Vanity Foul
Dedicated to the wanderings of an egotistical mind.


20040524
Monday May 24, 2004

re: blogging software features table

Thanks to Frank Carver for pointing out the Blog Software Breakdown, and noting that it doesn't like anything non-LAMP. So here is the entry for Roller, and I'll notify the author at midnightcircus:

  • Current Version: 0.9.9 (cvs)
  • Home Url
  • Trial Url
  • License: Apache-like
  • Cost: Free
  • Min. Server Reqs: Tomcat 4 (servlet 2.3 & JSP 1.2)
  • Localization: English & Dutch [nl] (?)
  • Multilingual: Yes
  • Data Storage: Database - MySql & Postgresql
  • Max Weblogs: Unlimited
  • Multiple Sites: No
  • Post Ordering: descending, category
  • Categories: Single
  • Subcategories: Yes
  • Keywords: No
  • Default Post Fields: 2 (if I understand correctly)
  • Max Post Fields: 2
  • Post Editor: Plugin based
  • Draft Mode: Yes
  • Post API Support: Blogger, MetaWeblog, Atom
  • Post Moderation: No
  • Post Pings: Yes
  • RSS Output: 0.91, 0.92, 2.0
  • Atom Output: 0.3
  • Comment Spam: blacklist
  • Comment RSS: no
  • Template Storage: Database
  • Template Tagging: Velocity
  • Edit Templates Online: Yes
  • Template Expert: No
  • Template Conditionals: Yes
  • Open Registration: Toggle
  • User Security: single user
  • Trackback: Yes
  • Pingback: No?
  • RSS Aggregator: aggregator ?
  • Forum: No
  • File Editor: No
  • CSS Editor: Simple, as a template
  • Plugins: Config
  • Plugin Directory: none
  • Visitor Logs: No
  • Referrer logs: Yes
  • Imports From: Atom, RSS, Moveable Type
  • User Profiles: Simple
  • SEF URLS: path_info
  • Thumbnails: No
  • Category Images: Yes
  • Skin Switch: Yes
  • Cross-post: No
  • Linkroll: Yes
  • Password Posts: No
  • Blog by Email: No
  • User Community: mailing list
  • Documentation: http://www.rollerweblogger.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp
  • Sample Sites: see http://www.rollerweblogger.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=RollerUsers

Wow, that's a long list. I'm sure there is fodder here for the Wishlist.
( May 24 2004, 09:53:51 AM ) Technology Permalink Comments [3]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_blogging_software_features_table



20040521
Friday May 21, 2004

The Ministry of Privacy

US May Get a Privacy Czar. Twenty years too late?
( May 21 2004, 08:18:13 AM ) News Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/the_ministry_of_privacy



20040520
Thursday May 20, 2004

Return of A Better Brain

I've written about this before, and it seems like the concept is continuing and growing. Now it crops up at the WWW Conference.
( May 20 2004, 03:27:58 PM ) Technology Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/return_of_a_better_brain



20040518
Tuesday May 18, 2004

Re: More Roller-ing

Outside of the fun name, Henri has more issues with Roller. I think his troubles point out a fundamental problem we're having trying to provide as much power to "knowledgeable" users but still keep it simple for those with little-to-no HTML experience (such as my wife Jen).

I think it also illustrates that Roller needs more "community" to get where it is going. For most of Roller's life it has been Dave Johnson, Matt Raible, and myself. A couple other people have contributed here and there, but the relationship didn't hold up. Maybe this is our fault, maybe it is a fault of Roller, or maybe it is just a symptom of the myriad competing weblog tools.

