8. Blogs

Journals have undergone a complete facelift and are now known as Blogs. On the main blog page, you can view a list of the most recent entries in the bottom left corner in addition to random blogs and comments. Most aspects of blogging are simple and self-explanatory, so I'll only cover how to post a new entry and manage your blog settings.

Posting a New Blog



You'll be taken to a page with the same kind of text box as when you're making new posts or PMs. There you can type your new entry and give it a title. You're also given a number of additional options found below the textbox that can alter your blog post.

• Blog Categories: You can choose which category to place this blog into. Until you make your own custom categories in your Blog Settings, all of your blog entries will be in Uncategorized.

• Options: Lets you choose whether or not you want to allow comments, moderate comments (you then can individually allow/disallow which posts you want to be public), or enable trackbacks.

• Miscellaneous Options: You can choose to save the blog as a draft so you can post it later, chose a date when it will automatically post, or publish now to have the blog be visible immediately. You also have traditional options of disabling smilies and shrinking URLs.

• Blog Entry Subscription: Just like thread subscriptions you can choose to subscribe to your own blog without being emailed (choose "No email notification") or be emailed instantly when you receive comments.

• Attach Files: You can attach an image or file to your blog that can be downloaded by visitors.

Blog Settings



You can access the Blog Control Panel by either clicking the "Blog Settings" button on the main blog page or clicking "Blog Control Panel" found under the options menu on any other blog-related page. This area lets you adjust the basic default settings for your blog and allows you to change your blog's title, description, and customized categories.
[imgleft]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v87/Ferra/Mene/BlogControlPanel.png[/imgleft]

• Blog Title and Description: You can enter the title of your blog and a description of its contents. The title will be visible in the menu bar of your browser, while the description will sit directly above your list of entries and each individual blog entry.

• Blog Options: The first page that will appear when you click "Blog Settings". Here you can select the default options that will be selected for all of your blog entries. However, you can alter the settings on individual blogs. If you have a blog via Wordpress, you can use your API key to benefit from their anti-spam service. You can also choose if your blog is open to only friends or everyone, including the option to block users you've ignored.

• Blog Categories: You have the option to make custom categories that can be assigned to your blogs entries for better organization and easy reference. You can also add subcategories and change the display order of your categories at any time by altering their number value.