First Post
Well this was way easier than I had anticipated. Perhaps it helped that I read everything and asked tons of questions first though.
2nd Post
Gotta go eat lunch.
Then need to find a better css template to play with until I can make my own.
Also gonna go see about Amy’s photoblog template and buy new domain name for photo blog.
As always it seems, I should of tried this long ago.
I may still (I’ll bet on it) run into problems as I figure out what MT can do and how to do it, but geez the installation was really easy when i just did it! And this all seems to work well.
It may help that I can read the code and figure out what needs to be done.
Revamped template
19 June 2003
I redid the index template and css. It wasn’t that hard.
I have to learn the MT tags and their use.
This is coming to me much faster than I thought.
I guess knowing xhtml/css helps in a big way 😉
I just pulled the basic colors off creationdreams.net for this.
It is temporary..or i may use this layout for a blog within cd.net
Not sure yet.
3rd times the charm
This is the third main index template and css file.
I like the layout better before the changes, but N6 didn’t.
I haven’t had anyone look at this in IE6 or any other browsers as yet.
I keep reminding myself this is for testing, but i just may use it for a bit
so i want to make it right. Both the css and xhtml validate…
I have lots more to tweak this if i am using it. Fonts/sizing styling issues mostly. I may use the top part as a picture file until i can do Amy’s tutorial and make a photo blog like hers. Which is what i want to do at this time. Can’t possibly think about learning Gallery right now!
I have a new Camera (Canon G3) to figure out and MT..
THAT’S ENOUGH FOR NOW
🙂
Archiving!! ughhhh
25 June 2003
Trying to wrap my brain around this archiving thing.
I actually know (I think..unless someone can correct my way of thinking) how I want it to work, but implementing it hasn’t worked.
I did manage to add in the weblog/config, an archive file template
for a different archive date format.. and it worked.
But I am having no luck with any thing else I am trying to do.
I have read and printed out (took 2+hours!) the MT Manual. (Remember I am on dial up)
I have re-read it many times.
I have read all of June /May on the MT forums Templates/Tips/General board.
I have read and gone back to:
girlie matters
mt wiki
empty pages
countless times…..
I need help!!!
Archiving revisited
Well I figured out that part of my problem in not being able to do what I had hoped was that I had Monthly set up as preference in Weblog/config..changing it to Individual helps heaps 🙂
I still want to be able to pull up the Monthly Archive page..the link off the side bar that says June 2003 and just have a list of entries that link to the individual entry.
Should be simple.
I just don’t know if I create a new Monthly Archive Template? or just change code in one of the other ones– Dated-based? It seems that that file could be being used by other pages as well though??
I am so used to setting up my own site with directory structures / knowing where the files are .. having this program do it for me causes some confusion.
But hey!
It’s been less than a week and I am learning.
Glimmers of light…
26 June 2003
Finally starting to ‘grok’ this archiving/templating thing. Yeah!!
Of course I haven’t even started to figure out the category archiving yet..maybe later today.
I guess it’s time to have someone who knows MT and has been using it awhile, to take a look, and tell me of the errors of my ways in the way it is set up right now.
Pool time..(neighbor Linda’s pool in town)
it will be 100 degrees today ….as it was yesterday…
Tweaks to be done
Add permalink as timestamp to bottom of individual entries and remove the day and date.
On the blog index keep permalink as the title but give it a title tag in the url link, remove the day but keep the time.
Make an archive master by month using : 00:00:00: entry title-link and dirified format.
The same with just the monthly template.
Start the category indexes-master and individuals and see how that goes.
Then start on redesign and get the domain set up.
And move from test blog to the real deal as a new blog.
Then figure out the photoblog tut from Amy and start getting the pictures up. And learning the camera and photography better.
That’s it for now.
MT has been installed one week today.
I think I have made pretty good head way here.
Still need to know if i am over archiving.
Hot time
27 June 2003
Well I did get a few of the tweaks done. I still have a lot to do.
Especially if I use this site style..not sure yet.
Mostly trying to learn how to make things happen, so far so good.
Maybe start work on categories next, and master archive indexes,
although i don’t have much here yet.
