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Blog StudioTM FAQ
General Overview
What is Blog Studio?
Why use Blog Studio?
What are some sample applications of Blog Studio?
Do I need cookies?
Do you put advertisements on the free blogs?
Getting Started
How do I create a Blog?
How do I upload images and files?
How do I add a link to a file?
Templates
How big can the Template Text be?
How is Content Preserved?
Can I use Blogger templates?
What Blogger template tags are supported?
What Blog Studio template tags are supported?
Archives
How do I get Archives to work?
How do I get the Archive Link to show up on my blog?
Search
Can I edit and delete messages in search results?
PostThis!
What is PostThis! ?
Why does my PostThis! window not open up?
Comments
How does the Comments feature work?
Statistics
What are Statistics?
How are Statistics collected?
What Statistics settings are there?
What Statistics reports are available?
Users
How do I add users?
RSS
How do I use RSS?
Blog Mirroring
How do I configure Blog Mirroring?
Technologies
What Technologies does Blog Studio use?
How can I view my blog on a cell phone?
Tickers
Site-wide Blog Ticker for All Blogs
Individual Blog Ticker for Pro Blogs
General Overview
What is Blog Studio?
Blog Studio is a simple, reliable, inexpensive Blog Service built on Software Services.
Blogs can reside with Blog Studio or your own site.
Why Use Blog Studio?
It's simple, reliable, inexpensive, includes storage space, and it will be joined by Blog Studio STP,
which adds Straight Through PublishingTM. This allows you to publish from your computer
straight through to your web site without a third party blog publishing service that can slow you down or
shut you out. And since you run the publishing engine, you don't have to share it with anyone else and you
keep your content on your computer. Of course you still have the freedom to use Blog Studio at
http://www.blogstudio.com:80/ to author and publish your blog if you need to.
Now that's reliability and scalability!
What are some sample applications of Blog Studio?
Business
Team Collaboration
Project Logs
Feedback Pages
Suggestion Boxes
System Status Logs
Personal
News Journal
Commentaries
Family Journal
Diaries
Photos
Poetry
Short Stories
Short Conversations (or how to avoid email tag)
Do I need cookies?
No! Cookies are not required. Blog Studio was designed to work on any browser
and any device without sacrificing your privacy or security. However, the PostThis! feature is faster with a cookie since you do not have to login first.
Do you put advertisements on the free blogs?
No, and we have no plans to. If this changes, we will provide a premium service that does not have advertisements.
Getting Started
How do I create a Blog?
Enter a User Name and Password in the 'Sign Up' section of the Blog Studio home page and
click the 'Sign Up' button. For more detail on signing up, go to Getting Started.
How do I upload images and files?
You can upload files to your Blog Studio or Blog Studio Pro "Blog and File Directory".
Here is how to upload files:
- Log into Blog Studio
- Click on the "files" link at the top of the page
- Scroll down to the "upload a file" section
- Click on the "Choose" button (the button adjacent to the text field labeled "File:")
- Select a file from the list of files on your computer and hit the "ok" or "open" button
- Click on the "Upload File" button
- The newly uploaded file will appear in the list of "Current Files" above this section when the page refreshes
If you want to add a link to this file in your blog, you can add an HTML anchor tag referencing it.
HTML anchor tags are what creates the text and image links you click on in web browsers and have the form:
<a href="http://www.blogstudio.com:80/yourblogandfiledirectory/filename">clicktext</a>
Blog Studio members can use up to 100KB of space, while Blog Studio Pro members get 10MB of space.
How do I add a link to a file?
If you want to add a link to a file in your blog, you can add an HTML anchor tag referencing the file in a message, template text,
or permanent content area (Left Column, Right Column, Banner and Footer). HTML anchor tags are what creates the text and image links
that you click on in web browsers. For example, if you want to add a link to a file in your Blog Studio "Blog and File Directory", the anchor tag has the form:
<a href="http://www.blogstudio.com:80/yourblogandfiledirectory/filename">clicktext</a>
You have to fill in your "Blog and File Directory", the file name and the click text. Just type this into a message (or other
area described above) that you want the link in. Then post or save it and then publish.
Be careful to add the final </a> at the end!
Templates
How big can the Template Text be?
