1 | Tip: read this document in ZMI/Products/SimpleBlog/README or in another stx aware reader. |
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2 | |
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3 | What is SimpleBlog? |
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4 | |
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5 | SimpleBlog is an easy to use Plone based weblog application. It has no fancy blogger-api/backlink |
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6 | stuff etc. because most of them just s.ck. but it does supports categories. Writing entries is done from inside Plone. |
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7 | |
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8 | SimpleBlog comes with three new portal types: Blog, BlogFolder and BlogEntry: |
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9 | |
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10 | Blog -- Folderish object that is the container for the BlogEntries and the front-page of the weblog. |
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11 | |
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12 | BlogEntry -- Entry object inside the weblog. |
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13 | |
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14 | BlogFolder -- Folder that can only exist inside the Blog container. The folder allows you to organize the BlogEntries in any way you like. |
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15 | |
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16 | Getting started |
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17 | |
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18 | After you have set the permissions correctly in ZMI (see install.txt) you can go to any folder that you have |
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19 | permissions for and add a Blog from any of the dropdown lists. You will be given a form where you can |
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20 | provide the necessary information to create a new Blog: |
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21 | |
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22 | * **Short Name**, **Title**, **Description** will speak for themselves. |
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23 | |
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24 | * **BlogEntries to display** defines how many items should be visible on the Blog's front-page. |
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25 | |
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26 | * **Possible Categories** is a list of categories that can be used inside |
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27 | BlogEntries (one category per line). More about categories later. |
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28 | |
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29 | After you have created the Blog, you can adjust its Display settings from the Display menu in Plone. Currently |
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30 | there are 3 different display settings. Besides these settings, there is also a stylesheet in product's skin |
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31 | that you can customize at will. |
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32 | |
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33 | After you have created the Blog, you can start creating BlogEntries. |
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34 | Choose BlogEntry from the Add items list and fill in the form: |
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35 | |
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36 | * **Short Name**, **Title**, **Description**, **Body** will speak for themselves. **Note** when you |
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37 | use the Upload a file field, be aware that it will replace the current content!! |
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38 | |
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39 | * **Cross-post in** here you can pick another blog in the portal where this entry will also |
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40 | be shown. |
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41 | |
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42 | * **Always on top** Controls if the Entry, when published is always shown first. This can be |
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43 | handy for announcements etc. |
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44 | |
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45 | * **Categories** Select one or more categories from the list to classify |
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46 | the BlogEntry. |
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47 | |
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48 | * **Related items** point to other content in your portal to indicate them as related. |
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49 | |
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50 | * **Allow Discussion on this item** control whether people can comment on this entry. |
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51 | |
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52 | |
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53 | After the BlogEntry is saved, it will be in the 'draft' workflow state and is only visible by the owner and the manager (by default). |
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54 | So, in order to make it appear on the Blog's front-page, it must be set in the 'published' state. The Blog will search and |
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55 | display the BlogEntries that have this state (this state is defined in the simpleblog_tool in ZMI and in the configlet in |
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56 | Plone setup). When putting the BlogEntry in the published state, you can also choose |
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57 | to give it an effective date somewhere in the future. SimpleBlog uses the standard way of publishing content. |
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58 | |
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59 | Inside the Blog you can create BlogFolders. These are a bit similar to the Blog itself in that it has roughly the |
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60 | same view but this time it only shows the Entries that are stored inside the BlogFolder (and subfolders). BlogFolders are there |
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61 | for your convenience, to organize or archive Entries in any way you want and to have additional categories (see below). |
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62 | |
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63 | Categories |
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64 | |
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65 | SimpleBlog can use categories to classify BlogEntries. When you edit and configure |
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66 | the Blog object, you can provide it with a list of categories that will |
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67 | present itself as a multi-selection list when you edit/create a BlogEntry. |
