Posted by Radoslav Bogdanovic - 2009/11/30 - Joomla
Just after fixing some of the limitations in the metaWeblog XML-RPC plugin I did find that there is another plugin for Joomla which actually fixes all the limitations that I had before with metaWeblog XML-RPC plugin. This plugin is provided by joomler.net in Japan. It is strange how I could miss that from the beginning when I was searching for plugins which would allow me to use Windows Live Writer as blog editor with Joomla. Anyway this plugin is on version 2.3.3 and as this version number suggests without any of the limitations that the metaWeblog plugin had. This plugin is also available from the Joomla extension directory
Here is a brief installation guide
- Download MovableType XML-RPC plugin and install via "Extensions->Install/Uninstall"
- Turn on and configure the plugin parameters under "Extensions->Plugin Manager" (and turn off other XML-RPC plugins)
- Enable "Web Services" under "Global Configuration->System"
- In your blog editor you need to add /xmlrpc/index.php to the end of URL for your homepage. If your homepage URL is http://www.homepage.com then the URL to use here is http://www.homepage.com/xmlrpc/index.php. If your blog editor cannot find or determine the type automatically then you would be offered to choose. Select Movable Type API
Here is another link to Using Windows Live Writer with Joomla
Note: I did have have some issues with installation of this plugin. When I tried to install the plugin using "Extensions->Install/Uninstall" It would give me an error which said someting that it could not find installation xml file or similar. I really don't know what I did it but it suddenly worked. I have seen other blog posts where they have tried to install this plugin and given up in favor of the metaWeblog plugin where it just worked. Another explanation is that there are many blog posts which show how to install the metaWeblog plugin but only a few on the MovableType plugin. Also what's confusing is that the joomler.net site is in japanese and no installation instructions in english is given from the plugin developer.
Posted by Radoslav Bogdanovic - 2009/11/15 - General
Lately I have been thinking about what to do with my registered domains
which all obviously are named as my last name. My first intention was to involve my family and create a family website where every family member would have it’s own page and even a blog. Actually I had a website up and running which was totally empty. Unfortunately the other family members was not that interested in having their own pages and being exposed on the web. They prefer to do that themselves on Facebook which perhaps is understandable as it is more suitable for social networking.
I have over the years also thought about to start to blog but found that I did not have that much to say. Either the things that I wanted to publish would require some effort to be described in that detail that I wanted it to be. I would then halfway lose track of what I wanted to say. Also being the technical “geek” that I am I would spend a lot of time on the technical details such as choosing the correct platform for my site, templates etc. But never complete the site before losing the inspiration to write. It has always been technology before content for me.
Actually it is the same this time. My initial intent was to use Joomla as the blog platform as it is full blown CMS that could be used to more than blogging. Joomla has a lot of cool templates with a lot of effects and I have used it in some websites. I have previously only tried to use WordPress for some technical blogs (idmproffs.se, jcapsproffs.com and blog.cortego.net) and was really satisfied with how easy it was to maintain and it also have good blog editor support in my iPhone. When it comes to Joomla then it does not have native support for blogging, comments, tagging. Yes, it can be done by adding plug-ins but it is not there from the start. Then also if one want to use a remote blog editor. Yes, one can fix that. But the support for posting to multiple categories is not there and so on, and on.
Finally this weekend I found the Thesis theme from DIYthemes.com and decided that it was the way forward. This theme has a lot customization options which could be useful in the future. I really like that it is more of a framework which then can be extended and supported for a long time. My aim is to start to use Thesis theme in its basic layout and allow the site to grow with new features and look over time. Hopefully one day I will finally be satisfied with looks & feel of the site. In the mean-time I can start to blog and post some content. It should be content before technology, at least for now.
My native language is Swedish but I will nevertheless try to blog in English.
