Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with weblog

A Question about Libel & Privacy Laws

interrobang — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 09:52:57 -0800

Does it become legal to use a person's image without their consent or knowledge, as long as you put a black bar over their eyes and don't use their real name? I cannot afford to talk to a lawyer about this. Alternately, does stop being an invasion of privacy if it's a drawing or a caricature? How about a drawing or caricature with a black bar over the eyes?

Expression Engine and Custom Next Entry tags?

SansPoint — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:01:50 -0800

How can I display more than the entry title in Expression Engine's {next_entry} and {prev_entry} tags? Finally starting to make headway on my long delayed site work, using Expression Engine. For more details, you can check my old questions...

I'm trying to customize the {next_entry} tag to display more than just the next entry's title. I'd like to have the entry's date in as well. Sadly, I can't figure out how to do it. The only tag that works is {title}.

Help?

Making Posting to a Blog Incredibly Easy ... How to?

WCityMike — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:36:45 -0800

How to go about accomplishing certain things regarding posting to a blog, but in a certain way ... would like Mefites' advice. I was surfing one day, and came across this in someone's blog entry.

I cannot find a good unobtrusive and reliable way to post to my blog. For short blurbs, I want to be able to do it from anywhere, but using my cellphone is too inconvenient (I abandoned my PDA a few years ago). I could use Google Docs, but (1) it doesn't work with Safari and (2) I wasn't able to make it post to my MovableType-based blog. I also want to be able to "reply" to other people's blog posts on my own blog, but trackbacks seem to have disappeared from all but a few blogs. Third, I had been working on a few longer articles and I realized that (1) I don't want to mix meaningless musings with longer better thought out pieces on the same blog and (2) I don't know how to tell if the article is finished, so I keep revising it over and over and over.

I thought the iteration of these problems was rather insightful, and, furthermore, I realized these problems were ones I ran into upon my own blog (aside from the "(2)" in the third question). Yet I really can't think of effective ways to address these problems. Any of your thoughts on these issues and possible solutions would be appreciated.

(No self-link, but my blog is WordPress, if that matters, and if you need the URL, click on my name below; the address is in my profile.)

Using WordPress for Multiple Same-Site Feeds

mikewas — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:29:11 -0800

How can I use a single WordPress install to run multiple mini-blogs on one domain? I would like to use a single WordPress install - say at example.com/blog/ to generate multiple mini-blogs to be incorporated as .php includes in otherwise static pages throughout the site. Essentially, I'm looking to create little newsfeeds for internal use only - just headline, brief text, and a link.

I imagine the result would involve using category templates to generate .php files to be included in the other pages, but I'm not really sure how to go about it.

Has anyone done something similar?

Joomla! or Wordpress Mu?

Davaal — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:50:08 -0800

I've started cobbling a blogging site out in WordpressMu. Today, i ran across Joomla. I think I want to switch - any ideas? i've started a blogsite using wordpress multiple user software. i currently have about 20 bloggers/users and i hope to add 50 or more. i've got a main site - though nowhere nearly as dynamiic or cool as some of the J! stuff i've seen today. thru this main page, users create or login to their own blogs and post. the problem with WPMU is that a lot of cool functionality just doesnt exist. everything i wanna do involves relentless searching thru less-than-friendly forums, heavy hacking of my core files and/or worse: an amateur attempt at hacking a Wordpress 2.0 plugin to work with WPMU.

i'm 2 weeks and nearly 100 hours into building this WPMU site. But even adding features that should be native to ANY blogsite - like global categories and tagging - requires hacking. I'm not lazy, but I've visited over 30 beautiful Joomla! sites today and every site owner claims to have done their work in a few days. if Joomla is the more powerful and effective answer than i'll switch ASAP.my question is thus: can i use Joomla in the same way? i've combed Joomla! forums and found extensions like MyHomePage and Xaneon Extensions' that seem as though they would do the same thing. i'm not looking for subdomains, subdirectories are fine: www.mysite.com/newuser. Can i create a blogsite with 50+ bloggers in Joomla!

your advice is appreciated.

Indirect Google Image hits?

bink — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 14:19:26 -0800

Why am I getting Google Image hits for an image that's not on my site? It's not the situation like in this AskMe, I don't think. I get hits from Google Image for images ON OTHER SITES that I've linked to on my weblog.

