source: products/SimpleBlog/trunk/docs/readme.txt

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