How to Add a Newsletter to Your Hexo Blog

This guide explains how to integrate BlogTally Broadcast with your Hexo-powered blog to automatically send newsletters based on your RSS feed.

Prerequisites

  • A Hexo blog
  • A BlogTally account
  • Basic knowledge of npm and Node.js

Setting up RSS Feed in Hexo

Before integrating with BlogTally Broadcast, you need to set up an RSS feed for your blog. We recommend using the hexo-feed plugin for its comprehensive features including support for tags and categories.

1. Install RSS Plugin

npm install hexo-feed --save-dev

2. Configure Plugin

Add the following configuration to your _config.yml:

feed:
  limit: 20
  order_by: "-date"
  tag_dir: "tag"
  category_dir: "category"
  rss:
    enable: true
    template: "themes/theme/layout/_alternate/rss.ejs"
    output: "rss.xml"
  atom:
    enable: true
    template: "themes/theme/layout/_alternate/atom.ejs"
    output: "atom.xml"
  jsonFeed:
    enable: true
    template: "themes/theme/layout/_alternate/json.ejs"
    output: "feed.json"

3. Add Feed Links to Your Layout

Add these links to your theme's layout file:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="<%= config.title %>" href="<%= full_url_for(`/rss.xml}`) %>">
<link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="<%= config.title %>" href="<%= full_url_for(`/atom.xml`) %>">
<link rel="alternate" type="application/json" title="<%= config.title %>" href="<%= full_url_for(`/feed.json`) %>">

Note: You can also use hexo-generator-feed as an alternative plugin if you prefer a simpler setup.

Integrating with BlogTally Broadcast

Once your RSS feed is set up, you can integrate it with BlogTally Broadcast in two steps:

1. Create a Campaign

  1. Navigate to the Campaigns section in your BlogTally dashboard
  2. Create a new RSS-based campaign
  3. Enter your Hexo blog's RSS feed URL (e.g., https://yourblog.com/rss.xml)
  4. Configure your campaign settings

For detailed instructions on campaign creation and management, see our Campaign Management Guide.

2. Add a Subscription Form

To collect subscribers, you'll need to add a subscription form to your blog. BlogTally provides several options:

  • Use our pre-built forms
  • Create a custom form
  • Integrate with your existing forms

For form creation and customization instructions, check our Forms Documentation.

Next Steps

Need Help?

If you encounter any issues or need assistance, feel free to contact our support team.

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