What is blog service good for?
blogs.helsinki.fi is a WordPress Multisite platform that lets University of Helsinki staff and students create websites quickly and easily.
It’s well suited for:
- Personal and research blogs
- Project and collaboration sites
- Course, workshop, or teaching pages
- Conference or event sites
The platform is simple to use, flexible, and free to experiment with, making it an easy way to get a website online fast.
What are the main limitations of blogs.helsinki.fi?
The blog service has some rules of conduct, which restrict using the platform for commercial, religious, or political content (with limited exceptions described in the Rules of Conduct).
From a technical standpoint, the main limitations are:
- Design options are limited to the available to University and default WordPress themes and their built‑in customizations.
- Blog addresses are tied to the blogs.helsinki.fi domain, which may not suit multi‑institution projects.
- Embedded content may not display properly if users decline cookies.
- Storage space is limited, so the service is not suitable for hosting large files or acting as a long‑term material repository.
How can I customize a theme for my blog?
You can browse and activate available themes in your blog’s dashboard under Appearance → Themes. Most themes allow customization and in some cases custom CSS. Most WordPress themes provide some level of customization.
New themes are generally not installed upon request due to security, maintenance, and lifecycle management considerations.
How can I add other users to my blog?
To give someone access to your blog, follow the steps in our user management guide. You can assign roles such as Author, Editor, or Administrator, depending on the level of access they need.
Please read this guide for detailed instructions.
Can I change the address of an existing blog?
Yes. You can request a blog address change by contacting blogs@helsinki.fi.
Blog addresses must be at least 9 characters long and contain only lowercase letters and hyphens (-).
Custom domains are not supported, so all blogs follow the format:
blogs.helsinki.fi/your-address/
Can I have this cool plugin called “XYZ” for my blog?
If you’d like us to consider a new plugin, you can suggest it by emailing blogs@helsinki.fi.
To be approved, a plugin must be actively maintained and support WordPress Multisite properly (e.g., offer separate network‑wide and per‑blog settings, avoid creating extra databases, and be free of ads or intrusive features).
You don’t need to evaluate these details yourself — we’ll review the plugin before deciding.
Is there a way to make my blog support multiple languages?
Yes. Your blog can support multiple languages using the WPML plugin, which provides comprehensive translation tools.
Because WPML has relatively extensive configuration options, it must be activated by the blogs.helsinki.fi – service administrators.
If you’d like WPML enabled for your blog, please email blogs@helsinki.fi.
How much disk space is available for my blog, and can it be increased?
Each blog has 1536 MB of total disk space, and the maximum size for a single file upload is 50 MB.
In special cases, disk space can be temporarily increased (for example, if your blog cannot be updated because it has run out of space). If you encounter this situation, please contact blogs@helsinki.fi.
Remember that you can also host files in other services—such as the University of Helsinki OneDrive—and simply link to them from your blog. Videos can be embedded via Unitube or YouTube (Embeds may require an additional plugin).
How can I enable or disable comments for a single page or post?
To change comment settings for an individual page or post:
- Click Update to save the change.
- Go to your blog’s Dashboard.
- Open Pages or Posts.
- Click Quick Edit under the title of the page or post.
- Check or uncheck Allow comments.
How can I manage search engine visibility and indexing of my blog?
You can control whether search engines index your blog from the Dashboard under Settings → Reading. There you’ll find the Search engine visibility option: “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
- If you want search engines to list your site, leave this box unchecked.
- If you want to limit visibility, check the box.
By default, search engine indexing is not discouraged (the box is unchecked) for sites requested through the form.
Beyond this setting, overall search engine visibility depends on general SEO factors such as external links pointing to your blog and using clear, descriptive titles and keywords in your content.
I’m getting a lot of spam in my blog comments. How can I prevent this?
You can reduce comment spam in several ways:
- Adjust Zero Spam settings. Advanced options are available under Settings → Zero Spam in your dashboard.
- Close comments on older posts/pages. This helps prevent spam on outdated content.
- Disable comments entirely. Useful if you don’t need comment interaction at all.
If you are receiving thousands of spam comments, please email blogs@helsinki.fi.
We can remove large batches of spam directly from the database, but we cannot separate genuine comments from spam due to the amount of manual work this would require.
I need access to a blog that I don’t currently manage, can someone grant me permissions?
Unfortunately, we cannot grant administrative rights to a blog unless the request comes directly from an existing administrator of that blog. We do not maintain separate ownership records beyond the current list of administrators, so we cannot verify authority through other means.
We also cannot share the names or email addresses of current or previous administrators. However, we can contact the current administrators on your behalf and ask them to confirm whether your request can be approved.
If you need help with this process, please email blogs@helsinki.fi.
I am leaving the University of Helsinki — what will happen to my blog?
Access to blogs.helsinki.fi requires an active University of Helsinki user account. Once your account expires, you will no longer be able to log in.
- Blogs requested through the form
Blogs requested through the form are not deleted automatically, but you will lose access when your account expires. If the blog should remain active, make sure to assign administrative rights to another user before you leave. - Personal blogs (service discontinued on 24 August 2026)
Previously available personal blogs linked to an individual University of Helsinki user account are automatically deleted approximately 1.5 years after the account has been disabled.
You can also export a backup of your blog at any time via Dashboard → Tools → Export.