How can I schedule posts in Moveable Type 2.63 to be posted automatically?

August 16, 2004 9:05 AM

Queuing posts on Movable Type 2.63. I'm going away for a week; what can I do to queue posts on my blog, scheduling one to automatically be published each day?

I tried installing this svelte script, but after adding the code, the blog refused to publish ANY new posts, let alone advance-posted ones (they simply didn't appear on the blog). Although pre-posting is anticipated with the upcoming version of MT 3.x, I can't wait till the 31st, and can't upgrade (I don't think) without violating the User Agreement by having too many posters.

I would have thought this was a very common requirement by MT bloggers, and I'm surprised there isn't a clear standard for this functionality.

(I have access to scripting etc., but can't get a command-line.)

Thank-you!

posted by Marquis to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Trickle, by Mr. Flanagan.
posted by mwhybark at 9:25 AM on August 16, 2004

If you publish to PHP files then you can use PHP to filter out posts with future timestamps. I use stuff like this in my templates:

<MTEntries>
...
<?php
if (time() > strtotime ("<$MTEntryDate format="%B %e, %Y %I:%M %p"$> <$MTBlogTimezone$>"))
{
?>
...
[All your post template stuff goes here]
...
<?php
}
?>
...
</MTEntries>

I believe I found this trick via the user forums at the MT website, but it was years ago and I no longer remember who to give credit to for the tip.
posted by Songdog at 9:50 AM on August 16, 2004

I hear it requires a bit of hacking but Tim Appnel's "publish on..." plugin lets you schedule future entries in pre 3.0 versions of MT.
posted by mathowie at 10:05 AM on August 16, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks for your help, but...

mwhybark - Like I said, I don't have command-line access, and can't for the life of me figure out how to install Trickle without that functionality. (Also, no access to cron.)

Songdog - that's actually what I tried, basically. But it just plain didn't work. Further reading suggests that even if it did work, the queued entries would still appear on RSS feeds and certain archive pages. Which is a problem, because the blog is widely syndicated.

mathowie - thanks! i'll look into that. the problem, of course, is that "hacking" isn't my strong suit.
posted by Marquis at 10:07 AM on August 16, 2004

It could be done pretty easily with MT-Somedays.
posted by Aaorn at 10:43 AM on August 16, 2004

Switch to pMachine, even the free version lets you post to the future, past or present. (probably not the answer you're looking for though)
posted by jonah at 11:16 AM on August 16, 2004

Marquis, you need to make the same changes to your RSS template, etc, etc. If you want to be thorough you also need to do something similar with the Next Entry and Previous Entry links if you have them. It can get involved, and it all depends on your template design, but it's certainly possible.
posted by Songdog at 12:03 PM on August 16, 2004