IS346 - Social Technologies :: Activity :: Just Me | People: | Everyone | Inbox | Just Me |
| Display: | Full-text | Summary |
| Include: | Blog Posts | Blog Comments | Files | Wiki Page | Wiki Comments |
| << Older | Page 1 of 50 |
Drupal is a free open source for a content management system which is very powerful. Drupal is robust and suitable for business or education. It has quite a complex interface. There are several technical terms such as node, block, module and so on that I'm not familiar with although we learned to install and use several technologies in class. I installed Drupal version 5.3, which is the latest version, two months ago. But a couple of days ago when I checked the official Drupal Web site, it is now version 5.5 and has a version 6 beta. It will launch version 6 soon. The fact that there are many developers and big communities to support Drupal means it is an outstanding tool. It is growing very quickly.
Drupal is a great tool for creating online communities. You can have all the necessary features for an online community, such as, aggregator, blogs, books (or wikis in my opinion), discussion boards (forums), polls, and RSS feeds. There are 31 modules that come with the original installation. Even these modules that come with an original Drupal are enough for building a good Web site. You can also install other useful modules that the Drupal community provides you for free. There are many categories from which you can choose which ones are suitable for your site.
I successfully installed Drupal, which is as easy as Wordpress, but when I configured Drupal, it was not so easy. For admin, there are default menus such as Content management, Site building, Site configuration, User management, Logs, and Help. In Drupal we can install modules, which are the same thing as we call plugins in WordPress and extensions in MediaWiki.
· Content management – shows what kinds of content you can publish in a Drupal site, such as books, forums, comments, image galleries, news aggregators, RSS, etc.
· Site building – manages themes, blocks, menus, modules, etc.
· Site configuration – deals with the configuration of default modules and installed modules.
· User management – manages access control, access rules, profiles, roles, search users, users, and user settings.
· Logs – monitors the Drupal site and shows statistics of system events, such as recent log entries, recent hits, status report, etc. and maintains site performances and prevent misbehavior of users or robots.
§Help – provides help topics.
There are many settings in Drupal and I will explain only important ones.
Site configuration-> Site information - adds information to a Drupal site such as slogan, mission, and footer messages.
Site configuration->Administration Theme - changes the Administer theme which can be different from the main Drupal theme. This means when I log in as an Admin, I have two different themes, one for admin and another one for the main theme that visitors will see. This feature is like in phpBB.
User management -> Access control – grants permission for anonymous and anthenticated users to have rights to use modules.
Site building->Menus – creates and customizes the menus.
Site building -> Blocks - changes the layout of the menu bar such as left sidebar, right sidebar, content, header, and footer. I can choose what I want to display on the left side bar such as User login and Navigation. On the right side bar I can choose to show such options as Who's online, Who's new, Sumonta.mysocialtech.com, and Recent comments.
Site building -> Themes – installs themes by uploading themes to the server at drupal/themes/ and configuring those themes.
Site building -> Modules – enables or disables add-on modules. Each module allows me to configure what I want to have on my Drupal site.
This table shows the original modules that come with Drupal.
Name | Description |
| Aggregator | Aggregates syndicated content (RSS, RDF, and Atom feeds). |
| Blog | Enables keeping easily and regularly updated user web pages or blogs. |
| Blog API | Allows users to post content using applications that support XML-RPC blog APIs. |
| Book | Allows users to collaboratively author a book. |
| Color | Allows the user to change the color scheme of certain themes. |
| Comment | Allows users to comment on and discuss published content. Required by: Forum (enabled), Tracker (enabled) |
| Contact | Enables the use of both personal and site-wide contact forms. |
| Drupal | Lets you register your site with a central server and improve ranking of Drupal projects by posting information on your installed modules and themes |
| Forum | Enables threaded discussions about general topics. Depends on: Taxonomy (enabled), Comment (enabled) |
| Help | Manages the display of online help. |
| Legacy | Provides legacy handlers for upgrades from older Drupal installations. |
| Locale | Enables the translation of the user interface to languages other than English. |
| Menu | Allows administrators to customize the site navigation menu. |
| Path | Allows users to rename URLs. |
| Ping | Alerts other sites when your site has been updated. |
| Poll | Allows your site to capture votes on different topics in the form of multiple choice questions. |
| Profile | Supports configurable user profiles. |
| Search | Enables site-wide keyword searching. |
| Statistics | Logs access statistics for your site. |
| Taxonomy | Enables the categorization of content. Required by: Forum (enabled), Image Gallery (enabled) |
| Throttle | Handles the auto-throttling mechanism, to control site congestion. |
| Tracker | Enables tracking of recent posts for users. Depends on: Comment (enabled) |
| Upload | Allows users to upload and attach files to content. Required by: Upload image (enabled) |
| Block | Controls the boxes that are displayed around the main content. |
| Filter | Handles the filtering of content in preparation for display. |
| Node | Allows content to be submitted to the site and displayed on pages. |
| System | Handles general site configuration for administrators. |
| User | Manages the user registration and login system. |
| Watchdog | Logs and records system events. |
I enable almost every module that I think is useful. I will explain only the main features that I think are important and interesting.