The Template Text can be up to about 40KB in size. But you should never get close to this
if you place your permanent content in the permanent content areas (see below). This reduces the size of the Template Text while allowing you to switch
templates and preserve the content in the permanent content areas.
How is Content Preserved?
There are four content areas: Left Column, Right Column, Banner and Footer.
The HTML content in each of these areas is saved and remains, even after you switch to a new template. This saves an enormous amount of time
and effort while preventing the inadvertent loss of content.
Can I use Blogger templates?
Yes. Please let us know of any Blogger tags that do not work for you.
What Blogger template tags are supported?
The following Blogger and Blogger-like tags are supported.
Please let us now if there are others that you need.
General
- <$BlogTitle$> - Blog Title
- <$BlogDescription$> - Blog Description
- <$BlogArchiveFileName$> - Archive File Name
- <$BlogID$> - Unique Blog Identifier
- <$BlogURL$> - Blog URL
Blog Posts Area
- <$BlogItemBody$> - Blog Posts Area
- <$BlogDateHeaderDate$> - Date Header for the current post
- <$BlogItemNumber$> - Unique identifier for the current post
- <$BlogItemAuthor$> - Author of the current post
- <$BlogItemDateTime$> - Date and time for the current post
- <$BlogItemArchiveFileName$> - Unused currently
- <$BlogItemLink$> - Permanent URL for the current post
- <$BlogItemAnchor$> - Permanent Link for the current post
(Not implemented in Blogger)
- <$BlogCommentLink$> - Comment link for the current post
(Not implemented in Blogger)
- <$BlogItemSubject$> - Message Title
- <$BlogItemCategory$> - Message Category
(Not implemented in Blogger)
- <$BlogItemDescription$> - Message Description culled from text
(Not implemented in Blogger)
- <$BlogItemActions$> - Don't want timestamps? Use this.
Replacement for <$BlogItemDateTime$>
often used with <$BlogItemAnchor$>.
(Not implemented in Blogger)
What Blog Studio template tags are supported?
General
- <$SlogSiteWideTicker$> (new)- Ticker of Blog Studio post headlines
- <$SlogIndividualTicker$> (new)- Ticker of individual pro blog post headlines
- <$SlogHAd$> (new) - Horizontal ad tag alternative for free blogs
- <$SlogVAd$> (new) - Vertical ad tag alternative for free blogs
- <$SlogStats$> - Collects Statistics for blog and archives
- <$SlogArchiveSearch$> - Archive Search link
- <$SlogArchiveLink$> - Link to your main archive page
- <$SlogArchiveLinks$> - A list of all archive page links
- <$SlogAddSubscriber$> - Adds Subscribe and UnSubscribe links
- <$SlogScripts$> - Scripts generated by Blog Studio are
placed here (eg., for comments). Must
reside in the <HEAD> section.
- <$SlogRSSLink$> - XML image link to your RSS file
- <$SlogSubject$> - Unused currently
- <$SlogFont$> - Font for the blog page
- <$SlogGraphicName$> - Image URL placed in the banner section
of many Blog Studio templates.
Permanent Content Areas
- <$SlogLeftContent$> - Left Column Permanent Content area
- <$SlogRightContent$> - Right Column Permanent Content area
- <$SlogTopContent$> - Top or Banner Permanent Content area
- <$SlogBottomContent$> - Bottom or Footer Permanent Content area
Page Colors
- <$SlogTextColor$> - Text Color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogBgColor$> - Background color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogLinkColor$> - Link Color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogALinkColor$> - Active Link Color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogVLinkColor$> - Visited Link Color for the Blog Page
Blog Colors
- <$SlogBlogTextColor$> - Text Color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogBlogBgColor$> - Background color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogBlogLinkColor$> - Link Color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogBlogALinkColor$> - Active Link Color for the Blog Page
- <$SlogBlogVLinkColor$> - Visited Link Color for the Blog Page
Left Column Colors
- <$SlogLeftTextColor$> - Text Color for the Left Column Area
- <$SlogLeftBgColor$> - Background color for the Left Column Area
- <$SlogLeftLinkColor$> - Link Color for the Left Column Area
- <$SlogLeftALinkColor$> - Active Link Color for the Left Column Area
- <$SlogLeftVLinkColor$> - Visited Link Color for the Left Column Area
Right Column Colors
- <$SlogRightTextColor$> - Text Color for the Right Column Area
- <$SlogRightBgColor$> - Background color for the Right Column Area
- <$SlogRightLinkColor$> - Link Color for the Right Column Area
- <$SlogRightALinkColor$> - Active Link Color for the Right Column Area
- <$SlogRightVLinkColor$> - Visited Link Color for the Right Column Area
Banner Colors
- <$SlogTopTextColor$> - Text Color for the Banner Area
- <$SlogTopBgColor$> - Background color for the Banner Area
- <$SlogTopLinkColor$> - Link Color for the Banner Area
- <$SlogTopALinkColor$> - Active Link Color for the Banner Area
- <$SlogTopVLinkColor$> - Visited Link Color for the Banner Area
Footer Colors
- <$SlogBottomTextColor$> - Text Color for the Footer Area
- <$SlogBottomBgColor$> - Background color for the Footer Area
- <$SlogBottomLinkColor$> - Link Color for the Footer Area
- <$SlogBottomALinkColor$> - Active Link Color for the Footer Area
- <$SlogBottomVLinkColor$> - Visited Link Color for the Footer Area
Archives
How do I get Archives to work?
