Blog Module

The Blog Module is a simple one-page form that assists in creating blogs within an EditMe site. The module itself doesn't implement any special blog functionality - it simply assembles features already available. The module shows how to combine these features to serve as a blog, and the pages it creates can be customized as needed. Using the form, multiple blogs are possible within a single EditMe site.

See the video tutorial for this module!

Version History

Form Field Descriptions

• Page Name - enter a page name without spaces and containing only letters numbers and hyphens. This will be the name of the blog's front page, and the name will be used as the prefix for three additional pages created when the form is submitted - these are listed below.
• Display Title - enter a title for the blog. You can include any text needed here. You change this value after the blog is created by editing the front page and changing its title.
• Front Page - these options will control how the _PagesByDate include is configured in the front page. You can change the _PagesByDate include after the blog is created by editing the front page. See the include script documentation for help.
• Security - this security will be applied to the pages created when the form is submitted. It will be applied to the front page and all pages created using the blog template. See Page Security Settings for help with these options.

Pages Created

When submitted, the form will create the following four pages. For the purpose of example, page names are given as if "MyBlog" was entered into the Page Name field.

1. A front page named MyBlog - this will list blog the current and/or most recent blog entries and will be added to the site's menu navigation.
2. An archive page named MyBlogArchive - this will provide navigation to all posts to the blog over time and will be available underneath the front page in the menu navigation.
3. A template page named MyBlogTemplate - a starting point for new blog post pages. It will be listed in the available Templates on the New Page screen and can be customized as needed.
4. A hidden parent page named MyBlogParent - acts as a "category page" for all blog posts. The template page automatically assigns this page as a parent to all new posts.

All of these pages contain simple include script tags that can be customized as needed. No editing of JavaScript code is required to customize the pages created by this module.

Potential Warnings

Site administrators may see one of two possible "important notes" displayed above the Create Blog form installed by this module:

1. Missing Styles - This simply indicates that the EditMe Skins have been updated with some additional CSS styles that provide formatting for script includes employed by the blog pages. Re-applying your site's Skin will add these styles to your site. Everything will still work if you do not do this, but may not look quite as intended. You may have to do a hard-refresh in your browser (Ctrl+F5) after re-applying your skin to see the affect. You can re-apply your site's skin before or after creating blogs with this module - it will have the same affect either way. If you have customized your layout or stylesheet and do not want to re-apply your site's skin, simply paste this code into the bottom of your current style sheet.
2. Missing Tree Menu - This indicates that your site does not have _TreeNav included in the menu page. All sites created after Oct 27, 2008 include this by defualt. If your site was created before that date, follow the instructions to add the _TreeNav script to your site's Menu page. While it's not required, doing so will provide links to the Front Page and Archive page created for each blog. If you choose not to use the _TreeNav menu, you'll need to provide links to these pages yourself for visitors to find them.