Blog – allows each user to have his/her own blog. This feature works like Wordpress MU but it is better. When each user posts an article in his/her own blog, it displays that post on the main page. This feature can help maintain content on the main page when we have an online community and want other members to know what is going on in other blogs.
Book – allows users to write books together. I claim that this is a wiki feature in Drupal. The user can add new pages, edit, and delete contents. It provides a history to keep track of who adds, changes, and deletes. We can also revert to an old version if we wish.
Forum – allows the user to create discussion boards on the Drupal site. It may not be as good as phpBB that is used for discussion boards but this feature makes it possible for Drupal to provide almost everything in one Web site.
I also installed many modules in my Drupal site to make it more powerful. Some modules don’t work unless they have other modules to support them, so sometimes I have to find other modules. It is quite difficult in Drupal to install and learn how to use each module. It is not as easy as Wordpress. After I enable it, I have to change its permission in User management->access control, configure each module, and learn how to use it. Each module may display in different places.
These are modules that I installed in addition to the original modules:
Event Module – displays calendar and events. I can choose where I want this calendar to display. Users can add more events at the create content menu.
Name | Description |
| Basic event | A story-like node that implements the event API automatically. Depends on: Event (enabled) |
| Event | Calendaring API, calendar display and export Required by: Basic event (enabled), Event All Day (enabled), Event Views (enabled), Event Repeat (enabled) |
| Event All Day | Allows creation of all-day events. Depends on: Event (enabled) |
| Event Views | Views-enables the event fields and creates default event views. Depends on: Event (enabled), Views (enabled) |
| Event Repeat | Adds repeating event functionality to event module. Depends on: Event (enabled)Required by: Event Repeat Views (enabled) |
| Event Repeat Views | Views-enables the eventrepeat module. Depends on: Event Repeat (enabled), Views (enabled) |
Image Module – allows uploading and showing pictures. It can create and manage galleries.
Name | Description |
| CCK Slideshow | Adds a slideshow formatter to CCK image types. Depends on: Content (enabled), Image (enabled), Imagecache (enabled), JQuery Interface Library (enabled) |
| Image | Allows uploading, resizing and viewing of images. Required by: Image Attach (enabled), Image Gallery (enabled), Image Import (enabled), Image assist (enabled), Upload image (enabled) |
| Image Attach | Allows easy attaching of image nodes to other content types. Depends on: Image (enabled) |
| Image Gallery | Allows sorting and displaying of image galleries based on categories. Depends on: Image (enabled), Taxonomy (enabled) |
| ImageMagick Advanced Options | Adds advanced options to the ImageMagick image toolkit. |
| Image Import | Allows batches of images to be imported from a directory on the server. Depends on: Image (enabled) |
| Imagecache | Dynamic image manipulator and cache. Required by: CCK Slideshow (enabled) |
| Image assist | This module allows users to upload and insert inline images into posts. It automatically generates an Add image link under the textarea fields of your choice. Depends on: Image (enabled) |
| Upload image | Image nodes will be created from images uploaded as attachments. Depends on: Image (enabled), Upload (enabled) |
SWF tools module – allows the user to add MP3 and flash movie and show them on the Drupal site.
