Blog Design Solutions

By: Andy Budd, Michael Heilemann, Simon Collison

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Paperback | 2 August 2011

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380 Pages

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22.23 x 18.42 x 2.54

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Blogging has moved rapidly from being a craze to become a core feature of the Internet--from individuals sharing their thoughts with the world via online diaries, through fans talking about their favorite sports teams or music, right up to serious business minds discussing industry futures.

And that includes you, right? If you haven't got a blog already, you want to start one, and want to find out how. If you have already got one, you want to know how to customize it, and make it look cooler than everybody elses. In either case, this is the ideal book for you.

In this book, a team of renowned web designers take you through the ins and outs of putting together great blogs. They waste no time harking on about the philosophy of blogs, or the community behind them. Instead, they get straight to the practical details, showing how to set up a basic blog in some of the world's most popular blogging engines Movable Type, ExpressionEngine, WordPress, and Textpattern. With your blog set up, they then show you how to build great looking, usable layouts for your blog. The last chapter even shows you how to build your very own PHP/MySQL-based blog engine!

With this book in hand, you'll have found your way to blog heaven in no time!

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Non-Fiction Computing & I.T.Graphical & Digital Media Applications Web Graphics & Design Digital Lifestyle & Online World: Consumer & User Guides Internet Guides & Online Services Computer Programming & Software Development Software Engineering Web Programming

