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Helpful Hints - for blogging with the new system
- You may not realize it, but you can now go back and edit a post that's already up. Just click on "blog now." And above the place to blog, you'll see some tabs. Look for the one that says "manage." Click on that and click on "entries" in the drop down list. Then you can double click on your chosen post (in the list). And you'll get the original window with your text for that post.
You can then make changes and preview them, after which you can save again. And it will look lovely, just the way you want it.
- Using the feature above, you can get rid of duplicate posts or fix any previous blogs where you had mistakes and never got a chance to edit.
- Using that feature, you can do an update at the bottom of any post.
- You have options when you're blogging. You can use rich text or you can switch to all html. There's something you can toggle... and even go back and forth.
If you want it in blockquotes, you can highlight your quoted info and then look for the button that has an arrow (pointing to the right) for indenting. So you can move your highlighted text as much indented as you like. Or if you change your mind, you can use the arrow pointing to the left and it will move your text back.
- Here's one dijamo taught me today:
You can add an image to a post right now but only in HTML format. You can toggle between the rich text formatting and html mode when creating a post. I'm a total technophobe, but it worked:
* locate the pic on a webpage (or upload it to a site like www.photobucket.com if it is on your computer.
* (IMG SRC="http://www.spiralroad.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/bush-mccain-hug.jpg" WIDTH=105 HEIGHT=97 ALT="Asshats"). But instead of the parentheses use those bracket thingies.
* Once you do the code for the image in html, when you toggle back to rich text formatting, you should be able to see the pic in your post.
Preview is your friend. Keep adjusting the width, height until it looks normal. Youtube vids are much easier - in HTML mode, just copy the embed link for the video from the youtube site.
- You can "unfollow" someone you're "following" just by clicking again at their profile.
- Try some of these ideas or add some of your own in the comments below.
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This post was requested by astral66, whose post looks ever so much better after a lot of tinkering with the edit function. You can check it out here, proof that the new system works and allows for a lovely finished product:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/astral66/2008/10/native-alaskans-not-happy-with.php
Scroll down through the comments and you'll see what I mean.
October 14, 2008 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks TheraP. I saw that you participated in the beta. I have been involved in some pretty extensive ones in the past and I know that they can be time consuming. I appreciate the tips.
October 14, 2008 12:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks TheraP! Thi will be really helpful!
October 14, 2008 12:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for putting this up, TheraP!
Let's rec this up and try to keep it going. The learning curve isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I signed up for the beta, but failed miserably. It certainly helps to have some basic pointers.
October 14, 2008 12:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
There's no way a person can "fail" a beta. The beta failed your efforts.
October 14, 2008 1:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can we embed video with this?
I'm only seeing the "blog now" buttons, etc., on the front page. Is it just me? As soon as I click to navigate away from Reader Comments, they flash up, right before the page disappears. Strange.
October 14, 2008 12:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, indeed, I'm getting a link right now and we can ask the person who put that up:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/mageduley/2008/10/if-the-impossible-happens---a.php
I've left a message there to please come here and tell us how to do it.
But check out the video. It's great!
October 14, 2008 1:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Thera! Hey All!
Embedding video was much easier than I thought (although I did not do any text below it)
Wherever you get your video there should be a "get code" link like the one below my vid screen, or on youtube copy the "embed" code that is listed near the top right of the page (under the users name and url link)
Once the code is copied, get to your blog screen and use the drop down menu to change from rich text fomat to "None". Then paste the embed code you copied into the text box below.
That is it. The embed has all the formatting you need (that is why you choose none).
Preview - looks good doesn't it? To tell you the truth I am having a harder time with still pics. (sizing and all)
Have Fun :)
October 14, 2008 1:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, thanks a million for the embedding tip. I just gave it a try and it worked like a charm.
October 16, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can "unfollow" someone you're "following" just by clicking again at their profile.
And you can easily manage this, i.e., alter who you are following or you just want to go their profile, and see who is following you
by going to your own "Your Blog" link.
Below your avatar, there is
Following:
Followers:
with the numbers after them.
