Show SidebarDefaultOff

Display a sidebar on blog archive pages. Edit its content under Appearance → Editor → Patterns → Template Parts → Sidebar.
Sidebar PositionDefaultRight

Choose sidebar position on archive pages.

ChoicesRightLeftBoth SidebarsShown when Show Sidebar is on
Show Featured ImageDefaultOn

Display featured images on blog archive pages.
Card MediaDefaultFeatured Image

Post Format Media draws each card from the post itself: a video or audio embed, a gallery slider, a thumbnail grid, a pull-quote, a link or a status card, as set in the post's own Post Media box. Posts with no format media fall back to their featured image.

ChoicesFeatured ImagePost Format MediaShown when Show Featured Image is on and Blog Layout is "Standard" or "Grid" or "Small Thumbs" or "Small Thumbs Alt" or "List - Overlay Card" or "List - Horizontal" or "Masonry" or "Timeline"
Image SizeDefaultLarge

Choose the image size for blog archive entries.

ChoicesThumbnailMediumMedium LargeLargeFullShown when Show Featured Image is on and Blog Layout is "Standard" or "Grid"
Show Post TitleDefaultOn

Display the post title on blog archive entries.
Show Post MetaDefaultOn

Display post metadata (date, author, categories, comments).
Meta ItemsDefaulta preset list of 3 rows

Choose which meta items to display on archive entries. Drag and drop to rearrange.

ChoicesDateAuthorCategoriesCommentsReading TimeShown when Show Post Meta is on
Show ExcerptDefaultOn

Display the post excerpt on blog archive entries.
Excerpt LengthDefault55

Number of words to show in post excerpts.

Shown when Show Excerpt is on
Show Read More LinkDefaultOn

Display "Read More" link after excerpts.
Read More TextDefaultRead More

Text for the "Read More" link.

Shown when Show Read More Link is on
Pagination TypeDefaultNumeric

Choose how to navigate between blog pages.

ChoicesDefault (Previous/Next)NumericLoad More ButtonInfinite Scroll
Single Post LayoutDefaultDefault (Sidebar)

Choose the layout variant for single blog posts.

ChoicesDefault (Sidebar)Full WidthSmall Image (Inline)Split (Hero Above)
Show SidebarDefaultOn

Display sidebar on single blog post pages.

Shown when Single Post Layout is "Default (Sidebar)" or "Split (Hero Above)"
Sidebar PositionDefaultRight

Choose sidebar position on single posts.

ChoicesRightLeftBoth SidebarsShown when Show Sidebar is on
Show Featured ImageDefaultOn

Display featured image on single blog posts.
Image SizeDefaultFull

Choose the image size for single post featured images.

ChoicesMedium LargeLargeFullShown when Show Featured Image is on and Single Post Layout is "Default (Sidebar)" or "Full Width" or "Split (Hero Above)"
Show Post MetaDefaultOn

Display post metadata on single posts.
Meta ItemsDefaulta preset list of 4 rows

Choose which meta items to display on single posts. Drag and drop to rearrange.

ChoicesDateAuthorCategoriesCommentsReading TimeShown when Show Post Meta is on
Show Reading BarDefaultOn

Display reading time, font sizer, print, and share buttons below content.
Show TagsDefaultOn

Display post tags below content.
Show Share ButtonsDefaultOn

Display social sharing buttons on single posts.
Share NetworksDefaulta preset list of 5 rows

Choose which social networks to show in the share section.

ChoicesFacebookTwitter / XLinkedInPinterestEmailShown when Show Share Buttons is on
Show Post NavigationDefaultOn

Display previous/next post navigation.
Show Author InfoDefaultOn

Display author information box on single posts.
Show Related PostsDefaultOn

Display related posts section on single posts.
Related Posts CountDefault2

Number of related posts to display.

Shown when Show Related Posts is on
Related Posts ColumnsDefault2 Columns

Number of columns for related posts grid.

Choices2 Columns3 Columns4 ColumnsShown when Show Related Posts is on
Show CommentsDefaultOn

Display the comments section on single posts.