AW Blog is a Magento extension from aheadWorks that is reckoned among the best buzz and word of mouth marketing tips. It not only provides your regular customers with up-to-date information but brings additional visitors to your site, builds relevant SEO-friendly text links, and serves as assistance in building sales strategy.

The Blog extension gives you a noteworthy opportunity to communicate with your regular customers and casual visitors. With Blog you can create an interactive two-way communication platform to provide official information on your store news, upcoming products, promotions, and get customers’ feedback.

Plugin is available from

http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/aheadworks/extension/1516/blog-extension-by-aheadworks

Display blog posts to CMS pages :

Step 1

In /public_html/app/design/frontend/default/default/template/aw_blog/
Add new Phtml file Ex. blog-homepage.phtml
and Copy and Past this code in blog-homepage.phtml

Code :

<?php
$posts = Mage::getModel(‘blog/blog’)
->getCollection()
->addPresentFilter()
->addStoreFilter(Mage::app()->getStore()->getId())
->addFieldToFilter(‘status’, 1)
->setOrder(‘created_time ‘, ‘desc’)
->setPageSize(3);
if(count($posts)):
?>
<h3><?php echo $this->__(‘BLOG – Latest Posts’);?></h3>
<ul>
<?php foreach ($posts as $post): ?>
<li>
<a href=”<?php echo $post->getAddress(); ?>”><?php echo $post->getTitle(); ?></a>
(<?php echo $this->formatDate($post->getCreatedTime(), Mage::getStoreConfig(‘blog/blog/dateformat’), true); ?>)
</li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
<div id=”messages_product_view”></div>
<?php endif;?>

You can change blog post limit Change in ->setPageSize(3) set your size

Step 2

Now call blog-homepage.phtml in cms page
Open your cms page -> Edit page -> Click Content tab
And add this

{{block type=”core/template” name=”homepage.blog” template=”aw_blog/blog-homepage.phtml”}}

And Also call in another phtml file
Ex. Open any Phtml file and write this line

<?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock(‘core/template’)->setTemplate(‘aw_blog/blog-homepage.phtml’)->toHtml(); ?>

Enjoy 🙂