Here are the steps to getting archives running:
0. Log in
1. Go to the "settings" page.
2. Enter the name for your Archive Filename and select an Archive Period.
3. Click on the "Finish" button.
4. Go to the "blogs" page, select your blog, and click the "Generate Archives" button.
5. Go to the "templates" page and place one or both of the following tags in a Content area or the Template Text.
<$SlogArchiveLink$> - expands into the HTML anchor for your main archive page, like:
<a href="http://www.blogstudio.com:80/yourdirectory/archive.html">Archives</a>
<$SlogArchiveLinks$> - expands into the HTML anchors for all archive pages, like:
<a href="http://www.blogstudio.com:80/yourdirectory/xxx1_archive.html">xxx1</a>
<BR>
<a href="http://www.blogstudio.com:80/yourdirectory/xxx2_archive.html">xxx2</a>
<BR> 6. Publish your blog.
How do I get the Archive Link to show up on my blog?
You will want to use are the Main Archive tag <$SlogArchiveLink$> and the Archive Links tag <$SlogArchiveLinks$>.
<$SlogArchiveLink$> expands into the "Archives" link (<a href="...">Archives</a>) to the main archive page.
<$SlogArchiveLinks$> expands into the list of links to all of the blog's archive pages like this:
<a href="2002_09_22_to_xxx.html">2002_09_22_to_xxx</a><BR>
<a href="2002_09_29_to_xxx.html">2002_09_29_to_xxx</a>
These tags and most others are expanded when present in the template text or in any of the permanent content ares (left column, right column, banner and footer).
Search
Can I edit and delete messages in search results?
Yes, if you log in with a cookie and the search is against your blog.
PostThis!
What is PostThis! ?
PostThis! is a bookmarklet that allows you to post a link to the web site
you are browsing, along with any selected text and other text you enter. Selected text is automatically inserted in
the message text area on a smaller Blog Studio Post page (IE and Netscape only, Opera does not allow this).
PostThis! works best when you log in with a cookie since it allows you to skip the login step.
Why does my PostThis! window not open up ?
PostThis! creates a pop-up window. It is possible that you have set your browser to
prevent pop-up windows. Opera is one browser that provides this ability. You must have your browser set to allow these pop-up windows
in order to use PostThis!.
Blog Mirroring
How do I configure Blog Mirroring?
When you post a message using Blog Studio, you can optionally have your message posted to a Blogger API compatible service that you already have an account with.
Just go to the Blog Studio "settings" page and fill in the fields shown below.
Blog Mirroring (Image)
| Mirror Blog Service Name |
This is the Blogger API compatible service name you have an account with already. This is most likely Blogger |
| Mirror Blog Service UserId |
This is the User Id you log into this secondary service with (e.g., a Blogger User Id) |
| Mirror Blog Service Password |
This is the Password you log into this secondary service with (e.g., a Blogger Password) |
| Mirror Blog Service Blog Id |
This is the Blog Id from your existing Blogger API compatible service.
If you have a Blogger account, you can find your Blog Id by following these steps.