About the Authors	p. xv
About the Technical Reviewer	p. xix
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Introduction	p. xxiii
The "Web Log"	p. 1
The "web log"	p. 2
Blogging	p. 3
2004: Year of the blog	p. 5
Blogging options	p. 5
Ready made	p. 6
Install your own	p. 6
Code your own	p. 7
Technologies	p. 7
How does it work?	p. 9
Really Simple Syndication (RSS)	p. 9
Mac OS X	p. 10
Windows	p. 10
Technorati	p. 11
Tags	p. 12
Flickr	p. 13
Summary	p. 16
Creating a Local Test Environment for Your Blog	p. 17
Taking a quick look under the hood	p. 19
What you need to build a local test environment	p. 21
How much does it all cost?	p. 21
Why not use an all-in-one package?	p. 22
Setting up on Windows	p. 22
Getting Windows to display filename extensions	p. 23
Installing Apache on Windows	p. 23
Deciding which port to run Apache on	p. 24
Removing an existing installation of Apache 1.3	p. 24
Starting and stopping Apache on Windows	p. 28
Changing startup preferences or disabling Apache	p. 28
Setting up PHP on Windows	p. 29
Configuring Apache to work with PHP	p. 33
"Cannot load mysqli extension"	p. 38
Enabling support for CGI scripting on Windows	p. 38
Installing MySQL on Windows	p. 41
Changing the default table type on Windows Essentials	p. 48
Starting and stopping MySQL manually on Windows	p. 49
Using the MySQL monitor on Windows	p. 50
Setting up on Mac OS X	p. 51
Using Apache on Mac OS X	p. 51
Where to locate your web files	p. 54
Using PHP on Mac OS X	p. 54
Enabling support for CGI scripting on Mac OS X	p. 59
Deciding where to locate CGI scripts	p. 59
Setting the correct permissions for CGI scripts	p. 60
Setting up MySQL on Mac OS X	p. 61
Adding MySQL to your PATH	p. 63
Securing MySQL on Mac OS X	p. 65
Using MySQL with phpMyAdmin (Windows and Mac)	p. 67
Setting up your blog database with phpMyAdmin	p. 70
Backing up and transferring your blog to another server	p. 73
Now the fun starts	p. 76
Movable Type	p. 77
Movable what?	p. 78
Installing Movable Type	p. 80
Downloading Movable Type	p. 80
Configuring and installing Movable Type	p. 81
Windows paths on local servers	p. 82
Installing on a local server	p. 83
Installing on a remote server	p. 83
Running Movable Type for the first time	p. 84
The design	p. 87
Planning and the design brief	p. 87
Kick-starting the design process	p. 87
Finally, the design!	p. 90
XHTML and CSS	p. 92
Creating the markup	p. 92
Basic XHTML structure	p. 93
Latest posts block	p. 94
Secondary content block	p. 94
Layout and styling	p. 94
Where's the drop shadow?	p. 100
Movable Type templates	p. 102
Main index template	p. 102
Master archive index template	p. 106
Category and date-based archives	p. 108
Summary	p. 111
ExpressionEngine	p. 113
Design brief	p. 115
About the template	p. 116
Installing ExpressionEngine	p. 116
Requirements	p. 116
How to buy a copy	p. 117
Trial version	p. 117
Installing	p. 118
Rename the system folder	p. 118
Place the files on your server	p. 118
Set file permissions	p. 118
Create the database	p. 119
Install the Logical Blocks theme	p. 119
Run the Installation Wizard	p. 119
Define settings and user account	p. 120
Choose the appropriate template	p. 120
You're all but done	p. 120
How does ExpressionEngine actually work?	p. 120
Templates	p. 121
Blogs, custom fields, and categories	p. 123
Embeds	p. 124
Structuring your blog	p. 124
Turning the system off	p. 125
Defining Template Group and Template	p. 125
Editing templates	p. 127
Redefine the categories	p. 127
Define custom blog fields	p. 128
Set the mood	p. 129
Specify groups for your blog	p. 130
Default blog and preferences	p. 131
Nice work, soldier	p. 133
Template customization	p. 133
Templates you'll need	p. 134
Index template	p. 134
More page	p. 134
About page	p. 134
Contact page	p. 134
Understanding EE tags	p. 135
{master_weblog_name}	p. 135
{exp:weblog:entries}	p. 135
Showing data inside the {exp:weblog:entries} tags	p. 136
Field name variables	p. 136
Some key {exp:weblog:entries} variables	p. 136
{date_heading}	p. 137
Data variables	p. 137
Custom entry field variables	p. 137
{categories}	p. 137
Conditionals	p. 138
Pagination	p. 138
Path variables	p. 138
Smarter conditionals	p. 139
Smarter comment totals	p. 139
Sort out the sidebar	p. 140
Showing your category list	p. 140
Using article titles as headlines	p. 141
Make it easier with embedding	p. 141
Embed the main navigation	p. 141
Use your ?	p. 143
A bit on the side	p. 143
More page	p. 144
Add more sample articles	p. 146
Further improvements	p. 147
Sort the menu out	p. 148
Segments	p. 148
Comments and comments form	p. 150
Clever comments	p. 150
Create some other useful templates	p. 151
Create the contact template	p. 151
Create the about template	p. 152
Catch your breath	p. 152
Styling using CSS	p. 152
Before you begin	p. 153
Where is the CSS?	p. 153
Ensuring that your CSS affects your templates	p. 153
Understanding the layout	p. 154
#wrapper	p. 155
Sorting out the masthead and navigation	p. 155
Locate the Logical Blocks images	p. 156
Two choices of header layout	p. 156
Tabs	p. 158
You want more?	p. 158
#content	p. 159
Inheritance	p. 159
Who owns what?	p. 159
#sidebar	p. 160
Understanding the sidebar links	p. 161
Ticked-off visited links	p. 162
#about_site	p. 164
#blog	p. 164
Styling comments	p. 166