Here's one that's suddenly started generating lots of hits:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.swim2000.com/images/tyr/2005_suits/DMSN-610.jpg&imgrefurl=http://myblogname.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_myblogname_archive.html&h=550&w=467&sz=70&hl=en&start=73&tbnid=q9SZIwZH_-TIVM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=113&prev=/images%253

(I removed the name of my actual blog; I hope there's not actually one out there called "myblogname".) It's a picture of some bathing suits, and the link on my site just says "bathing suit".

This has happened once before with a different image. It hasn't resulted in an expensive amount of traffic yet, but I would like to know why it's happening and if I can avoid it in the future.

Best WordPress setup to publish a NaNo novel on the web?

pzarquon — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:29:07 -0800

So, with NaNoWriMo coming next week, I've been looking up past questions on music to write to, novel writing and organizing applications, and ways to write anywhere. But... what would be the best way to publish your NaNo novel on the web as you go? I'm thinking WordPress. Yes, I know, there are 'first rights' and other concerns if you're hoping to do something with your NaNo novel after November, but most of my writer friends do this for fun, and we like to read along as stories come together (or fall apart).

In the past, I set up Movable Type blogs, and tweaked the template so that entries were posted to the main index in chronological order (rather than reverse chronological). Of course, that was just a kludge, and now everyone's in love with WordPress. It's adaptable, and there are a wide variety of templates are out there... so I'm thinking that's the way to go this year.

Is anyone familiar with any "novel-ly" WordPress templates or widgets? Some easy theme to turn a basic blog into a way to elegantly present serialized fiction? On look and feel, something using fonts that look very... book-like (lots of white space, larger than average serif type, etc.)? On function, something less chronology or date based, and thinking more in terms of chapters.

Or is there a better way? If you wanted to post your NaNo novel online as you churned out your daily quota, how would you do it?

2006 weblog tool market share

will — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:18:45 -0800

Looking for 2006 stats or reports on weblog tool market share. Ideally include installed systems like MovableType and hosted platforms like TypePad.

Help me stop referral log spam

KevinSkomsvold — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 08:10:41 -0800

Referral log spam. I've been noticing some strange things.. I know there is a wealth of info on this phenomena on the internets but I'd like your perspective/advice. My host uses AWStats to track referring sites to my weblog and lately I've noticed a huge uptick in the number of other web logs linking to me. This is weird because I offer no compelling content nor do I have any porn or mp3s posted. Its just plain ol' text with some Flickr pics. When I visit the sites that have apparently linked to me, they look like legit weblogs but I'll be damned if I can find a link to me. I'm going on the assumption that they are doing something funky to boost their own site or something else nefarious is happening. How do they do this? Is there any way to prevent it? Any ideas would be appreciated.

How to post large/fullsize Flickr photos to a weblog?

redshifter — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 10:18:43 -0800

Calling all Flickr ninjas: I would like to have Flickr send a large (750px+) version of my most recent photo to my weblog so I can use it as the banner. Is this possible? I hope to be able to steadily freshen the look of my site by simply snapping a photo with my cellphone and emailing it up to Flickr. The idea is that I'll have a big banner DIV at the top of my weblog. The DIV's background (so it will crop nicely, if a bit randomly) will be my most recent Flickr upload.

Theoretically, I have a possible solution in mind (having Flickr automatically post to a separate Movable Type blog set up for the header image, and including that blog into my main blog). The problem seems to be that Flickr doesn't allow the posting of custom-sized photos -- I would prefer to tell it what width to publish, or at least to be able to publish a size larger than 500px.

Has anyone done anything like this before? Alternately, if there is a simple non-Flickr way to email photos from a cellphone to weblog, I'm all ears.

Oh, SNAP!

Glitter Ninja — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 10:32:38 -0800

PhotoBlogFilter: Tips on starting a photo journal? Oh, snap! There's I've been in love with photography for ages, and am trying to work on honing my skills without just taking loads of meaningless photos. I've also tried to commit myself to blogging every other day- but that's never worked in the past. I thought a photo diary might be a great way to combine them both, so I though I'd ask for tips here- What do you guys thing the most interesting things to look at are? This diary wouldn't include pictures of me (since I'm obviously the ninja behind the camera) but I'd like to be able to tell a story about my day without using words if at all possible, save for a couple of place captions. Also, how can I commit myself to my every other day regime? I figured AskMeFi would know, if anyone would. Thanks in advance, guys, and please give me any other tips you can think of, or words of wisdom.

