Blog Studio

Shopify's ability to format any sort of page is REALY bad. This makes it alot easier. There are somethings that could be improved-- for example, it would be really nice to be able to update sections and have it apply those changes to all the posts it's on-- but for the price, it's worth it. Also, the customer service is really helpful! I've had a couple of questions on how to add padding, etc. and they've jumped on our site and added code to work it out.

I debated between a lot of different blog apps, and many I eliminated right away because they effectively discouraged heavy use of the blogging functionality by putting "unlimited pages" behind a very expensive paywall. Others, were barely functional. Many were barely functional "AND" had an expensive paywall.
I chose Blog Studio because most importantly, it allowed me to create blog posts that looked similar to very popular sites like Wired.com. Success breeds clues right?
And it works! Of course I started out pretty mediocre in my ability to composite blog posts, but each post came out better than the last, by the third post, I really felt comfortable in being able to make a professional looking blog post like what "I" enjoy reading.
But I encountered a weird glitch, not sure where it came from, I couldn't see YouTube videos. I talked with support, and they actually went in and fixed my theme. My theme not from them (actually paid theme from the shopify store, Artisan). Wow!
I'm beyond impressed, not just because I got what I asked for, a great blog writing toolset to make me look more professional and hopefully expand my reading base, but because of what I didn't ask and didn't know i needed, a great team providing quick and responsive tech support going above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks Mandy, you and the rest of the blog studio team are the best!

So far, so good. I can insert blocks, and create very custom blog posts that look great on any device. However, the app suffers from the restriction of inserting its code into the theme's template. So, for example, if you want a full-width layout, and the theme's blog post template only has a 50% centered layout, you'll need custom CSS to get it to look the way you want it to look. But that is not a fault on this app. This app works as intended, so far. Just be aware of the limitations. I used flowzy's custom CSS plugin to add the additional CSS. I wish there were a way to easily add related products into blog posts. Right now, it's very hacky and not automated.