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William_F_House · Apr 1, 2003, 06:07 PM

After using Movable Type for several weeks now, I have to say that I like it better than iBlog by FAR.

Plus, Ben and Mena Trott that run the company and write the software are two of the nicest people you're likely to meet (and Mac users to boot).

My site is here, by the way.

macmend · Apr 1, 2003, 06:28 PM

Originally posted by William_F_House:
After using Movable Type for several weeks now, I have to say that I like it better than iBlog by FAR.

Plus, Ben and Mena Trott that run the company and write the software are two of the nicest people you're likely to meet (and Mac users to boot).

My site is here, by the way.

OK william, first I hope you all stay healthy, but I need to know WHY one app is better than another, what is it about MT thats so great over iBlog??

William_F_House · Apr 1, 2003, 06:53 PM

Thanks for the well wishes. We plan on staying away from the hospital area, at least until the SARs scare goes away.

I ended up with MT over iBlog because it just gives you more control over what you're doing. The setup, admittedly is a bit harder, but once that's done, the web interface is really nice (plus, you're able to post from anywhere you have web access....even if you don't have your own computer with you).

Also, Kung-Log makes posting to MT from OSX just as smooth, if not more so, than iBlog.

There seems to be a stronger community surrounding MT as well. I can easily find other users of MT. I didn't find that for the week that I used iBlog.

Originally posted by macmend:
OK william, first I hope you all stay healthy, but I need to know WHY one app is better than another, what is it about MT thats so great over iBlog??

macmend · Apr 2, 2003, 04:23 PM

whilst I hear what you say, I have looked at the MT installer and it looks a right pile of geek spagetti. Whilst iblog doesn't. hhmmm!

macmend · Apr 2, 2003, 04:25 PM

Originally posted by nsxpower:
Well this thread inspired me to create a blog and make better use of my webspace I used MovableType and got it up and running in 30 mins ... it would not rebuild (cuz I forgot to chmod 777 appropriate directories). Check it out for yourself at http://alexmfin.freeshell.org

link doesn't work for me

macmend · Apr 3, 2003, 12:59 PM

I have spent hours trying to get movable type to work and hey presto it doesn't not on my mac or server.

WHAT ABOUT PMACHINE?

pimephalis · Apr 3, 2003, 05:11 PM

Originally posted by macmend:
I have spent hours trying to get movable type to work and hey presto it doesn't not on my mac or server.

WHAT ABOUT PMACHINE?

Seriously, you should give blosxom a try. I use it, and the mail developer(s) are mac-heads who also post regularly to a mailing list. You can find it at:

http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom

It really works well on OS X

Kaner · Apr 3, 2003, 05:40 PM

my web site is a blog run off of os x, my powerbook to be exact. I use geeklog found at geeklog.net as the blog software. I enabled php, mysql, and sendmail to get it to work. Info on those was found at macosxhints.com. I host it from home on my residential dynamic ip dns line. to do this i use a service found at dyndns.org. check out my sig for a link to my site. let me warn you, its uber 1337.

midwinter · Apr 3, 2003, 06:01 PM

Originally posted by macmend:
I have spent hours trying to get movable type to work and hey presto it doesn't not on my mac or server.

WHAT ABOUT PMACHINE?

MT is difficult to install on a Mac; there are apparently some permissions issues. pMachine, which I use, installs fine. Takes all of ten minutes to get it up and running.

Cheers
Scott

Jabba · Apr 3, 2003, 09:48 PM

Movable Type looks daunting, but it is well worth the effort. When I got interested in blogging last year, I started out with Blogger, but after a week, it was too limited and Blogger has a pretty bad reputation for eating your archives. So I downloaded MT and installed it on my PowerBook with 10.2 in about an hour, using some of the guides already mentioned in this forum. After I got signed up with a hosting company, I installed MT on the server in even less time. When I had an issue I went to the Movable Type Support Forum and asked a question. It was three in the morning and Ben Trott, one of the creators of the software, replied with the answer in ten minutes. Do a search in their forums for OS X and you'll find some good info.

MT is worth it once you get it running. Lot's of features, can access it anywhere and a huge following. Sombody will have the answer if you run into problems.

Movable Type Support Forum

macmend · Apr 8, 2003, 06:33 AM

my problem really is I am

1. A lazy git
2. Hate software that doesn't do it for you (up to a point)

Some of this software is like painting, I know the colours, about pallettes and how to mix, which makes of paint are the best and so on but I don't know where the paints are, and everyone says "over there" but where is "there"

sorry to get so philisophical, but I know blogging started from geek roots, but I have always beleived in open and easy access IT, its why I like macs. I am not sure whether some of these creators understand their markets.

These days you can install and customise a php forum, phpbb, xmb, invision in about an hour and on the way meet some helpful and creative people. There are clear installation instructions and helpfiles.

At the moment I am trying out iblog, it just won't upload in ftp, the file path I have set for it is correct, I have check it for spelling and it won't upload, and there is nothing about this in the help file.

Pmachine...yes I admit very easy to install, but not easy to customise, iblog easy to customise can't upload, moveable type..sounds like a good idea (but there is no such thing as a free lunch)
Bloxsom...I don't leave my mac on all day as these G4s sound like a jet taking off and its next to my sons bed room.