Name | Description |
| jquery.flash.js | Integration with Luke Lutman's jquery.flash.js Flash replacement plugin. This ships with SWF Tools, it does not need to be downloaded separately. Depends on: SWF Tools (enabled) |
| 1 Pixel Out | SWF Tools support for 1 Pixel Out MP3 Player. Depends on: SWF Tools (enabled) |
| SimpleViewer | Unstable: Integration with SimpleViewer. Depends on: SWF Tools (enabled) |
| SWFObject | Support for SWFObject by Geoff Stearns Depends on: SWF Tools (enabled) |
| SWF Tools | Provides a generic API for Macromedia Flash related tasks Required by: jquery.flash.js (enabled), 1 Pixel Out (enabled), SimpleViewer (enabled), SWFObject (enabled), UFO (enabled), Wijering Flash (enabled) |
| SWF Tools Integration | Unstable: Provides useful integration options that can be switched on in the menu. |
| UFO | Support for UFO by Bobby Van der Sluis Depends on: SWF Tools (enabled) |
| Wijering Flash | SWF Tools support for Jeroen Wijering Flash Players. Depends on: SWF Tools (enabled) |
Chat room module– allows users to create chat rooms and chat with each other by using AJAX technology.
TinyMCE module– provides a WYSIWYG editor for page, post, and comment. The user can easily edit the contents. The editor that it provides works like MS-word.
In conclusion, Drupal is an open source that is very useful and is interesting to learn how to use. I believe that I can gain many benefits from it if I understand thoroughly how to use it. It is complicated but it is also flexible. You can configure what you want to have in your site. There are many modules for you to install and configure. It also has an active community and developers to improve and support Drupal. I think this is a great tool for building an online community.
LifeType
LifeType is an open-source blogging platform with support for multiple blogs and users in a single installation.
LifeType's design goal is to create a blogging platform that will enable users to spend as little time as possible between installation and actually posting. For that reason, LifeType will stay within its confines of a blogging platform and will not add any official features that aren't strictly blogging related. LifeType will not attempt to become another content management system like PostNuke or Joomla, though the templating system is simple enough, so that embeding other software packages into LifeType is relatively simple (and vice versa).
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/About_LifeType
LifeType Version
The first version that I have installed is Version 1.2.5 Beta. After the crash of my LifeType, I have installed the latest version, which is Version 1.2.5.
Requirements of LifeType
LifeType Version 1.2.5 requires the followings :
Strengths of LifeType
The strengths of LifeType are :
(i) LifeType has a multiblog platform. I actually tried the multiblog platform just before the crash and it did work. But I wasn’t sure whether that was the cause of the crash, so I did not try to set up the other blog again.
(ii) LifeType is very simple. Those people who just want to blog will definitely like LifeType as at the post template, icons for embedding video, images and music have been provided.
(iii) Some of the plugins for LifeType do not need any configuration and that makes life easier. All the user need to do is download the plugin and upload it to the Virtual WorkSpace. Once uploaded, the plugin can be seen at the Administration page of LifeType. All that is required now is to enable the plugin.
Limitations of LifeType
The limitations of LifeType are :
(i) LifeType does not have a good HELP facility. Even when I googled, there is not much help. I guess all the users are simple people that they just used what is provided for by LifeType. I have even tried to contact LifeType and asked some questions, until now, there is no response from them!
(ii) There are also not many plugins for LifeType. The reason may be due to the fact that it is still a nascent social networking platform and again those people using it are not so techky. Some of the plugins does not function that well. For example, I couldn’t get Technocrati Tag Cloud or TagCloud to work.
(iii) The templates options are very few. Unlike WordPress, LifeType has only 14 templates option.
Plugins Installed
I have installed 6 plugins and got them working. The effect of 2 plugins can only be seen in the administration page. The rest can be seen at the user pages. I have written some remarks on each plugin as shown below.
(i) Copy Article
This plugin adds extra functionality to the "Edit Posts" page, so that it is possible to copy an existing article into a new one. The functionality is exposed via a new icon in the "Action" column for each one of the posts, and only one article can be copied at a time. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_copyarticle
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. This feature can be seen at the Manage - Post page. This is one of the plugins that can only be seen at the Administrator Page.
