Create a Blog

This guide covers creating a blog with EmDash, from defining the content type to displaying posts with categories and tags.

Prerequisites

An EmDash site set up and running (see Getting Started)
Basic familiarity with Astro components

Define the Posts Collection

EmDash creates a default “posts” collection during setup. Customize it from the admin dashboard or the API.

The default posts collection includes:

title - Post title
slug - URL-friendly identifier
content - Rich text body
excerpt - Short description
featured_image - Header image (optional)
status - draft, published, or scheduled
publishedAt - Publication date (system field)

Create Your First Post

Open the admin dashboard at /_emdash/admin
Click Posts in the sidebar
Click New Post
Enter a title and write your content using the rich text editor
Add categories and tags in the sidebar panel
Set the status to Published
Click Save

The post is now live and appears immediately.

Display Posts on Your Site

List All Posts

The following page displays all published posts:

---
import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";
import Base from "../../layouts/Base.astro";

const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
  status: "published",
});

// Sort by publication date, newest first
const sortedPosts = posts.sort(
  (a, b) => (b.data.publishedAt?.getTime() ?? 0) - (a.data.publishedAt?.getTime() ?? 0)
);
---

<Base title="Blog">
  <h1>Blog</h1>
  <ul>
    {sortedPosts.map((post) => (
      <li>
        <a href={`/blog/${post.data.slug}`}>
          <h2>{post.data.title}</h2>
          <p>{post.data.excerpt}</p>
          <time datetime={post.data.publishedAt?.toISOString()}>
            {post.data.publishedAt?.toLocaleDateString()}
          </time>
        </a>
      </li>
    ))}
  </ul>
</Base>

Display a Single Post

The following dynamic route renders an individual post:

---
import { getEmDashCollection, getEmDashEntry } from "emdash";
import { PortableText } from "emdash/ui";
import Base from "../../layouts/Base.astro";

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
    status: "published",
  });

  return posts.map((post) => ({
    params: { slug: post.data.slug },
  }));
}

const { slug } = Astro.params;
const { entry: post } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", slug);

if (!post) {
  return Astro.redirect("/404");
}
---

<Base title={post.data.title}>
  <article>
    {post.data.featured_image && (
      <img src={post.data.featured_image} alt="" />
    )}
    <h1>{post.data.title}</h1>
    <time datetime={post.data.publishedAt?.toISOString()}>
      {post.data.publishedAt?.toLocaleDateString()}
    </time>
    <PortableText value={post.data.content} />
  </article>
</Base>

Add Categories and Tags

EmDash includes built-in category and tag taxonomies. See Taxonomies for details on creating and managing terms.

Filter Posts by Category

The following route lists posts in a single category:

---
import { getEmDashCollection, getTerm, getTaxonomyTerms } from "emdash";
import Base from "../../layouts/Base.astro";

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const categories = await getTaxonomyTerms("category");

  // Flatten hierarchical categories
  const flatten = (terms) => terms.flatMap((t) => [t, ...flatten(t.children)]);

  return flatten(categories).map((cat) => ({
    params: { slug: cat.slug },
    props: { category: cat },
  }));
}

const { category } = Astro.props;

const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
  status: "published",
  where: { category: category.slug },
});
---

<Base title={category.label}>
  <h1>{category.label}</h1>
  {category.description && <p>{category.description}</p>}

  <ul>
    {posts.map((post) => (
      <li>
        <a href={`/blog/${post.data.slug}`}>{post.data.title}</a>
      </li>
    ))}
  </ul>
</Base>

Display Post Categories

The following component shows the categories and tags assigned to a post:

---
import { getEntryTerms } from "emdash";

interface Props {
  postId: string;
}

const { postId } = Astro.props;
const categories = await getEntryTerms("posts", postId, "category");
const tags = await getEntryTerms("posts", postId, "tag");
---

<div class="post-meta">
  {categories.length > 0 && (
    <div class="categories">
      <span>Categories:</span>
      {categories.map((cat) => (
        <a href={`/category/${cat.slug}`}>{cat.label}</a>
      ))}
    </div>
  )}

  {tags.length > 0 && (
    <div class="tags">
      <span>Tags:</span>
      {tags.map((tag) => (
        <a href={`/tag/${tag.slug}`}>{tag.label}</a>
      ))}
    </div>
  )}
</div>

Add Pagination

For blogs with many posts, the following route paginates the post list:

---
import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";
import Base from "../../../layouts/Base.astro";

const POSTS_PER_PAGE = 10;

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const { entries: allPosts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
    status: "published",
  });

  const totalPages = Math.ceil(allPosts.length / POSTS_PER_PAGE);

  return Array.from({ length: totalPages }, (_, i) => ({
    params: { page: String(i + 1) },
    props: { currentPage: i + 1, totalPages },
  }));
}

const { currentPage, totalPages } = Astro.props;

const { entries: allPosts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
  status: "published",
});

const sortedPosts = allPosts.sort(
  (a, b) => (b.data.publishedAt?.getTime() ?? 0) - (a.data.publishedAt?.getTime() ?? 0)
);

const start = (currentPage - 1) * POSTS_PER_PAGE;
const posts = sortedPosts.slice(start, start + POSTS_PER_PAGE);
---

<Base title={`Blog - Page ${currentPage}`}>
  <h1>Blog</h1>

  <ul>
    {posts.map((post) => (
      <li>
        <a href={`/blog/${post.data.slug}`}>{post.data.title}</a>
      </li>
    ))}
  </ul>

  <nav>
    {currentPage > 1 && (
      <a href={`/blog/page/${currentPage - 1}`}>Previous</a>
    )}
    <span>Page {currentPage} of {totalPages}</span>
    {currentPage < totalPages && (
      <a href={`/blog/page/${currentPage + 1}`}>Next</a>
    )}
  </nav>
</Base>

Add an RSS Feed

The following endpoint generates an RSS feed for the blog:

import rss from "@astrojs/rss";
import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";

export async function GET(context) {
  const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
    status: "published",
  });

  return rss({
    title: "My Blog",
    description: "A blog built with EmDash",
    site: context.site,
    items: posts.map((post) => ({
      title: post.data.title,
      pubDate: post.data.publishedAt,
      description: post.data.excerpt,
      link: `/blog/${post.data.slug}`,
    })),
  });
}

The feed depends on the @astrojs/rss package. The following command installs it:

npm install @astrojs/rss

Next Steps

Working with Content - Learn CRUD operations in the admin
Media Library - Add images to your posts
Taxonomies - Create custom classification systems