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Best Blog 2: Proposed Workflow
working on: workflow dynamics
Because of the troubles I’ve had with integrating tumblr into my blog (mostly due to tagging. I’m not sure there’s a way to pull tags from tumblr into TextPattern), I’ve decided to reevaluate my workflow and see what I really need to do with my blog.
I’m looking into dropping tumblr and hacking together some kind of user-friendly photoblogging system, which I’m sure I can find/tweak/build for TextPattern. As much as I love the UI of tumblr client apps, I don’t need all the functionality, and I’d like to host my images locally on my server, rather than on tumblr’s.
As for commenting features, I’m looking into the Facebook API, so I can push my posts to it (the same way tumblr does) and receive comments. Hopefully there is a way to make comments sync between Facebook’s site and my own, which would be really super awesome.
Here’s my proposed workflow:
twitter --> facebook (comments)
twitter --> blog sidebar (simple feed)
photos (via tumblr) --> blog --> Facebook (comments)
long-form blog posts --> blog --> Facebook (comments)
I’m not sure I really need to share quotes, links, and other miscellany that tumblr wants me to post. Links I already share through Delicious, and interesting posts are starred and shared through my Google Reader. Video can easily be embedded in blog posts, and it would eliminate much of the hassle of getting Tumblr’s API to work with cURL and TextPattern.
UPDATE: Tumblr didn't work
mood: ACK! · working on: tumblr importing
So, I tried using a plugin called vag_tumblr_import to automatically route all tumblr posts to my blog, and it semi-worked. Here’s what didn’t:
Categories:
The plugin, when activated, created a tumblr category, with media-titled subcategories (photo, quote, &c) This is not in itself terrible, but royally messes with my organization. I show a category listing in my footer, and have filters in my CMS that display certain categories of posts (e.g. meta or musings).
I’d have to tweak the plugin code to not use the secondary category, and add posts to my already-created categories.
Titles:
Untitled tumblr posts get a default title slapped on them, and it’s ugly. This could potentially be avoided if I always use a title for my posts, but I’d have to retroactively add titles to things.
Sections:
Tumblr posts are automatically either added to the “about” or “article” section. The former royally screwed with my website, and the latter doesn’t exist (I use a section called “articles.” COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.) I could probably change that in the plugin code, though.
Images:
If I implement this, I need to figure out a way to automatically create a slimbox gallery and add the images to it (or simply resize them, but that doesn’t look as nice). Images / photoblogging is the hardest thing to automate with TextPattern, so I need to do more research in this area.
Tags:
Tumblr doesn’t import tags at all. This makes sense, as tags aren’t exactly a feature in vanilla TextPattern, but are made available through the tru_tags plugin. I’d probably have to write this code from scratch if I wanted to use tagging with tumblr.
WARNING: BLOG MAY EXPLODE
working on: KHI v2
Hey all. I just wanted to warn you that I’m going to be doing some dev stuff on the production site, so this page may look a little wonky. Please bear with me, and I’ll return you to your usual reality shortly. Cheers.
This has been a public service announcement from Keats Heavy Industries.
Best Blog 1: I'm becoming disillusioned with CMS's
mood: brainstorming · working on: KHI v2
I’ve been wetting my feet a little with various Content Management Systems for a few years now, and I’ve never found any that perfectly fit the bill. I’ve tried Wordpress, Drupal, TextPattern, ExpressionEngine, and some other ones, in both their vanilla and customized flavors.
Though I’m a big fan of TextPattern’s UI philosophy, I must admit that it’s not the most user-friendly. And while I’ve found TP has the most vibrant and helpful community of any CMS I’ve tried, a lot of functionality is still very unpolished and hacked together. So, I’ve been trying to figure out how to best update my blog, and whether I should switch from TextPattern to something else.
Here’s what I do with my blog:
Currently I’m posting mostly poetry, musings, and other long-form text. While I enjoy this (and, yes, wish I posted with more regularity), I’d like to easily add current photos I’ve taken, share links, and make my site more interactive (think Facebook integration, commenting, etc). I need to establish a workflow for my digital information, and stick to it.
I also need to make a system that’s extendible, so others can use it. I want to be able to adapt this for friends and clients, and not have a bunch of serverside fuss when updating it.
So, in short, I think the best solution would integrate Tumblr, allow long-form blogging, and have an SEO and social networking-friendly commenting system. If anyone has any ideas, please email me. Cheers.
Boo yah!
mood: TRIUMPH!
It works! My Website is NEAR COMPLETION! I’ve struggled and toiled my way through alpha, and we’ve gotten to BETA!
I’m gonna go take a nap.
(and by that I mean make more coffee)
UPDATE: I was awake for about 58 hours, total. But both my and Tracy’s websites are done!
Almost done!
mood: energetic! · working on: sidebar! sidebar! sidebar!
Well, I’ve been working for a few hours (read: almost 17 hours straight) on this website, but it’s coming together nicely. The only thing I have left to do is get that sidebar worked out. Feel free to browse around. Tell me if something breaks.
Still in Progress
working on: website
Sorry that the website isn’t super spiffy yet. I’m still working on the sidebar, and trying to integrate TextPattern and ZenPhoto. So far, my attempts have been unsuccessful.