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68 | Next to that, BlogFolders can define additional categories. |
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69 | In BlogEntries created inside the BlogFolder, a selection can be made out of the categories |
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70 | defined in the Blog *and*, additionally, out of the ones defined by the BlogFolder(s) it sits in. All the |
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71 | categories will add up. This feature can be useful when the Blog is |
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72 | maintained by several authors. You can then incorporate some policy that certain Entries must be |
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73 | created in specific BlogFolders because of the additional categories. Categories you can later search for but you |
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74 | don't want exposed to all the other authors. |
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75 | |
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76 | Next to categories defined by the Blog object and the BlogFolders, you can also define a |
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77 | set of global categories. These categories are available to all the BlogEntries created in the portal. |
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78 | Defining these global categories can be done in ZMI in the simpleblog_tool or in the Plone setup. |
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79 | |
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80 | BlogEntries can be searched for in the Catalog and in Topics using categories. Use the EntryCategory index. |
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81 | |
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82 | Portlets |
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83 | |
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84 | SimpleBlog comes with 3 different portlets. One portlet (/here/portlet_simpleblog/macros/portlet) |
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85 | shows a calendar, recent additions and categories. Another portlet (/here/portlet_simpleblog/macros/portlet-recent) |
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86 | only shows the recent items and the last one ((/here/portlet_simpleblog/macros/portlet-comments), shows the |
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87 | most recent comments in the blog. The first two portlets can also be used outside the context of a blog. |
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88 | In that situation it will gather all the entries from all the blogs in all the subfolders, starting from |
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89 | the location of where this portlet is viewed. |
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90 | |
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91 | Configuring SimpleBlog |
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92 | |
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93 | SimpleBlog allows you to control a few things in its behavior. In ZMI you can alter a few properties in |
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94 | the simpleblog_tool or, when you use Plone 2.0, you can go to Plone setup and go to the SimpleBlog control |
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95 | panel. The following properties can be set: |
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96 | |
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97 | * **publishedState**: the name of the workflow state that indicates when the BlogEntry is |
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98 | published. Usually this will be set to 'published' but if your state is called differently in your workflow, then |
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99 | you can change it here. This state is used when SimpleBlog searches for |
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100 | BlogEntries that can be displayed on the front-page. So, if no Entries show up, |
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101 | check the workflow state of the BlogEntry and check if this property is correct. And check if the BlogEntries |
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102 | themselves have the proper state and make sure the user has the proper permissions to view the entries even |
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103 | when they are in the published state. (If entries still don't show up and you're sure you've checked everything, |
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104 | contact me). |
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105 | |
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106 | * **maxItemsInPortlet**: Tells how many BlogEntries are shown inside the portlets when SimpleBlog |
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107 | displays the most recent BlogEntries. |
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108 | |
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109 | * **globalCategories**: Lists the categories that are globally available in all BlogEntries in the portal. |
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110 | |
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111 | * **createPortletOnBlogCreation **: By default, when you create a new Blog, SimpleBlog will create the portletBlogFull_local |
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112 | portlet. You can turn this feature off by un-checking this option. |
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113 | |
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114 | **Note**: In the SimpleBlog control panel inside Plone setup, these variables are called a bit differently but the explanations |
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115 | will be sufficient. |
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116 | |
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117 | Using SimpleBlog as your homepage in Plone |
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118 | |
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119 | Inside the skin folder there is a template called **simpleblog_standalone**. First get rid of the current index_html |
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120 | in your portal root by deleting it or renaming it. Then create a new Page template in the root and call it index_html. |
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121 | Then copy/paste the code from simpleblog_standalone in there and adjust it at will. All this is done in ZMI. |
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122 | |
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123 | Well, that's all you have to know to set up SimpleBlog. Enjoy it. |
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124 | |
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125 | Danny Bloemendaal (danny.bloemendaal@companion.nl) |
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126 | |
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127 | PS: I'd like to thank everybody in #plone and everybody who sent me their suggestions for |
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128 | modifications and additions. |
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