The main activity in MyBlogs
is actually editing a blog. Here's some of the features available
when you edit your blog...
Editor
The editor allows you to enter new blog entries. These
consist of a title, a plain text or HTML entry and an optional
summary.
When an entry is submitted it is automatically converted into XHTML
markup - this happens whether it is plain-text or
already formatted as HTML. If no summary is provided an automatic
plain-text summary is generated from the submission - this is then
used as the entry text in the RSS feed of the blog.
Adding or re-editing an entry does not mean that an entry has been
published in the blog. A submission can be updated and modified as
often as you like. Once you have an entry how you want it you (or
an editor) can hit "publish" which publishes the entry in the blog
- if at some point you want to withdraw publication you can simply
"withdraw publication" - the entry is still visible in the editor
but it is no long shown in the blog. Every entry in the editor has
an indicator showing if it is currently awaiting publication.
Resources
Any type of file can be uploaded to a blog and served as a
resource. Typical resources are images but equally they could be
downloadable files, or a new blog XSLT or CSS stylesheet. The
resource manager allows resources to be uploaded and shows the
current set of resources...
Styling of a blog is performed by two types of style
technology.
An XSLT stylesheet performs basic layout and linking for the
blog.
A CSS, is generally used to perform graphical design styling.
Blogxter allows multiple XSL and CSS styles to be uploaded for a
blog. Styles may be applied either in preview mode - in which case
a special view shows how the blog will look with the given XSLT,
CSS combination. When you're happy with your look you can apply the
styles to the published blog. All changes to the blog happen
dynamically and immediately.
Default XSLT and CSS styles are provided as a basis for you to
create your own look and feel.
Images
Images can be included in a page simply by adding an <img
.../> tag and using a special reference (called an XRL
reference) to the blog resource - instructions on how to do this
are provided in the editor help page.
Spellcheck
Making spelling mistakes is common with blog publishing. Blogxter
has a wysiwyg spellchecker.
The spellchecker shows a true HTML view of your blog entry -
misspelled words are replaced by a drop-down selection of
alternative spelling suggestions. Simply select the correct
spelling and click "Update Spellings".
Polls
Any blog entry can have one or more polls associated with it. New
polls are added with the poll editor...
A poll consists of a single question and as many multiple choice
answers as you like. Once an entry with a poll is published readers
may vote and view a bar chart of the poll results. Through the
editor page an author may view detailed statistics for a
poll.
Trackback Client
From the editor an author can post trackback ping to another blog.
The trackback client will either read the remote blog to locate the
hidden trackback URL in the page or you can provide the URL
directly.
Comment/Trackback Approval
A blog may set the level to at which it accepts comments and/or
trackbacks. This may be off, approved or on. If using the approved
mode, comments and trackbacks will only be published on a blog when
they have been vetted by a blog editor. The "approve" button
provide a view of the currently pending comments and
trackbacks.