All I want is a simple to install, simply customisable bit of weblog software. I'll pay for it even (i paid up for pmachine pro...what a waste,)

I think I shall open a weblog section on the recently rebuilt macmend forums

I am at that aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! stage of weblogging so I am going out for a coffee.

tyrelle · Apr 20, 2003, 10:45 PM

Originally posted by rsh:
I'm sure blosxom is capable of what you mention, but I haven't used it. I have used Movable Type which works very well.

Movable Type is free, feature-rich, and totally stable. I put together a quick overview of how to set up Movable Type to serve up a blog from any OS X box with full-time internet access. You can find the info here . No web hosting service required: you use the Apache web server that comes with OS X to do the job.

i'm looking over your doc for setting up MT. But i'm having problems with this:

mysql -uroot -p
--it gives me the rror "command not found"

What should I do?

midwinter · Apr 21, 2003, 01:08 AM

Why don't you just use blogger?

pimephalis · Apr 21, 2003, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by midwinter:
Why don't you just use blogger?

I'd advise everyone to avoid using Blogger. It goes down like a (insert $HORRIBLE_JOKE), and does eat your archives. I lost months of postings (from late August 2002 up until December 2002) forever, thanks to their downtime. When they got hacked, they reverted to an archived version and canned half of my blog.

The Placid Casual · Apr 21, 2003, 07:19 PM

3 weeks ago I downloaded iBlog... (having used blogger for a while, and given up on MT...)

I can't recommend it enough! It is really easy to use, and publishing to my iDisk is a breeze...

I also had some tech questions, so emailed the support address on their website... had a response that answered all my questions within the hour... again very impressive.

Despite the fact that I hardly ever use shareware type apps, I'm even thinking of paying for it

Peace,

Marc

Metzen · Apr 22, 2003, 05:19 AM

Originally posted by tyrelle:
i'm looking over your doc for setting up MT. But i'm having problems with this:

mysql -uroot -p
--it gives me the rror "command not found"

What should I do?

Do a search for "mysql" and note which directory it is in. It should be in a directory like: /usr/local/mysql/bin/

From a Terminal window, "cd" to that directory, that is,

cd /usr/local/mysql/bin/

(or like that). Once your in that directory "ls" and see if you have mysql in that directory. If you do, then you must execute the command with "./" in front of mysql so your command looks like this:

./mysql -u root -p

(note the space between "-u" and "root", it's necessary). The reason you have to put "./" in front of your command is because mysql is not in your PATH in your .tcshrc file, or .cschrc file or whatever, it's not in your binary path for executables.

Heh, I just got my MT setup after much fighting. I'll try and help with whatever questions I can.

sniffer · Apr 22, 2003, 12:07 PM

Originally posted by Marc2211:
3 weeks ago I downloaded iBlog... (having used blogger for a while, and given up on MT...)

I can't recommend it enough! It is really easy to use, and publishing to my iDisk is a breeze...

I also had some tech questions, so emailed the support address on their website... had a response that answered all my questions within the hour... again very impressive.

Despite the fact that I hardly ever use shareware type apps, I'm even thinking of paying for it

Peace,

Marc

Yes they seem to have a excellent customer support there. I am really considering looking into their app as well, but right now I don't have a private internet connection so it would have been useless right now for me. Anyhow, I've just sent a suggestion feedback to .mac about having an online web based blog service aka blogger.com. Such a feature would definitive made my day. Image how easy it would have been to set up a blog site with Homepage, and just start using it instantly?
With blogging being so popular, I really hope .Mac will adopt such an idea sometime..

dhsundwall · Apr 22, 2003, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by sniffer:
Yes they seem to have a excellent customer support there. I am really considering looking into their app as well, but right now I don't have a private internet connection so it would have been useless right now for me. Anyhow, I've just sent a suggestion feedback to .mac about having an online web based blog service aka blogger.com. Such a feature would definitive made my day. Image how easy it would have been to set up a blog site with Homepage, and just start using it instantly?
With blogging being so popular, I really hope .Mac will adopt such an idea sometime..

I just wanted to give props to iBlog too. They have always had great support even before I paid up. My first shareware purchase and I am happy to support them. It's coming along nicely

ndptal85 · Apr 22, 2003, 04:44 PM

Has anyone considered LiveJournal? There's livejournal clients for every platform imaginable from Windows to Linux to PalmOS and PocketPC, as well as BSD, BeOS, SymbianOS....etc

www.livejournal.com

Click on the "Random" link to take a look at a few different sites people have there.

Jacket · Apr 23, 2003, 01:36 PM

my website has a blog. it's hosted on a friends domain, that she was able to set up on her own server using utilies from B2.. another blogging service. mine is set up so that i can post up thoughts and visitors to my site can post comments to what i write...it does the job for me.

William_F_House · Apr 23, 2003, 04:15 PM

Ben and Mena Trott that produce Movable Type have just released a new turn-key service called TypePad which will use Movable Type and they will host your content (I believe). It sounds a bit like Xanga (which I use as well as MT).

This sounds like something well worth checking out for those just getting into blogging.