Book Image

Apache Roller 4.0 - Beginner's Guide

Book Image

Apache Roller 4.0 - Beginner's Guide

Overview of this book

Apache Roller enables you to build a fully-featured, multi-user blog server apt for all kinds of blogging sites. It is an ideal tool to create your own blogging network with unlimited users and blogs, forums, photo galleries, and more! While it is exciting to have a list of interesting features it can offer you, it might be a little difficult to get started with it by your self. This book will teach you how to get started with Apache Roller and make the most of all its features using step-by-step, detailed instructions. You will learn how to establish your internet presence with an Apache Roller blog and use the latest web tools to enhance your posts and attract visitors. You will also learn how to promote your blog on popular social bookmarking services and customize it to suit your need. This hands-on and practical book introduces you to Apache Roller. Starting off with the configuration and installation of your own blog, you'll then quickly learn how to add interesting content to your blog with the help of plenty of examples. You'll also learn how to change your blog's visual appearance with the help of Roller themes and templates and how to create a community of blogs for you and your colleagues or friends in your Apache Roller blog server. The book also looks at ways you can manage your community, and keep your site safe and secure, ensuring that it is a spam-free, enjoyable community for your users.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Apache Roller 4.0
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Preface
Pop Quiz Answers
Index

Basic concepts about weblogs


Before we start with some examples and exercises, let's review some common terms used in the blogging arena:

Term

Definition

Tip

Weblog

A website that shows text entries, or posts in a chronological order.

The terms blog and weblog are interchangeable; you can use a weblog as a personal diary, as a journal to record your activities during working hours, to share photos from your last family vacation, and so on.

Post

An individual entry of a weblog.

In a post, you can include text, images, sounds and videos, links to other posts/websites, and so on. A post always includes the date and time of its creation.

Comment

A text-based response to a post.

Comments are very useful both for bloggers and blog visitors. They help to establish a two-way communication.

Newsfeed (or Feed)

A collection of the most recent posts and comments from a weblog in XML format (RSS or Atom feeds).

Newsfeeds can help you receive the latest information from any blog through RSS or Atom feeds. And you can offer these newsfeeds from your blog, too.

Newsfeed Reader

An application used to read one or more RSS or Atom feeds.

A feed reader gets you the latest information from one or more blogs, without even having to visit them!

These are just some of the terms we're going to use extensively in this chapter.