Best strategies for defeating sploggers who are lifting my content.

IndigoSkye — Tue, 23 May 2006 10:08:46 -0800

I've had a couple smaller splogs that gave up after a period of time. However, one splog has persisted and, through volume, is showing up higher in searches than my original posts. What can I do? It's not the lifting of the content that I have problem with, I publish an RSS feed that others pick up with a credit link back to my blog. It's the wholesale reprinting of articles without even so much as a link back to my blog.

Besides ignoring them and hoping they'll go away, what are some good strategies for getting them to stop republishing my posts? Also what ways of contacting RSS aggregation sites (like Technorati) and asking them to drop the splog feeds have worked for you?

HTML woes: Google/Amazon ads and IE display woes

jdroth — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:38:23 -0800

HTML woes: How can I make Amazon ads play nice with Google ads? Also, why is my web site's layout screwed up in Internet Explorer on Windows? I can't figure it out. #1 — Starting with this Sesame Street post in the blue, I was able to create an entry on my personal site that has enjoyed very high traffic (for me) over the past week. My Google Ads have worked nicely, but now I want to tack on an Amazon iframe ad in the middle of the entry. When I do, something goes wrong. Where the Amazon ad should appear, half of the Google ad appears, and the regular Google ad doesn't appear where it should at the bottom of the page. I haven't the faintest clue what's wrong. (I've taken the Amazon ad down for the time being, so there's no broken-ness to view; I can re-implement the broken-ness if that will help diagnose the problem.)

#2 — On a similar note, my site doesn't display properly on Internet Explorer for Windows. It's always been a source of embarrassment, but now I'm even more ashamed to have all these new visitors coming to look at Sesame Street videos only to find my broken formatting. Here's a screenshot of how things look on my Mac (and most (all?) Mozilla-based browsers). Here's a screenshot of how things look on Internet Explorer for Windows. I have no idea what is causing the problem. (Well, I suspect it's something in my sidebar, but beyond that I'm clueless.) Can anyone help me diagnose this problem? I've been ignoring it for almost two years.

Web Bam!!!

Smarson — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 07:02:32 -0800

Blogging 201: Let's kick it up a notch! Alright, I've started my blog. I've got this posting/editing/linking thing down. One of my posts even broke the 10 comment bench mark. Pretty much I'm poised to take over the blogosphere single handedly at which point, fame and/or fortune will be mine.

However, before I get really big I want to make sure I'm properly utilizing resources that are available to me. Someone mentioned Site Meter which looks pretty useful. What other kinds of tweaks are available for one such as me (a cocky upstart who thinks after a week he knows the score)? What is this Technorati thing? Show me what ya' got mefites!

Where can I find a weblog designer for Typepad?

IndigoSkye — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 11:55:46 -0800

Where can I find someone who can design an advanced typepad template for my blog for a reasonable price? I've been doing the 'blog' thing since 1999 using various platforms and hosts. But I've never quite mastered the vagrancies of CSS and MovableTyple MarkUp Language and now I don't have the time to. I have a moderately successful blog, in such that I have a lot of regular readers and am considered something of an expert in my subject, but I fear its design is holding it back. In fact, I've been getting lots of reports that it doesn't work well in Safari or Mozilla. I need someone who can take the design to the next level while still being usable across many platforms. I'm willing to pay for this service, but my budget is small. So I'd like to see examples of design work before making up my mind.

Does anyone have a designer with experience working with advanced typepad templates who they would like to recommend?

What weblog software would you recommend?

TorontoSandy — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 18:18:54 -0800

Web Blog filter - I'm thinking of posting a blog that will have lots of useful links and information to attract readers. Eventually - I'm thinking Google Ads to pull in some money (very little, I expect). There may be a database so users can run a search query. I'd like my own domain name instead of www.JoeSmith.typepad.com. I'd also like to do everything I can so that I'm googlable. Now for the question, what software or service would you recommend?

Why has my MT weblog died? Can it be fixed?

jdroth — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 15:55:43 -0800

My website is hosted by Dreamhost. It primarily consists of a Movable Type weblog that I keep for family and friends. A few others have weblogs on my MT installation. I use the Berkely DB option and MT 2.661 (for licensing reasons). Suddenly today I am unable to login. Comments result in an odd error. When I attempt to recover my password, I get an 'invalid username' error. To me, it appears the database has become corrupt. HELP! Can the database be saved? Does anyone have experience with a similar blogtastrophe?

