Writing Blog Software

Creating a Blog Component

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:26:38 -0600

I've begun the work of adding a blog component to Group commons, Inc. Turns out that a "blog" isn't as well defined as people think its. I thought it might be interesting to write about the development of a blog during the time that it is being built. This should give some insight into the process of writing a blog as well as a look into the thought process required to integrate a blog more clearly into the larger framework that is Group Commons. I'd like to use the blog tool as a means to keep moving forward. I view writing as an integral part of the development process - especially when there is only one person who is creating the software. It may be even more important when there are multiple people using it.

Feature #1:

So the number one feature of a blog is the ability to record in a WYSIWYG format, in a chonological manner, entries.

Third Posting

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:23:36 -0600

I managed somehow to delete the first blog. In the process of testing deletion and privileges, and synopsis, the first posting entry disappeared. the first posting basically said that bold was not set up correctly and that I needed a synopsis field.

Multi Blog!

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:26:24 -0600

So I've created the basic infastructure to handle multiple blogs.

I added the admin backend to configure whether its a multiblog or single user blog.

I added in the code (hopefully) to set the blog_id when submitting.

Getting back in the groove

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:39:30 -0600

I got a bit distracted - now back at it. Fixed an issue today where if you aren't on a day that has posting you won't see anything.

Dates, Dates, Dates

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:15:07 -0600

One of the defining features of a blog is a calender of dates.

Another defining feature is categories associated with the blog.

Both of these get added today.

Writing a Blog - Second Posting

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:09:13 -0600

So, I cleaned up the "strong" problem - yahoos reset code takes strong and makes it standard font size. The rest of the world doesn't do it that way.

So now there is a page for each day - and my blog box on the main screen points each entry to that page. Probably should do a tag ref to it as well.

So one of the classic issues in the web world is whether you support one blog or many. The code I'm writing for Group Commons will support both. So the idea is that if you are a member of an organisation, then you can have your own blog among the members. This is significantly harder to implement than a single blog entry system.

Features, Wishlists, Writing

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:22:50 -0600

Features, Wishlists, writing and iterative growth builds solid code.

Re-Progress

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:46:40 -0600

As I'm writing this blog, I'm trying to develop a basic method for building applications iteratively. This turns out to be distinctly difficult. Basically ideas and concepts and thoughts get lost in the mess.

Here's a couple of concepts that I need to implement:

1) unique traceback url for each post

2) rss feed (atom, rss 1.0, rss2.0)

Traceback code

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:18:30 -0600

I got the traceback code put in today. This helps get the software much closer to what is expected of blog software.

security

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:00:25 -0600

Security turns out to be a touchy issue with multiple blogs....and to avoid all the scammers out there.

Testing Images

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:52:59 -0600

Here is a test of the content for images.

Sorting

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:35:04 -0700

Added in sorting by alphabetic, desc, and ascending.