(ii) Mail Center
This plugin allows site administrators to easily contact their users via email, via a couple of easy to use screens. Site administrators can either send emails to a user or a group of users.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_mailcentre
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. This plugin can be seen at the Administration – Mail Center. This plugin is only meant for Administrator.
(iii) FeedReader
This plugin uses pLog's integrated RSS parser to allow users to read RSS and Atom feeds right from within their administration interfaces. The plugin also features support for RSS 2.0 enclosures.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_feedreader
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. The only thing that is required to be done is to find the RSS materials. To include the RSS materials, this has to be done at the Manage-Manage Link. First, I have to create a new link by completing the name of the link, the URL and descriptions.
To read the RSS from the administration page, just click at Manage – Feed Reader. For the user, this feature is at the side bar under the Menu – RSS Links.
(iv) Require Email
The Require Email plugin makes email addresses required for adding comments. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_requireemail
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated.
For the Administrator, this plugin can be seen at Control Center – Anti Spam Management. As for the user, this plugin can be seen at the Comment template, where the user will be required to input their email.
(v) Smileys
This plugin adds the smileys at the comment template. However, I was rather disappointed as the smiley that will be on the text is not the actual smiley. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_smileys
Installing this plugin was straight forward. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, I had to include this script at the commentFrom.template in the default folder :
{if $smileys->isEnabled()} <script type="text/javascript" src="{$url- >getBaseUrl()}/plugins/smileys/js/smileys/smileys.js"></script><br/><label for="smileysBar"></label>{$smileys->generateSmileysBar()}{/if}
The smileys can be seen at the comment template.
(vi) Sociable
This plugin display all the sociable icons at the blog post.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_sociable
Installing this plugin was not that straight forward. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, I have to put this script {$sociable->showCSS()} at the header.template. The I have to put this script {assign var="postId" value=$post->getId()} {$sociable->show($postId)} at the post.template.
LifeType Updates
There are 6 weeks of comments for LifeType. All the comments have been entered into my personal blogs under the following headings :
(i) LifeType - The First Impression
(ii) LifeType Update 2
(iii) LifeType Update 3
(iv) LifeType Update 4
(v) LifeType Update 5
(vi) LifeType Update 6
I have also attached all the write-ups for the above 6 updates in the pages below.
Final Words on LifeType
For any blogger who just want to blog for the first time, this is the simplest platform that can be used. So, this can be a test bed or the stepping stone for novice bloggers. Most of the features like embedding of video, music and images have been catered for, at the post template. I don’t actually enjoy using LifeType as there are limitations such as the templates, the plugins and also the poor Help feature.
I guess those who are adventurous and aggressive with social networking platforms, will not choose LifeType as their platform because it doesn’t have much to offer, unless those bloggers are willing to help out to develop more plugins. I guess that is why there is not many help providers even when googling for help.
LifeType
LifeType is an open-source blogging platform with support for multiple blogs and users in a single installation.
LifeType's design goal is to create a blogging platform that will enable users to spend as little time as possible between installation and actually posting. For that reason, LifeType will stay within its confines of a blogging platform and will not add any official features that aren't strictly blogging related. LifeType will not attempt to become another content management system like PostNuke or Joomla, though the templating system is simple enough, so that embeding other software packages into LifeType is relatively simple (and vice versa).
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/About_LifeType
LifeType Version
The first version that I have installed is Version 1.2.5 Beta. After the crash of my LifeType, I have installed the latest version, which is Version 1.2.5.
Requirements of LifeType
LifeType Version 1.2.5 requires the followings :
Strengths of LifeType
The strengths of LifeType are :
(i) LifeType has a multiblog platform. I actually tried the multiblog platform just before the crash and it did work. But I wasn’t sure whether that was the cause of the crash, so I did not try to set up the other blog again.
(ii) LifeType is very simple. Those people who just want to blog will definitely like LifeType as at the post template, icons for embedding video, images and music have been provided.
(iii) Some of the plugins for LifeType do not need any configuration and that makes life easier. All the user need to do is download the plugin and upload it to the Virtual WorkSpace. Once uploaded, the plugin can be seen at the Administration page of LifeType. All that is required now is to enable the plugin.
Limitations of LifeType
The limitations of LifeType are :
(i) LifeType does not have a good HELP facility. Even when I googled, there is not much help. I guess all the users are simple people that they just used what is provided for by LifeType. I have even tried to contact LifeType and asked some questions, until now, there is no response from them!