#footer	p. 167
Optional	p. 167
How does it look?	p. 168
Strengthening your EE blog	p. 169
Plug-in baby	p. 169
Query caching	p. 169
Image Gallery module	p. 169
Support	p. 169
Ready for launch	p. 170
Summary	p. 170
WordPress	p. 171
Inside this chapter	p. 173
Rules of engagement	p. 173
WordPress support	p. 174
Understanding the WordPress Codex	p. 174
Dealing with code	p. 174
Sharing	p. 175
Maintenance	p. 175
Introducing WordPress	p. 175
Downloading and installing WordPress	p. 175
Mechanics of WordPress	p. 180
Displaying your blog posts	p. 180
Advantages of pretty permalinks	p. 181
The Loop	p. 182
Designing with WordPress	p. 183
CSS and HTML	p. 183
Template structure	p. 184
File structure	p. 184
Template tags	p. 185
Conditional tags	p. 187
Include tags	p. 188
Content types in WordPress	p. 189
Posts	p. 189
Pages	p. 190
Comments	p. 190
Themes in WordPress 1.5	p. 190
Kubrick	p. 191
The files	p. 191
style.css	p. 191
index.php	p. 191
header.php	p. 192
footer.php	p. 192
sidebar.php	p. 192
single.php	p. 192
page.php	p. 192
comments.php	p. 192
comments-popup.php	p. 192
searchform.php	p. 192
archive.php	p. 192
search.php	p. 193
404.php	p. 193
archives.php	p. 193
links.php	p. 193
Taking a closer look at the code	p. 193
Working with template pages	p. 196
Other page options	p. 197
Page Content	p. 197
Page slug	p. 197
Page parent	p. 197
Page Order	p. 197
Viewing the new Page	p. 197
Editing the Page	p. 198
Customizing an existing template	p. 201
Advanced templating in WordPress	p. 204
Templates, posts, Pages, and plug-ins	p. 204
So let's get into some code	p. 204
CJD Comment Heat	p. 205
SRG Clean Archives	p. 205
Using the plug-ins	p. 205
Hidden spiffiness abounds	p. 206
Context-sensitive information is the bee's knees	p. 207
Let's write some code, shall we?	p. 207
Now for the payoff-making it all work	p. 209
There's no place like Home	p. 209
And that matters to me WHY exactly?	p. 210
How am I displaying all this info if I am not hitting the database for it?	p. 210
Let's write some code!	p. 210
And there you have it ... a letter opener	p. 213
Summary	p. 213
Textpattern	p. 215
A brief history	p. 216
This chapter and the future of TxP	p. 217
Supporting the cause	p. 217
The creative process	p. 217
Installation	p. 218
Download and unzip the core files	p. 218
The .htaccess file	p. 219
Set up a database	p. 220
Running the Setup Wizard	p. 222
MySQL	p. 223
Site path	p. 223
Site URL	p. 224
Creating the config.php file	p. 225
First login	p. 227
Did it all work?	p. 228
Key TxP areas	p. 229
Admin	p. 229
Diagnostics	p. 229
Preferences	p. 230
Presentation	p. 231
Sections	p. 231
Pages	p. 232
Forms	p. 232
Style	p. 232
Content	p. 232
Question mark buttons	p. 232
Default design	p. 233
The site name and the site slogan	p. 233
It's your blog	p. 234
What is the purpose of your blog?	p. 234
Designing your blog	p. 234
Integrating with TxP	p. 236
Built-in code editing	p. 236
Live design	p. 236
The div tag	p. 238
Modifying the page template	p. 239
Preparing the image	p. 242
Creating a color swatch	p. 243
Uploading the image slices	p. 244
Adding the image slices to the design	p. 245
More thoughts on semantics	p. 246
Making it work	p. 246
Rogue white space and other undesirable behavior	p. 247
A first look at a blog post	p. 247
A brief look at Textile	p. 247
Adding some extra content	p. 248
Why a browser with good CSS support is important	p. 249
Allowing for content length	p. 250
That rogue white space	p. 252
To-do list	p. 253
My Site and My Pithy Slogan	p. 253
Move browse and search forms	p. 254
Sort out links at bottom of the page	p. 255
Adding a little color to the text	p. 257
CSS shortcuts	p. 258
Page not found?	p. 259
Messy permanent link mode	p. 260
Modify the httpd.conf file	p. 260
Creating an archive section and page template	p. 261
Page template and TxP forms	p. 262
Archive code	p. 265
A quick look at the default form	p. 268
The final job	p. 269
Resources	p. 269
Textpattern forums	p. 269
Textpattern resources	p. 270
TextBook	p. 270
Textgarden	p. 270
TxP magazine	p. 270
Plug-ins	p. 270
Summary	p. 271
Write Your Own Blog Engine	p. 273
A content management system	p. 274
The technology	p. 274
Development environment	p. 275
Preparing the database	p. 275
Creating your table	p. 276
Building the administration site	p. 278
Creating a screen for adding a post	p. 278
Creating a screen for updating a post	p. 285
Creating a screen for listing posts	p. 292
Deleting a post	p. 294
Finishing touches	p. 295
Tart it up	p. 296
Building the blog	p. 297
Creating the homepage	p. 298
Pulling in the posts	p. 305
Automatically formatting posts	p. 306
Headers, footers, and other reusable elements	p. 308
Creating a post page	p. 310
Adding comments	p. 312
Creating an archive	p. 318
Making your blog searchable	p. 325
Indexing your blog database	p. 328
Creating an RSS feed	p. 329
Making it live	p. 334
Migrating your database	p. 334
Migrating your files	p. 336
The future	p. 336
Flickr	p. 336
Post and comment previews	p. 337
Advanced formatting of posts	p. 337
Categorizing your posts	p. 337
Happy blogging	p. 337
Index	p. 339
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Blog Design Solutions

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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