Interesting musicians who weblog - know of any?

theNonsuch — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 09:33:33 -0800

I'm putting together a comprehensive list of interesting musicians who run their own weblogs - can you help? I've already got a bunch but I'd like to try and put together a definitive list. When I say interesting musicians, I'm talking about those that fall just slightly (or quite a bit) off of the beaten path - musicians like Bob Mould, or Mike Doughty, or even Radiohead. Basically, musicians that would be considered (and I hate using this term) "alternative", or at the very least popular musicians with something interesting to say.

Here's my list so far:

Thanks!

Anyone anonyblogging?

skylar — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 04:49:37 -0800

Is there a simple to use, high-quality weblog creation service that will allow me to blog with a reasonable level of anonymity? Blogger has always been okay but as far as I know doesn't seem to cater for categories, which is something I seek. I'm attracted to TypePad though a look at their privacy policy suggests they're collecting all sorts of information and are likely to pass it on to quite a few parties. Are there more anonymous blog apps out there?

What's a good weblog traffic analyzer for a personal website?

robbie01 — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 16:13:45 -0800

What's a good weblog traffic analyzer for a personal website? I have a single website that I'd like to track the stats on, my ISP provides standard .log files. It is just a personal site, so I don't need enterprise-level data analysis or reports.

I'm currently using the free version of Weblog Expert Lite 3.5, which runs locally on my PC (preferred, though I'm open to a Mac-based app as well.)

I don't want to have to install anything fancy or do anything to my site or to the servers in UNIX. Just something that will take a standard .log file and show me pretty charts and graphs, DNS lookups, all the normal stuff -- and without much effort on my part.

Just wondering if there is a better package I should look at (free, shareware or VERY reasonable commercial), or should I just spend the $80 to get the Professional version of Weblog Analyzer that offers more features than the free version?

What are the best mini blogs?

lewistate — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 21:30:02 -0800

When I need a quick fix on the web, I inevitably find myself checking a small handful of feeds in my RSS reader. Mini blogs, link blogs, sidebar blogs -- call them what you will, they all share the same characteristics: plenty of links and not much commentary. Which mini blogs do you read on a regular basis? I'm familiar with Waxy, Kottke, Little Yellow Diferent, Robot Wisdom, and a few others, but I know there must be plenty of these sites out there. RSS feeds are a plus, but not a dealbreaker. So what are your favorite quick-fix mini blogs?

greymatter for stupids.

ITheCosmos — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 17:46:45 -0800

I'm an idiot: did I just lose part of my website forever? [Greymatter Issues] OK, so I am working on cobbling together my first site. And I was just cutting and pasting the html for the left and right columns of my main page into the corresponding Greymatter template fields, hit save, reloaded my site, and the columns were empty. Went back to the template page, and the fields are now blank. What did I do and how do I fix it? I feel like a big dork.

Is Blogads profitable?

Servo5678 — Sun, 22 May 2005 15:33:52 -0800

Does anyone have experience with Blogads? I've been approached to join their ad program in which I'd place ads from their network of advertisers on my blog in exchange for a share of the profits. My blog gets about 700 hits per day (on a good non-Slashdotted day). Can a blog as small as mine be profitable with Blogads? Are Blogads's business dealings fair and above the table? Are Blogads's ads so annoying that most people in-the-know block them with Adblock etc.? Basically, is Blogads a good idea for my blog?

Non-U.S. Politics

Yelling At Nothing — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 18:50:28 -0800

Are there political weblogs that do not discuss only U.S. politics? This thread got me thinking about what people in other countries think of our soldiers, which got me thinking about foreign politics. So, I am wondering what good weblog sources there are for foreign politics.

I ask specifically about weblogs because I want the opinions of so-called "real people;" foreign newspapers are easy enough to find online, likewise stuff from think tanks.

I guess what I'm asking is, is there a foreign (European or otherwise) equivalent of DailyKos, or of RedState?

Question number 14469

inksyndicate — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 21:23:11 -0800

I want to put up letters from World War II in blog form. Is there software, or tweaked software, to post weblog entries with dates in the 1940s?