Click on the numbers there, not the words. The numbers take you to a list of the people you are following and those following you, with links to their pages!
At first thought one would think this should be on the Dashboard page, but it's not, it's on everyone's "Your Blog" page, so that everyone else can see it.
October 14, 2008 1:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
This whole "following" thing gives me the heebie jeebies. So far I'm all stalker and no stalkee.
October 14, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, thanks. Great tips.
October 14, 2008 7:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks...big help!
October 14, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks to Al, this is back up where you can us it!
October 14, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you use Mozilla Sea Monkey's html "Composer", it will write the code for you to copy and paste into your TPM blog's html feature.
October 14, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's another tip. This one was provided by Al at the beta site:
Go to "blog now." And look up at the menu above the place where you'd blog. The far right corner, (to the right of tools) has a little icon. If you click on that icon, it's your short-cut back to your all your blogs and your profile next to those blogs.
I think I'll also put this up in the post via edit.
October 14, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for this info, TheraP. I visited my Moveable Type page, and it looks interesting, if a little opaque at the moment. Do you know why the decision was made to post people's IP Addresses? That seems to compromise privacy considerably. I can see why TPM would want to know a user's IP, but not why other TPM users need to know and why it should be available for really anyone anywhere on the web to see. Was this just a goof?
I can get back into some old comments there, all the way back to May 2006 (that's not all of them, but definitely much appreciated, TPM folks!), although on my "Dashboard" page all I can see right now is one recent one. It appears there's lots more functionality now.
One thing I'd still really like to see is the ability to edit comments not just posts. Do you have any idea if that's in the works, TheraP?
And the other thing that would be great if we could track individual responses to some comment we posted, without the necessity of making the person someone we follow, and then having to search through everything they've been talking about in order to see if there's a response to our own comment. I still miss the old TPM; the congeniality there I think was fostered by the ability to really have an ongoing conversation with someone. I don't really know how to do that here, as they seem to get lost so easily...
And thanks for being a beta tester, TheraP.
UPDATE: I'm still having problems posting comments. When I submit it says I have to log in again; when I log in again the "Preview" and "Submit" buttons have disappeared. I have to open a new window with the post (by using the "Permalink" button) and then I can submit. Whoops...even that didn't work. Hitting the refresh button may do it...I hope....
October 14, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's news to me that the IP address is posted. Do you see everyone's or just yours? Maybe you want to send a note to Al about that.
We used to be able to edit comments (unless they had been replied to). But that was before the so-called Feb "upgrade" occurred.
Regarding your difficulty posting, click on Al's blog (you'll find it listed in your "dashboard" above). And I believe he had some advice about going in and deleting cookies, and trying again.
I'm not really up on what's coming. But again, take a look at Al's blog. I think he's given a lot of info in past blogs.
Best wishes, Wordie!
October 14, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't find any IP addresses, Wordie. I've checked my stuff and yours. Where are you finding this?
I've blocked certain things for self-protection, so I don't know if that would have been blanked out. But I'm concerned now.....
October 14, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
TheraP: The IP addresses are still there, in the Moveable Type area that one goes to on clicking "Blog Now." If I use the "Manage" drop down box and then choose "Comments," I'm taken to a page with the responses of people who have responded to my past blog posts, and some of their IP addresses still show. I can see comments - not all the way back to when I joined, but as far back as May 2006. I notice that the earlier and comments don't reveal the IP addresses, which suggests there is some new change that caused them to show.
Could you pass this on to Al Shaw, as a beta tester? I'm pressed for time this morning, so if you could that would be much appreciated. :) Or whoever might read this...
October 15, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
My favorite new feature is the greater transparency in discovering who a poster is (their profile), who they're recommending, and what they're saying on other blogs. It makes for a much richer experience of virtual community.
October 14, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm having trouble with following. Do I go to the person's blog and click Follow Me? That's what I've been doing and nothing happens.
October 14, 2008 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Click the "Your Dashboard" link at the top of the page. That's where the results show up.
October 16, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink