Installed Movable Type v2.63 today. [Notice that the name of this application contains only one 'e' .. Movable vs Moveable .. but the site's URL will work both with and without the second 'e'] The software you see demonstrated here is touted as the best blogger, "hands down". Wonderfully configurable, it also comes with a nasty reputation for being difficult to install. I must admit: the install and config was rather complicated, but went without a hitch. The MT installation reminds me of the forum software Radified uses: YaBB [Yet another Bulletin Board]. Both use a Perl-based CGI script, so the concepts are similar. MT also makes use of MySQL database, which YaBB lacks. But I'm familiar with configuring MySQL from another Open Source forum package I installed: YaBB SE [to test its features and speed]. The MT user interface, which uses your web browser, looks like this. This chick showed me how to modify the template's code to darken the background [making it easier on my eyes]. I've been curious to see what programs such as MT offer, especially since I've been "blogging" for almost three years now .. before I even knew what the word meant. [The term 'blog' is a contraction of 'web log'. I just learned this today.] I've never used any of the other popular bloggers, such as Greymatter, Radio Userland, Blosxom, pMachine, b2, Nucleus or Blogger Pro .. so I have no point of reference to compare MT with. [See here or here for a list of more.] Which software you choose depends on the particular features supported/offered by your web hosting provider. I'd rather start with the best, even if it means a more complicated install. Because it's difficult to install, MT isn't for everyone. But they do offer to install the software for US$40. This is a bargain, trust me. Okay, 'nuf of this drivel. Let's click the "publish" button and see if this badboy works. Edit: Well, I'll be. It worked! To be honest, I expected to spend a few hours consulting the Troubleshooting file and groveling for help at the MT support forums. This tells me the installation instructions are better than the usual unintuitive crap you find out there. Kudos to who-ever wrote them. Moveable Type offers serveral different pre-configured styles. I choose this black-gray-blue CSS template because it most closely resembles the Radified home page. More elaborate designs can be found at places like the Glen Road Girls and blog styles. Helpful and clever config tips can be found at girlie matters. |
|
Test of 'Comments' function.
Posted by: Rad at May 14, 2003 01:32 AM