What Is Archive on Tumblr?

If you've blogged on Tumblr for a while, you've probably amassed quite a collection of blog posts. When you add "/archive" to the end of any URL, you'll go straight to the archive of that blog, displayed in easy-to-browse thumbnails. The Tumblr archive is simply a page of past posts in thumbnail format that allow you to quickly find past blogs by a particular member.

Tumblr combines the underlying concept of blogging with social media, letting participants engage in something known as microblogging. Tumblr blogs give creatives the opportunity to share everything from photos to memes to snippets of text. Although Tumblr posts do show up in searches, if you go directly to a person's Tumblr, the most recent posts will display.

Older posts may not be on the main page, but that doesn't mean they're gone. You can navigate back to them one page at a time, but that can be exhausting unless you plan to read every one. The archive feature condenses all past posts to one long page, where you can see at a glance what was posted month by month and choose what you want to expand.

At first glance, it can be difficult to see how you would get to the archive. Some Tumblr blogs have an archive link or button that you can merely click to take you there. Many others don't have that feature. Fortunately, there's an easy way to get to a user's archive page that isn't immediately apparent when you're casually browsing the site.

To go to a member's Tumblr archive, you'll simply add "/archive" to the end of any Tumblr URL. So, if you wanted to see the archive of NASA's Tumblr, you would use the URL nasa.tumblr.com/archive. The page autoloads as you scroll down to display posts for each month. Simply click on one to view it.

The good news is, you can easily add an archive link on your own blog without having to know how to code. To add an archive link, log into your Tumblr account and select Customize to adjust your current theme. Select "Add a Page" on the left, type "Archive" at the end of the URL and type something in the body of the page. This text won't display, so it doesn't have to be anything official.

To make this page show on your Tumblr blogs, you'll click "Show a Link to This Page." You'll need to type the word "Archive" in the "Text to Display" box, then save and exit. Your link will show up in the navigation area for the page.

The theme you choose for your blog should include a button that users can click to follow your blog. If you find your Tumblr follow button missing, though, there are a couple of easy fixes. The simplest is to use one of the buttons available online, then copy and paste the code for it into your page's HTML in the area you want your button to go. Tumblr offers some buttons here: tumblr.com/buttons.

If you find the Tumblr follow button missing on a blog you want to follow, there's an easy fix for that, as well. Once logged into your account, go to "Account" and "Following." There, you'll input the username or email address of the Tumblr user you would like to follow in the field at the top, then click "Follow" next to it. That user will now be part of your Following list.