Configuring Your Blog Page
Configuring your blog page allows you to set preferences specific to that page. To get to the configuration page, you can:
- Click on 'PAGES' under 'MAIN MENU'
- Click on 'Configure'
- Click 'PAGES' under 'MAIN MENU'.
- Click on the name of your blog in Manage Blog Pages.
- Click on "Configure".
The configuration page is organized into: General Configuration, Comment Configuration and Archive Configuration
General Configuration:
Blog Name: Here you can alter the blog name you gave your blog page when you first created it.
Show Rank: Selecting this will add a ranking option to each of your blog entries. This will allow visitors to your site to rank your entry/photograph positively or negatively. It's a quick and easy way to get feedback on your photo or art.
Disable Permalink: The permalink is added to each of your posts by default. A permalink allows someone to reference that specific post by clicking on the link in your blog and copying the full URL to that page. It makes linking directly to entries/photographs easy. Check this option to remove the permalink from your entries.
Disable Posted By: By default, all entries will list "Posted by: yourname". This is most useful when there are multiple authors/users on a blog page adding entries. Checking this option will disable this text and remove: "Posted By: yourname" on all your entries.
Next / Previous Buttons: The Next/Previous Buttons allows visitors to easily navigate through your blog entries/photographs. The Previous button will link to the previous entry (if there is one) and the Next button will link to your next entry (if there is one). You can choose to not have these buttons at all, place them above your blog entry (Top) or below your blog entry (Bottom).
Number of Entries to Display: This determines the number of blog entries that will show on your main blog page before the entries are kept within the archives only.
Sort Entries By: Here you can set whether you want your photoblogs to be posted by "Date of Entry (Scheduled) or "Order Entered". If you select "Date of Entry (Scheduled)" you can set the post date for the entry, and in doing so, schedule posts for the future.
Show Tags: By checking this option, any tags you have given your entry will be displayed with the entry.
If you are using an advanced template, you will have to manually add some of these items to your template. In the Advanced Template mode you can edit all of these even further - renaming them to whatever you wish, placing them anywhere within the Entry HTML area or adding graphical elements to them.
Comment Configuration:
Comment Field 1: In your comments you can name the first comment field to whatever you wish. The default setting is "Name:" as most often you will want your visitors to leave their name when they comment on your blog.
Email: The Email field is a required field. You can rename it, although we do advise to make the name of the field relating to email in some way. Visitors will need to know that they should fill in their email address.
Comment Field 2: In your comments you can name the third comment field to whatever you wish. The default setting is "URL:"
Receive Email Notification: Check this option if you want to receive an email notification when someone leaves a comment on your blog.
Notification Email: Input the email address you want notifications of comments to be sent to.
Disable Comments: Check this option if you do not want to allow anyone to leave comments on your blog.
Allow Anonymous Comments: Check this option if you want to allow visitors to leave comments on your blog without leaving their email. This will mean that you will not have a way to contact the commenter if you need.
Approve Comments: Check this option if you want to filter your comments. This will keep comments from appearing on your blog until you have approved them.
Archive Configuration:
Archive Type: You have the option to display your archives as thumbnails or text only. This means that when your archives are viewed they will either be shown as thumbnails of your entry image, or text titles (based from the title of your entry). If you do not title an entry, but select "Text Only", a few lines from the body of your blog will be used.
Show Archive Text Links: If you have selected "Thumbnail" as your archive type and you give your entries a title, the system will archive your entries with a thumbnail and the entry title below that thumbnail. If you wish to only show thumbnails and no titles, deselect this option. In turn, if you wish to show your entry titles with the thumbnails, select this option.
Thumbnail Columns: If you do select "Thumbnails" as your Archive Type, you can set the number of columns those thumbnails will be displayed in here.
Do ensure that the number of columns you select will fit within the blog template you have chosen.
Thumbnail Width: This is the maximum width for your thumbnails. If your entry image is horizontal, this number will be the number of pixels your thumbnail will be resized to horizontally.
Thumbnail Height: This is the maximum height for your thumbnails. If your entry image is vertical, this number will be the number of pixels your thumbnail will be resized to vertically.
Use Square Thumbnails: By checking this option, the Expressions system will resize your thumbnails into squares based on the widest height or width set above. For example, if you set the width to 100 and set the height to 50, and check "Use Square Thumbnails", your thumbnails will be sized to 100x100.
The thumbnail height, width and option to "Use Square Thumbnails" only applies if you do not upload your own thumbnail image.
Display Full Images in Atom Feeds: Check this option if you would like your ATOM feed to display your full-sized image. By default, your ATOM feed to display the thumbnail of your posted image.