- Log into Blogger
- Open your Blog in Blogger
- Locate the URL in the address bar in your browser
- The number in the URL after the text "blogid=" is the Blog Id. http://www.blogger.com/blog.pyra?blogid=1234567 would indicate a Blog Id of 1234567.
|
| Mirror Blog Service Address |
This is the host that runs the Blogger API for this secondary service (Blogger uses plant.blogger.com). Ignore this if you are using Blogger |
| Mirror Blog Service Port |
This is the port at the above address that runs the Blogger API for this secondary service (Blogger uses plant.blogger.com). Ignore this if you are using Blogger |
| Mirror Posts |
Checking this field causes Blog Studio messages to be posted twice, once to Blog Studio and once to your secondary blog service. |
| Publish Mirrored Posts |
Checking this field causes messages posted to your secondary blog service to also be published.
This requires your FTP information for the secondary service be configured with your FTP User Id and Password. |
Comments
How does the Comments feature work?
Each message in a Blog Studio Pro blog can have comments. Anyone can submit comments for a blog message. The "Comments(n)" link next to each post indicates
the number of comments that visitors have submitted in parethesis. When a visitor clicks on a "Comments(n)" link, a comments page is shown that displays the
text of the comments for the associated message. At the bottom of this comments page, visitors can enter the "Text" for their own comment and optionally
specify an "Author" name which is placed below the comment text on the comments page. When a visitor clicks the "Add Comment" button, the comment is added
and the comments page is refreshed. The newly submitted comment will appear along with all of the other comments. At this point, a visitor can add another
comment, or simply close the window.
Authors can select the type of comments page on the "settings" page. The default comments page is exactly like the blog page, except that
comment messages take the place of blog messages. The alternative comments page displays a small window that contains the blog title, blog description, the
text of the comments, and the form for adding a new comment. This smaller comments page is simpler and faster.
This feature is only available on Blog Studio Pro blogs.
Statistics
What are Statistics?
Introduction to Statistics
Blog statistics give you detailed information about the people who visit your blog.
This information helps you understand your visitors. Blog statistics reveal how many visitors you actually have, how long they stay,
what web page a visitor was on before going to your blog (referer), what pages people view (blog, archives, comments, search),
what they view it with (browsers), and other useful information.
Here are some quick definitions of statistics terms in terms of Blog Studio:
- URL - The Internet address of your blog, archive, search, or comments pages.
- Visitor - A person that browses your URLs.
- Hit - It is considered one hit each time a Visitor browses one of your URLs.
- Referer - The web page that a Visitor used to find your URL.
- Visit - When someone visits your blog, stays a while, and then leaves.
- Visit Average Duration - The average time a Visitor visits blog before leaving.
- Browser - The browser software used like Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Opera.
A Visit is really a collection of hits from the same Visitor to your blog that are no more than 30 minutes apart.
A small image is displayed on any page using Blog Studio Statistics (it says "BSStats"). This image is not clickable currently.
To view statistics reports, you must log in and click on the "statistics" link on the top of the left column of the page while
editing the blog you are insterested in seeing thestatistics for.
Blog Studio Statistics are only available to Blog Studio Pro members.
How are Statistics collected?
Collecting Statistics
Hits on your comments and searches are automatically collected.
To start collecting statistics for visits to your blog and archives:
- Add the <$SlogStats$> tag to your Template Text, Right Column Content, Left Column Content, Banner Content or Footer Content areas
- Generate your archives
- Publish your blog
What Statistics settings are there?
Statistics Settings
Statistics settings are found on the "settings" page.
The settings are as follows:
- Site URL Prefix -
This shortens URLs in statistics displays. For example, a URL of
"http://www.blogstudio.com:80/News/index.html" with prefix of
"http://www.blogstudio.com:80/News" is displayed in statistics as
"/index.html" only.
A useful Site URL Prefix is displayed below the input area for you.
- IP Addresses to Ignore -
Separated by commas such as 206.21.11.5,64.12.12.1.
A useful IP Address is displayed below the input area for you.
- Display Visitor Host Names -
It is much slower to resolve names from addresses like pooh.blogstudio.com from 192.168.0.1
Statistics Settings (Image)
What Statistics reports are available?
Viewing Statistics
Statistics are real-time reports displayed in table format.
The "statistics" link visible at the top of the left-hand column when you log in displays the statistics page.
This page displays the Statistics Summary report and lists links to other reports.
