How to use Movable Type
Movable Type is one of the most popular blogging packages on the market today. It's ease of use is one of the big reasons why the University Libraries selected it to manage our blog system. We are currently preparing detailed documentation on how to use Movable Type. Until it is finished, please familiarize yourself with UThink's version of Movable Type through the Quick Start Guide below.
Quick-Start Guide
(To complete these steps as you read, first log into UThink using your U of M Internet ID and password.)
Step One: Create a Weblog
Following your initial login into UThink, you will be greeted by 
the
"Create a New Blog" screen.
Your new weblog needs a name, and a directory. The directory name you choose should be short, and indicative of the type of blog you are creating. For example, if you are creating a blog about biology research, your directory name may be "biology." Type this information into the provided boxes on the "New Weblog Settings" page and click the button at the bottom that reads "Save Changes"
Upon subsequent logins to the system, you will be greeted by the main menu screen of Movable Type. This screen will show you the blogs you currently have access to. If you would like to create another blog, locate and click on the "Create New Weblog" link. The next screen will be the "New Weblog Settings" page you used to create your first blog. 
You may create as many blogs as you want, just remember to give each blog a unique directory name.
Next, continue onto Step 2 below...
Step Two: Post Your Writing
After you have created a weblog in Step One, you will be taken to your new blog's administration main menu. To make an entry in your blog - generally called a "post" - click the "New Entry" link in the upper left-hand corner of the side bar. The "Create New Entry" page will load. 
In the "Title" box at the top, enter a subject, title or name for your
forthcoming post. Underneath the "Title" box, complete your writing in
the "Entry Body" box. Bold, italics, underlining, links, etc. can be achieved by highlighting text in the "Entry Body" box and clicking one of the provided formatting buttons
in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. 
Finally, after you have completed writing your post, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Save" button. You will see a brief sequence of system messages on the screen while your post is saved to your weblog archive and posted to your homepage.
To view your page, simply click the "View Site" button along the top of the web page. Your site will open in another window, and you should see your most recent post listed under the day's date. Return to the Movable Type window and click the Main Menu button along the top of the screen in preparation for Step Three.
Step Three: Add Authors
Any person using UThink can share authorship of a weblog with other students, faculty, or staff members of the U of M; the original author need only identify the Internet ID's of the people that need access and enter them
into the system. Within Movable Type, this is accomplished
by clicking the "Authors" or the "Multiple Authors" links on the right in the Main Menu
area. You are then taken to the "Create New Author(s)" dialogue screen.
Simply type the Internet ID into the box under "Profile" near the bottom of the screen. Check all the blogs at the right of this that you want the user to have access to. Click the "Save" button.
Next, you must define how much access, or what permissions, this user will have to each weblog. On the subsequent "Edit Permissions" screen, check and uncheck the boxes according to how much access the new author should have. The default access level is "Entry Creation." "Entry Creation" access will give the new author the ability to post new entries and modify his or her entries only. Click "Save Changes" to apply any changes made. Giving someone permission only to create new entries, for example, would look something like this on the "Edit Permissions" page before hitting "Save Changes."
Other Guides
- Movable Type User Manual
- Learning Movable Type
- Creating a Blog with Movable Type ... a beginner's guide
Common Questions
- When I click "Save" and then "View Site" my post doesn't appear. What do I need to do to make it appear?
On the New Post or Edit Post page make sure you have your "Post Status" set to "Published." If it is set to "Unpublished" it will save it to the database but it will not publish it to your public blog website. Go back to your post and choose "Published," click "Save" and then click "View Site." You should now see your post!
- When I change some of my Templates or the Weblog Config Preferences section and click "Save" the changes do not display on my blog site. What do I need to do to make these changes appear?
The quick answer is to click "Rebuild Site." This will take everything you have just saved into the MT database and publish it to your public blog website.
The MT system is built using Perl and MySQL. Everything you do is first saved into the MySQL database. If you pay close attention after you click "Save" you should see a link at the top of the page that asks you to "Rebuild." Click that and everything that you've saved will be written out as web pages.
- I've deleted a post from my blog, but when I look at my blog site the post is still there. And now when I go back to the blog administration pages, the entry is gone so I can't try to delete it again. What do I do?
This happens when you make a change to your site, such as deleting an entry, but you don't rebuild the site. Click "Rebuild Site" in the left hand menu, rebuild "All Files" and the offending post should disappear from your site!
- I want to start a blog for my class, but I want to give my students some anonymity when they post. Is there a way to change the "Posted by" to be something other than the student's name?
Sure. Your students will also need to give themselves a different "Display Name" in the "Author Profile" section of the blog administration pages. To enter the "Author Profile" section, simply go to the top of the upper right of the screen where the "Logout" link can be found. Instruct the student to click on his or her Internet ID and then find the form field called "Display Name." Changing the "Display Name" will change what name is published for individual posts on your blog. - How do I change the links on my blog's home page?
This depends on if you created your blog after or before November 28, 2005 (the day we upgraded UThink to MT 3.2). If you created your blog after this date, the easiest way to create a link or "Blogroll" section is to use the MT-Blogroll tool found within your blog's administration interface. (See what this page looks like).
When you enter the "Edit my Blogroll" link, click "Add Link," add the "Weblog Name" and "URL" and then click "Save." After saving, you must rebuild your the main index (home page) of your blog. Click "Rebuild Site" in the left-hand menu and choose "Rebuild Indexes Only." Once your blog's main index is rebuilt, click "View Site" and check the "Links" section. You should see the links you just added!
If you have a pre-Novmber 28, 2005 blog the "Links" section of your blog home page is located on the Main Index Template inside of your blog adminstrative interface. Login to your blog, click "Templates" in the left-side menu, and then click on "Main Index." Find the part of the page that says "Add Links Here" and add your links in the format
<a href="http://www.lib.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota Libraries</a><br />
Click on "Save" and then "Rebuild." Your blog home page should now contain your new links!
- How do I change the appearance of my blog?
You can change your blog to look anyway you want. There is an easy way to change the appearance of your blog, and there is a more difficult way. The easy way involves finding a new CSS Style Template and just plugging it into your "Templates" section. If you'd like to do something more unique you will have to learn more about HTML and CSS. Please see the templates section for more information.
- Why are all the posts given a number as their file name? How can I change the file names of my entries to be text based?
The blog "Learning Movable Type" has a great post concerning this matter called File Names and URLs. Take a look and give it a try!
