The Market Toolkit will build a default blog for you when you set up your account. However, it allows for very flexible blog formats. This page addresses advanced blog formatting concepts.
When it comes to blog design we have opted for significant flexibility. You can break up a blog template to move, change, or relocate the modules and elements. For example, you can put blog tags on a home page. Or you can put the archive list on a non-blog template. You can reformat how posts are displayed (i.e. date before or after the title, etc).
Steps to set up a fully custom blog are listed below.
A template is used to design a theme or layout to wrap a page or blog. You can set up a variety of templates if needed. Often, a blog has a very specific format and it may differ from the main portion of a related website. Blog elements can be placed anywhere within a template so you can get just the layout you want.
A post template is assigned to a blog in the Manage Sites screen. Select which template to render for your blog and for posts.
A post list is a list of the most recent blog posts. In the Toolkit you can take these modules and place them anywhere and limit the number of posts as well as the amount of content to show for each in the list. For example, you may want a small post list within a web page. Or, you may want a unique list of posts on the home page of a site.
Set up post lists in the Manage KMod screen. Alter the settings and choose a blog_post KMod to format your posts.
A blog_post KMod allows you to format all of the blog elements (i.e. dates, titles, tags, content, etc). You can reorder them, wrap them in HTML, etc.
Set up a blog_post KMod in the Manage KMods screen. Add the elements you want with the appropriate HTML and all posts will use that format.
Building a blog from scratch can allow you to build it any way you want. The Toolkit allows you to build nearly any design and format. For those who may want an easier route, the default blog settings may be styled with CSS and it's very easy to set up.