(ii) There are also not many plugins for LifeType. The reason may be due to the fact that it is still a nascent social networking platform and again those people using it are not so techky. Some of the plugins does not function that well. For example, I couldn’t get Technocrati Tag Cloud or TagCloud to work.
(iii) The templates options are very few. Unlike WordPress, LifeType has only 14 templates option.
Plugins Installed
I have installed 6 plugins and got them working. The effect of 2 plugins can only be seen in the administration page. The rest can be seen at the user pages. I have written some remarks on each plugin as shown below.
(i) Copy Article
This plugin adds extra functionality to the "Edit Posts" page, so that it is possible to copy an existing article into a new one. The functionality is exposed via a new icon in the "Action" column for each one of the posts, and only one article can be copied at a time. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_copyarticle
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. This feature can be seen at the Manage - Post page. This is one of the plugins that can only be seen at the Administrator Page.
(ii) Mail Center
This plugin allows site administrators to easily contact their users via email, via a couple of easy to use screens. Site administrators can either send emails to a user or a group of users.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_mailcentre
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. This plugin can be seen at the Administration – Mail Center. This plugin is only meant for Administrator.
(iii) FeedReader
This plugin uses pLog's integrated RSS parser to allow users to read RSS and Atom feeds right from within their administration interfaces. The plugin also features support for RSS 2.0 enclosures.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_feedreader
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. The only thing that is required to be done is to find the RSS materials. To include the RSS materials, this has to be done at the Manage-Manage Link. First, I have to create a new link by completing the name of the link, the URL and descriptions.
To read the RSS from the administration page, just click at Manage – Feed Reader. For the user, this feature is at the side bar under the Menu – RSS Links.
(iv) Require Email
The Require Email plugin makes email addresses required for adding comments. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_requireemail
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated.
For the Administrator, this plugin can be seen at Control Center – Anti Spam Management. As for the user, this plugin can be seen at the Comment template, where the user will be required to input their email.
(v) Smileys
This plugin adds the smileys at the comment template. However, I was rather disappointed as the smiley that will be on the text is not the actual smiley. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_smileys
Installing this plugin was straight forward. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, I had to include this script at the commentFrom.template in the default folder :
{if $smileys->isEnabled()} <script type="text/javascript" src="{$url- >getBaseUrl()}/plugins/smileys/js/smileys/smileys.js"></script><br/><label for="smileysBar"></label>{$smileys->generateSmileysBar()}{/if}
The smileys can be seen at the comment template.
(vi) Sociable
This plugin display all the sociable icons at the blog post.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_sociable
Installing this plugin was not that straight forward. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, I have to put this script {$sociable->showCSS()} at the header.template. The I have to put this script {assign var="postId" value=$post->getId()} {$sociable->show($postId)} at the post.template.
LifeType Updates
There are 5 weeks of comments for LifeType. All the comments have been entered into my personal blogs under the following headings :
(i) LifeType - The First Impression
(ii) LifeType Update 2
(iii) LifeType Update 3
(iv) LifeType Update 4
(v) LifeType Update 5
(vi) LifeType Update 6
I have also attached all the write-ups for the above 6 updates in the pages below.
Final Words on LifeType
For any blogger who just want to blog for the first time, this is the simplest platform that can be used. So, this can be a test bed or the stepping stone for novice bloggers. Most of the features like embedding of video, music and images have been catered for, at the post template. I don’t actually enjoy using LifeType as there are limitations such as the templates, the plugins and also the poor Help feature.
I guess those who are adventurous and aggressive with social networking platforms, will not choose LifeType as their platform because it doesn’t have much to offer, unless those bloggers are willing to help out to develop more plugins. I guess that is why there is not many help providers even when googling for help.
LifeType
LifeType is an open-source blogging platform with support for multiple blogs and users in a single installation.
LifeType's design goal is to create a blogging platform that will enable users to spend as little time as possible between installation and actually posting. For that reason, LifeType will stay within its confines of a blogging platform and will not add any official features that aren't strictly blogging related. LifeType will not attempt to become another content management system like PostNuke or Joomla, though the templating system is simple enough, so that embeding other software packages into LifeType is relatively simple (and vice versa).
