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How to Create a Live Blog Post?

A live blog is one post that you keep adding short updates to while an event happens: a match, an election night, a product launch. Readers see the new updates appear without reloading the page.

A live blog post on the PressPulse demo: the bar with 7 Posts and the Auto Updates switch on, then the newest entry outlined in orange, with its red live dot, its age and event time above a card holding the heading and text

How it works:

  1. You turn on Live Blog for a post.
  2. You add each update as a Live Blog - Ruby block, with the time it happened. Inside it goes any block: text, photos, videos, lists.
  3. Readers with the post open get new updates automatically, without refreshing their browser.

Any post can be a live blog, including one you already published.

How to Create a Live Blog Post​

To get started, please follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to Posts > Add Post, or open an existing post: any post can become a live blog.

  2. At the bottom of the editor, open the Meta Boxes bar, find the Single Post Settings box and select its Live Blogging tab.

    The block editor on a page with the settings sidebar closed: the page title and content, and at the foot of the screen the collapsed Meta Boxes bar, outlined in orange.

    The Single Post Settings box with the Live Blogging tab open: Live Blog on Enable, Live Location City Hall, Springfield and Live Label Live Updates

  3. Set Live Blog to Enable. Every post starts on - None -. The three values:

    • - None -: a normal post.
    • Enable: the event is on. The post shows the update counter and the Auto Updates switch, and refreshes by itself for readers.
    • Archive: the event is over. Every update stays visible, without the counter, the switch or the refresh. See step 11.

  4. Optional: fill in the other two fields on the tab.

    • Live Location: where the event takes place, such as Times Square, New York City. Search engines read it; it does not show on the page.
    • Live Label: the words at the top of this post, in place of Live Updates. This post's Live Label wins over Live Updates Label in Theme Options; leave it empty to use the Theme Options text.

  5. In the editor, click the + block inserter at the top left and type Live Blog in the search box. Click Live Blog - Ruby.

    The block inserter with Live Blog typed in the search box, returning the Live Blog - Ruby block

  6. Type the update inside the block. Start with a heading and a paragraph, then add any other blocks you need. Search engines take the first heading as the update's headline and the first paragraph as its text.

    A Live Blog - Ruby block in the editor canvas: the red live dot and the event date and time above a card holding a heading and a paragraph

  7. Check the time of the update in Event DateTime, in the Content panel of the block settings on the right. It starts at the moment you added the block; change it to match when the event really happened. Do not clear it: a block with no date shows nothing on the front end.

    The block settings sidebar for Live Blog - Ruby, with the Content panel open and Event DateTime set to September 26, 2026 9:15 am; the sidebar cuts off the time zone at its edge.

  8. Optional: change how the update's card looks in the block's Styles tab. It has two panels:

    • Border & Shadow: the border, rounded corners, shadow and background colour, each with a dark mode colour.
    • Inner Padding: the space inside the card.

    Every setting is explained in How to Use the Live Blog Block.

    The Styles tab of the Live Blog - Ruby block settings with Border & Shadow open: Border Style, Border Radius, Shadow and the Background colour group inside it, and Inner Padding below

  9. Publish the post, or click Save on a published one. Readers see the update at their next refresh.

  10. For each new update, add another Live Blog - Ruby block and save again. Updates show in the order they sit in the post, so put each new block above the previous one to keep the newest on top.

  11. When the event ends, set Live Blog to Archive and save. Every update stays visible; the counter, the Auto Updates switch and the automatic refresh go away.

The Single Post Settings box with the Live Blogging tab open and Live Blog set to Archive, above Live Location City Hall, Springfield and Live Label Live Updates

Global Live Blogging Settings​

One Theme Options panel sets the labels and the refresh interval for every live post on the site:

  1. Go to Foxiz > Theme Options > Theme Design > Live Blogging.

  2. Set the fields below, then click Save Changes.

    Theme Options with Theme Design expanded in the section list and Live Blogging highlighted, beside the Live Blogging panel: Live Label holding Live: and Meta Style on Dot for post listings, then Live Updates Label holding Live Updates and Refresh Interval (s) at 600 for the single post, its help text saying the value is kept between 15 and 1800 seconds

    The panel has two groups. for Post Listing changes how a live post looks in blocks and archives:

    • Live Label: the words printed before the title of a live post in a listing, when Meta Style is Text Only or Dot & Text. Default: Live: .

    • Meta Style: Dot, Text Only or Dot & Text. Default: Dot.

      On the default Dot, only the red dot shows and Live Label is not printed. For most sites, pick Dot & Text so readers see the word as well; the picture below uses it.

      A live post in a post listing on the demo site's homepage, outlined in orange: the red pulsing dot and the words Live: before its title, Exploring the Benefits of Renewable Energy Sources.

    for Single Post changes the live post itself:

    • Live Updates Label: the words at the top of a live post. Default: Live Updates.
    • Refresh Interval (s): how often an open live post checks for new updates, in seconds. Default: 600, which is 10 minutes. Any value is kept between 15 and 1800; an empty field means 1800. A lower value shows updates sooner but uses more server resources.

    The live dot and label colours are not in this panel. Set them in Foxiz > Theme Options > Global Colors > Live Blogging.

    Theme Options with Global Colors highlighted in the section list, beside the Live Blogging group of the Global Colors panel: Color holding a red and Dark Mode - Color a lighter red

Will a short refresh interval overload my server?​

Less than you might think. Foxiz keeps a cached copy of the live updates for five hours and clears it every time you save the post. Most refreshes get that cached copy, until you publish a new update.

Can readers stop the automatic refresh?​

Yes. Each live post has an Auto Updates switch above the updates. It is on by default, and the reader's browser remembers whichever way they leave it.

How to Display Your Live Blogging Posts on the Homepage and Post Listings?​

To achieve this, please follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to Pages > All Pages and click Edit with Elementor under the page's title.

  2. Select the block where you want to display live blogging posts or add a new posts block.

  3. In the block's Content tab, open Query Settings and choose a live filter in Order By.

    The Query Settings of a Foxiz - Grid 1 block in Elementor: Post IDs Filter, then Order By set to Last Published Live, outlined in orange.

    Four values show live posts only:

    • Last Published Live and Last Updated Live: posts on Enable.
    • Last Live (Archived Included) and Last Updated Live (Archived Included): posts on Enable or Archive.

    These values filter, not just sort: until you have a live post, the block shows nothing.

  4. Click Publish in Elementor to save the page.

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