Recently in Reference Category

This isn't really a tutorial since I'm just advising you to install a plugin and giving you some reference html to make it look a tiny bit nicer than it does by default. However I still think this might be useful information for at least a few people so here we go:

Social bookmarking sites like Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon and countless others are very popular with blogs and websites. Becoming popular on one of those sites attracts serious traffic and let's face it, most blogs and websites are always looking to boost traffic. So making it easier for people to "add to del.icio.us or "digg this" seems to be a good idea. By making it easier I mean we'll be adding links for several of the most popular social bookmarking tools to all existing and future entries for a given blog.

To accomplish this we're going to use the Promote This! plugin by Byrne Reese. Download and install the plugin per the directions. Once you've installed the plugin it's time to insert code into the Entry Detail template module. The Promote This! site gives the example of the code for adding a "digg this" link. If you follow that format you'll get a nice text link that works just fine. But if you want to jazz it up a tiny bit you can add the logos for each of the social bookmarking services you want represented.

This tutorial is cross posted at On a path media

Actually this applies to any version of Movable Type since 3.2 and to all kinds of external apps for posting to your Movable Type blog. I just suspect that the Blog This feature from Flickr is probably the most popular external blogging tool out there and it's really frustrating when you can't get it to work.

I should mention this post was inspired by my friend Cecily who recently wrote about posting from TextMate to a Movable Type blog. Her post reminded me about how the web services password can cause problems when setting up a Movable Type blog to work with Flickr's Blog This feature.

When you go to setup your Movable Type blog with Flickr you'll be asked for your password. Many folks put in their password only to be told its incorrect. They check and double check and absolutely certain they're putting the right password in only to still be rejected. The problem is that Flickr doesn't want your main blog password (the one you use to login to your blog with). What Flickr wants is your web services password.

If you don't know what your web services password is that probably means you haven't set one up yet. System Overview -> Users -> Your User Identity

Last week on my personal blog I discussed how to put the MT:OtherBlog tag to use and compared that tag with using PHP includes to create the same functionality.

In the comments of that post J. Brotherlove reminded me of one serious advantage PHP includes have over using MT:OtherBlog: automatic updating. If I’m pulling content from Blog 1 with a PHP include into Blog 2 whenever Blog 1 is updated the pulled content is automatically updated on Blog 2. This isn’t the case when using MT:OtherBlog. When I update Blog 1 the pulled content on Blog 2 will not be updated until Blog 2 is rebuilt (either indexes or the entire blog depending on how you’ve got it set up). So after round 1 the score card finds MT:OtherBlog winning in the ease of use category but PHP includes winning in terms of actual useful functionality. So, a tie.

Updated March 10, 2007

Introducing a new way to search for Movable Type information throughout the MT community, MT Community Search (http://www.mtcommunitysearch.com).

Using Google's custom search capability, I've put together a custom search engine of the most popular and content-rich Movable Type sites, including the MT forums. You'll find this search bar in the sidebar of LMT. You can try it out here:

Fortunately for those of use who use Movable Type, there are several folks who devote much of their free time to understanding, exploring, and extending the capabilities of MT, and are willing to share that knowledge with the rest of us.

Here's my roundup of good sites (in addition to LMT) to investigate while learning how to use Movable Type (I will add to this list over time):

Movable Type Support Forums - The MT Forums should be your first stop for questions regarding Movable Type. Before posting, read this thread which will explain general rules of conduct and the best way to find answers. Generally, play nice, read the MT Manual (3.2) first, and try a search before posting to see if your question has already been anwered.

Six Apart ProNet Weblog - a blog from Six Apart for MT professionals. Useful announcements and tips.

Planet Movable Type - an aggregator of feeds from many sites that are focused on Movable Type. Useful for staying informed of the latest MT news and developments within the extended MT community.

MT Plugin Directory - If you want Movable Type to do something it doesn't seem able to do, chances are someone has developed a plugin (see What's a plugin?) for it. The MT Plugin Directory is a centralized directory of most of the plugins available.

Movalog - Arvind Satyanarayan's site for hacks, tips, and plugins. Arvind is a 16 year old student in the United Arab Emirates who knows more about Movable Type than I ever hope to, and is generous with sharing his expertise. Arvind's non-MT weblog can be found at Vox'ing from Abu Dhabi

Updated October 16, 2004

The first step in installing Movable Type is making sure that your web host meets MT requirements. In addition to the basic requirements there are many other factors to consider, in particular the quality of support, the reliability of the service, and the degree to which the host's staff is familiar with Movable Type. Which web host you choose can make a big difference in terms of the ease with which you install and maintain your MT weblog.

What to Look for in a Host Provider

Absolutely Necessary:
1. Ability to run custom CGI scripts
2. Perl installed on server, version 5.004_04 or greater.

Practically Essential:
3. MySQL (although MT works with Berkeley DB, MySQL is much more powerful and stable)
4. PHP (necessary for many customizations)
5. CGIWrap or suEXEC (for added security in shared server environments)