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/About_LifeType
LifeType Version
The first version that I have installed is Version 1.2.5 Beta. After the crash of my LifeType, I have installed the latest version, which is Version 1.2.5.
Requirements of LifeType
LifeType Version 1.2.5 requires the followings :
Strengths of LifeType
The strengths of LifeType are :
(i) LifeType has a multiblog platform. I actually tried the multiblog platform just before the crash and it did work. But I wasn’t sure whether that was the cause of the crash, so I did not try to set up the other blog again.
(ii) LifeType is very simple. Those people who just want to blog will definitely like LifeType as at the post template, icons for embedding video, images and music have been provided.
(iii) Some of the plugins for LifeType do not need any configuration and that makes life easier. All the user need to do is download the plugin and upload it to the Virtual WorkSpace. Once uploaded, the plugin can be seen at the Administration page of LifeType. All that is required now is to enable the plugin.
Limitations of LifeType
The limitations of LifeType are :
(i) LifeType does not have a good HELP facility. Even when I googled, there is not much help. I guess all the users are simple people that they just used what is provided for by LifeType. I have even tried to contact LifeType and asked some questions, until now, there is no response from them!
(ii) There are also not many plugins for LifeType. The reason may be due to the fact that it is still a nascent social networking platform and again those people using it are not so techky. Some of the plugins does not function that well. For example, I couldn’t get Technocrati Tag Cloud or TagCloud to work.
(iii) The templates options are very few. Unlike WordPress, LifeType has only 14 templates option.
Plugins Installed
I have installed 6 plugins and got them working. The effect of 2 plugins can only be seen in the administration page. The rest can be seen at the user pages. I have written some remarks on each plugin as shown below.
(i) Copy Article
This plugin adds extra functionality to the "Edit Posts" page, so that it is possible to copy an existing article into a new one. The functionality is exposed via a new icon in the "Action" column for each one of the posts, and only one article can be copied at a time. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_copyarticle
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. This feature can be seen at the Manage - Post page. This is one of the plugins that can only be seen at the Administrator Page.
(ii) Mail Center
This plugin allows site administrators to easily contact their users via email, via a couple of easy to use screens. Site administrators can either send emails to a user or a group of users.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_mailcentre
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. This plugin can be seen at the Administration – Mail Center. This plugin is only meant for Administrator.
(iii) FeedReader
This plugin uses pLog's integrated RSS parser to allow users to read RSS and Atom feeds right from within their administration interfaces. The plugin also features support for RSS 2.0 enclosures.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_feedreader
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated. The only thing that is required to be done is to find the RSS materials. To include the RSS materials, this has to be done at the Manage-Manage Link. First, I have to create a new link by completing the name of the link, the URL and descriptions.
To read the RSS from the administration page, just click at Manage – Feed Reader. For the user, this feature is at the side bar under the Menu – RSS Links.
(iv) Require Email
The Require Email plugin makes email addresses required for adding comments. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_requireemail
Installing this plugin was straight forward. No configuration was needed. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, the plugin is ready to be activated.
For the Administrator, this plugin can be seen at Control Center – Anti Spam Management. As for the user, this plugin can be seen at the Comment template, where the user will be required to input their email.
(v) Smileys
This plugin adds the smileys at the comment template. However, I was rather disappointed as the smiley that will be on the text is not the actual smiley. Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_smileys
Installing this plugin was straight forward. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, I had to include this script at the commentFrom.template in the default folder :
{if $smileys->isEnabled()} <script type="text/javascript" src="{$url- >getBaseUrl()}/plugins/smileys/js/smileys/smileys.js"></script><br/><label for="smileysBar"></label>{$smileys->generateSmileysBar()}{/if}
The smileys can be seen at the comment template.
(vi) Sociable
This plugin display all the sociable icons at the blog post.
Source : http://wiki.lifetype.net/index.php/Plugin_sociable
Installing this plugin was not that straight forward. Once uploaded to the Virtual WorkSpace, I have to put this script {$sociable->showCSS()} at the header.template. The I have to put this script {assign var="postId" value=$post->getId()} {$sociable->show($postId)} at the post.template.
LifeType Assignments