Going to swim and get the heat fuzzys out of my head.
More later..
Rebuilding-server issues
I need to ask someone about this. It isn’t an issue now as this is a test blog and there are only a few entries, and at this point only individual and monthly archives.
I just took a peek at my server space to see what MT does over there and there were tons of files in folders that I know i am not using as I changed directory structure a couple of time. I deleted a lot of stuff and hope I didn’t delete any thing I will need.
So this is a test to see what gets added.
Well I just checked and it seemed to add an index file to a directory I emptied a ton of files out of!!
Oh well everything still seems to be working.
I do need to formulate a question and ask someone though.
I’d hate to have my disc space fill up with unnecessary junk files and need to understand what I can delete and shouldn’t.
That’s all for now..
Confused about this
28 June 2003
It looks to me like MT is making files in a folder that i deleted a ton of stuff from, but everything i have posted and all the archives i have made are still working right.
I guess i will wait for some enlightenment about this and some general ‘how-to’ on the rebuilding/some/all types of things.
It would seem that if you had a very large site rebuilding the whole thing would take forever. I know that SSI’s will take care of some of the rebuilding, but can it replace most of it?
This is what my web space for MT related stuff looks like now:(this is old data)
testblog/
index.shtml
styles-site.css
photos/all my images at this time
archives
/0306/text files for all my entries
AND THE INDEX (good) (this is the monthly archive of individual entries)
/2003/June/ index.shtml- but this directory structure is not what i am using for the ind/or monthly arhicve file template? Yet it does get updated with each entry??
2003_06.shtml – this is an older file as well that i think was the original monthly as it is not being updates i think i can delete this one as well.
I guess the question is this then?
i need the /2003/june/ folder structure for files?
Even though i am using the 0306/ archive date format for ind and monthly index templates?
I THINK I CAN DELETE THIS FOLDER?
Guess i am gonna have to send someone here, and really didn’t want to make this blog public at the moment.
Too long!!
6 July 2003
It’s been almost a week!
I haven’t had the time to work on this at all.
Now I need to remember the little bit i learned last week, and start to figure out the category archiving stuff. Times flying and i want to get the real deal up and running by mid month.
How to get rid..
7 July 2003
of the cat_ in front of the dirified category title?
I know i need to use a archive file template, yet none i have tried work??? I want the category sections to just be, for example:
archives/testing.shtml
archives/local_scene.shtml
etc.
I did manage to get a new Category Index template in place,
using an Index template for the category archives master index, was the key there.
Update: i did figure this out, seems that i needed to remove the old files that had cat_ in front before it would read the new dirifed title name. Of course after hours of hair pulling and figuring it out myself, i read on the MT boards that one needs to manually delete the old files!
That should be highlighted somewhere *lol*
Pity the folks who aren’t too familar with their webhosting space.
Time to move on with it!
8 July 2003
Well I have been playing with and figuring out MT for 2 weeks. I feel that the rest will come as i use the program and it time to start blogging for real.
I wanted this avenue of expression for a reason, many reasons really.
The site is going to be in a constant flux of change over the next little whiles, while i work out the css/colors/ and other formatting.
I need to figure out if i can easily delete categories and start fresh, or if i should just keep this as a test blog and start a new ‘real’ one.
Still lots to do here….
10 July 2003
It seems to take me much longer to ‘put the site together’ using MT.
I guess its just the unfamilar codes, but also the rebuilds to see what’s happening take so long..i wish there was a more ‘text editor’ type approach with it.
I am so busy in other parts of life i haven’t had much time to spend here, so for the moment i am going with this styling and will wait maybe till winter to change. There are still tons of tweaking to do, and then the ssi’s which i hope will speed along any further changes. Have to rethink categories and make them more descriptive and meaningful,
and the titles as well.
OnMyBeat.net is purchased, dns is set to my host and i successfully created the add on domain tonight. I am still having trouble accessing the site, it only has a pitiful index.shtml file there at the moment, because i am debating whether to just change the web log config for this ‘testblog’ to point to the new folder OR just start fresh with these templates and configurations minus the posts which i may or may not add later.
I am looking forward to blogging about something other than getting the site in MT ready *lol*