Just a note, any links that don't point to a specific entry were generated by the nifty "Bookmark Linker" plugin. It uses your Bookmarks to automatically generate links for you.
( May 18 2004, 08:50:30 AM ) Roller Permalink Comments [4]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_more_roller_ing



20040517
Monday May 17, 2004

Evaluating Roller

Henri is evaluating Java blogging servers, and somehow Roller has risen to the top. I say "somehow" because Henri does have problems and concerns. All-in-all it's nice to have these sort of writeups, pointing to where we need to work harder:

  • Errors after deleting Bookmarks and Newsfeeds: can you elaborate? Exceptions or little red text saying there was a problem? The latter results from your template specifying Bookmarks by default, you'd need to remove references to them.
  • Flush cache: understood, we fell down on consistency and user expectations.
  • Customizing: you do not actually customize the Theme, but rather edit your Pages. The "Theme Switcher" is only for choosing a different theme ("Custom" reflects that you may have already edited your Pages). Warning: using the Theme Switcher will overwrite any customization you have done. These are points that we have been brainstorming, but haven't come to satisfactory solutions.
  • RollerException on saveThemePages: darn it, I thought I'd fixed that!
  • Hog: Roller, as many a Java db-intensive app, can be a resource hog. Performance wise it does fairly well, caching pages to minimize the effects of repeated hits.
  • Admin Add User: new feature, don't know that it ever occurred to us. We'll need to add this to the feature matrix.
  • On the 'Pages' option, would be nice if the entries actually had descriptions. I'm not clear on what you mean by this. You are correct though, in that contextual Help would be a boon. That's another one of those points I've been kicking around and haven't found a solution that feels right to me.
  • Calendar: you can remove the reference to it in your Weblog Page/template. The "previous" and "next" links on the display page should go backward/forward a month. I myself am a bit less than satisfied with "archive navigating" but again haven't a satisfactory solution.
  • Migration: in the latest version (CVS - coming soon hopefully) there are options to import entries via RSS or Atom. The RSS format works well but there is no way to retain comments; the Atom format can manage comments but there are "valid XML" issues I'm still working on.

Thanks for the thoughtful evaluation and all the commentary. This is exactly the type of feedback I like to see for Roller, and exactly what it needs.
( May 17 2004, 08:14:24 AM ) Roller Permalink Comments [5]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/evaluating_roller

For further reading on today's posts:



20040515
Saturday May 15, 2004

3 Die in Denver

Freak accident kills three in Denver: a man, wife, and daughter. I'm pretty sure Matt doesn't drive an SUV, but his recent quietness disturbs me.

I toyed with ripping off the Beatles by announcing "Matt is dead", but I couldn't find any pictures of the back of his head.
( May 15 2004, 03:45:32 PM ) News Permalink Comments [1]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/3_die_in_denver

For further reading on today's posts:



20040512
Wednesday May 12, 2004

Learning AppFuse

I've started a new project (yes, I'm moonlighting) and decided to use AppFuse to kickstart the development (that is what it's for!). Matt's tutorials are great, but he hasn't had time (nor health) to get the new Spring Controller Tutorial written. I don't want to use Struts on this project, mostly just so I get to play with a new toy, but now I don't have Matt holding my hand. I've read a bunch of docs on Spring, and the MVC tutorial, but now I'll have to go study them again and try to figure out this crap for myself ;-)

Matt, how could you do this to me?!

Oh yes, I've had some hiccups along the way, largely to do with my text editor not doing a good enough job of replacing "org.appfuse" with the project's package.
( May 12 2004, 09:43:45 PM ) Technology Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/learning_appfuse

A cure for my ills

I don't like running my own mail server, even one as "simple" as JAMES. So it was nice to find aspirin on Java.Net today. I'd like to integrate this into Roller.

Currently the only email Roller sends is Comments, but there are a few other ideas I've had - it's just that my mail server has never been reliable enough for me to want to count on it. I know one popular feature is "subscribe to this blog", which emails subscribers whenever a new entry is posted (seems frivolous to us users of RSS/Atom, but, whatever). Another is the ability to email "password reminders". Hmm, another idea: export entries and email them to owner as a zip file. Post any others you'd like in the comments, please.
( May 12 2004, 08:59:35 AM ) Technology Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/a_cure_for_my_ills




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