Statistics Reports:
Summary of hits and visits (Image)
URLs ranked by date (Image)
Browsers ranked by hits (Image)
URLs (by year, month, week, day) ranked by hits (Image)
Referers (by year, month, week, day) ranked by hits (Image)
Visitors (by year, month, week, day) ranked by visits (Image)
Visitors Named (by year, month, week, day) ranked by visits (Image)
Users
How do I add users?
If sharing the provided guest user does not meet your needs, you can add users on the "users" page. Only registered Blog Studio or Blog Studio Pro
users can be added, meaning authorized. Each blog user's role can be one of the following:
- Guest - Guests are allowed to post and publish.
- Editor - Editors are allowed to edit templates, post and publish.
- Administrator - Administrators are allowed to manage users, edit templates, post, publish and do everything else that the owner can do.
RSS
How do I use RSS?
RSS is an XML format for storing titles, descriptions, dates and links of articles. Blog Studio Pro uses it to store titles, descriptions, dates and links of
your latest posts. RSS files are designed to contain up to 15 references to the most recent posts (articles) that you have published. Blog Studio Pro
generates an RSS files for public blogs automatically each time you publish with at least one new message. It uses the message title for the article title
and the first part of the message text for the article description. If you have not set a title, it uses the first few words of the message text as the title.
The <$SlogRSSLink$> tag expands in your template or content areas into an XML image link to your RSS file like this one to the
Blogging News blog's RSS file  .
This link will point to your blog's RSS file so visitors can add it to their news or content aggregator. News or content aggregators
like amphetaDesk read RSS files and present one page with all the latest posts (article descriptions) from
all the RSS files you are interested in. So for example, you can find all the blogs you are interested in that have RSS "feeds" (files) and add them to
amphetaDesk. Then you can use it to view the most recent posts from all of those blogs in one place. Pretty cool actually. But you have to add the
<$SlogRSSLink$> tag to either your Template Text or the Right Column, Left Column, Banner or Footer Content areas and publish so visitors can find your
RSS file. This premium feature is only available to Blog Studio Pro members.
Technologies
What Technologies does Blog Studio use?
Blog Studio uses s-integrator, a Service Broker developed by our company. Blog Studio is a set of Software
Services built on top of s-integrator. s-integrator provides Blog Studio with its fast, simple, reliable and scalable foundation. This allows Blog Studio to
leverage s-integrator's comprehensive connectivity to other systems via HTTP and Web Services, in addition to connectivity to an extraodinary number
of front-end and back-end systems including MQSeries, Legacy Mainframes, SMTP, HTTP, FTP, JDBC, and more.
How can I view my blog on a cell phone?
Blog Studio publishes WML files automatically for viewing on WML enable cell phones. The files generated start with "index.wml" and proceed to
"p1.wml", "p2.wml" and so on up to 10 pages. Each page is limited to about 1000 characters per page because cell phones have a limited amount of memory.
Blog Studio Pro has built in support for WML file types. If you host on your own site, you may have to set up the WML file type on your server.
The Associated Extension is "wml" and the Content Type (MIME) is "text/vnd.wap.wml". Here is a sample of what a blog looks like on a cell phone:
Cell Phone (Image)
Tickers
Site-wide Blog Ticker for All Blogs
The Site-wide Blog Ticker is available to all Blog Studio blogs. It can be inserted into your blog by adding the tag <$SlogSiteWideTicker$> to your Template Text or any of the content areas.
The ticker displays the title or first few words of the most recent 10 posts. The "go" button can be used to jump to the blog that the headline is showing.
You can also pause the ticker by moving the mouse over it. Simply move the mouse away from the ticker to resume it.
The ticker is dynamically updated without refreshing the web page it is inserted on.
Individual Blog Ticker for Pro Blogs
The Local Blog Ticker displays the most recent 10 posts for only one blog, the one whose template it resides in. It operates the same as the Site-wide Blog Ticker
except that it does not display the "go" button and instead of the blog title, the date and time are displayed on the righ.
Insert it into your blog by adding the tag <$SlogIndividualTicker$>
Blog Studio and s-integrator are a trademarks of Indigo Technology Partners, Inc.
All other company and product names are the property of their respective owners.
Please contact our wosse@indigotp.com with questions or comments.
Copyright 2001 Indigo Technology Partners, Inc. All rights reserved
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