Okay I'll give a go at answering.

Multi-user is part of the very nature of b2evolution. WPMU is a piss-poor hack of a rather clean uni-blogger application.

One blog per user is easy, and to skip around a bit you can give each user 2 blogs and set up the second as the linkblog for the first. That means that no there is not one linkblog for the entire installation.

Allowing a user to admin their own blog is easy, but it seems they can remove The Admin (ID#1) from permissions. So what: you can go in via phpmyadmin and give yourself permissions then take theirs away until they realize who's boss.

The permissions thing is the big problem right now, so let me clarify how it works for you. People can edit posts in a blog that they have the permission to post/edit in. That means if I give you permission in blog #12 on my installation you will NOT be able to edit posts in any other blog on my installation. The thing is though that if you let someone else have permission to post/edit on blog #12 (and you can do that because I gave you full admin control over that blog) then this new person will be able to edit any posts in blog #12. This is changing in v2.0, and changing to a nicely flexible model, but for now it is what it is.

Currently a user can upload a blog-specific style sheet, so using a creative style sheet and some simple instructions your users could upload their own images to 'customize' a skin. There are other methods to reach this goal, but you have to accept that changing simple things means changing simple things in the skin file (template, if you insist on that term).

Tagging, whatever that means, is AFAIK available via plugins, but don't quote me on that because I have a hard time understanding the difference between tags and categories. Categories can be added till the end of time (more or less), but tags don't seem to be part of the core installation.

I don't know what a widget is. I think it's a little bit of code that someone writes that adds something to your web, and usually that something promotes the people that wrote the code while giving some added coolness to your web. IF that's the case then you add widgets by editing files in the skin. That sucks for multi-skin installations, but for now it's the only way.

Oh and upgrade now before you get stuck in the 1.9.* world because you customized stuff and then think it'll be too much trouble to upgrade to 1.10.2.

Hi EdB, thanks for your quick answers

EdB wrote:

The permissions thing is the big problem right now, so let me clarify how it works for you. People can edit posts in a blog that they have the permission to post/edit in. That means if I give you permission in blog #12 on my installation you will NOT be able to edit posts in any other blog on my installation. The thing is though that if you let someone else have permission to post/edit on blog #12 (and you can do that because I gave you full admin control over that blog) then this new person will be able to edit any posts in blog #12. This is changing in v2.0, and changing to a nicely flexible model, but for now it is what it is.

Ok, so it is important to give nobody admin control besides yourself, correct?

Tagging, whatever that means, is AFAIK available via plugins, but don't quote me on that because I have a hard time understanding the difference between tags and categories. Categories can be added till the end of time (more or less), but tags don't seem to be part of the core installation.

Basically they are the same, but the problem with the current categories is that you have to think of which categories your post will go into and create them, before you actually write the post. (ok, you can write a post, park them in nonlogical categories, then create categories, then go back and update the categories of the post and save/ping again, but that is rather silly). It would help if you can add categories/tags on the fly, when writing a post. Or even automatic creation of categories if posts are tagged with no-yet-existent ones.

I don't know what a widget is. I think it's a little bit of code that someone writes that adds something to your web, and usually that something promotes the people that wrote the code while giving some added coolness to your web. IF that's the case then you add widgets by editing files in the skin. That sucks for multi-skin installations, but for now it's the only way.

Usually it is a part of the sidebar that can be added/deleted by the user without having to change the skins/templates. So these can be added globally, and the user can then choose which ones to use (linklist, calendar, rss feed from wherever, random picture etc)

It is actually on the B2 docs site, so I assume it is beuing worked on:
http://manual.b2evolution.net/Upgrade_from_1.10.x_to_2.0.x
So I assume that the next version is getting close to what I am looking for :!:

thanks, cheers, Biker

Yeah if you don't allow your blogger enough permissions to add another blogger then you will never bump into the "all users in a blog can edit all posts in that blog" issue. BTW it is an awesome deal for a collaborative blog. A beautiful case to consider is what happens when you report spammers. Each reporter either creates a new post or edits an existing post made by the first reporter of that 'keyword'. Those of us who have permissions can then edit those posts to make them be 'official' keywords, but I digress. Again. The thing is you can either limit permissions OR educate your users as you give them more power over their blog. Warn them that if they let someone else post they are also letting someone else edit and see how that dampens their enthusiasm for letting others post...

Yeah on the categories thing, but dig this: you write a post and decide "I should have a category for 'foo' and 'bar' for this post but I don't have them". So save it as a draft, add your new categories, edit the post and include the new cats, save it (still as a draft), then click "publish now". You will get the cats you want and the pings we all don't admit we love with a minimum of headache.

Cats on the fly would be way cool, but it's not there so this is the best I can offer for a 'stock' installation.

I thought the widgets thing would be possible with a plugin, and I am in fact sure that a plugin for Widget-A could enable each blog owner to decide if they want that widget or not, but yeah you're on the right track with the link that ends in 2.0.x because...

I just accessed my blog provided by the main developer on a domain he owns. HOLY COW 2.0 is already looking way sharper than I imagined it would be. It knows about widgets!!! I haven't tested this thing much, but wow hang on to your hat because it, and I say this as someone who joined up way back in the 0.8.something days, is seems like a totally different ownership model in the back office.

Wow it's got widgets! I don't even know what widgets do, but dammit it's got widgets - in the back office!!!

EdB wrote:

Wow it's got widgets! I don't even know what widgets do, but dammit it's got widgets - in the back office!!!

:lol:

Widgets?

has 2.0 been released?

Coz i like widgets! This is bcoz I dont know how to use plugins. This would be so much helpful for me and for my bloggers.

edb,

if you have a blog setup with multiple bloggers (say 100), is it possible to limit their options in the backoffice to chose ( and edit) a linkblog relative to their site only?

for instance, i want a linkblog that is individual to each blogger and for them to have the ability to use it. i do not want them to be inundated with the 100 other lists of linkblogs from the other bloggers however. so if i create 100 linkblog #2s, i don't want each blogger to see every other #2. make sense?

it will just be links, so i want to keep it easy. i saw something that you wrote about "display=something" that may work. thoughts?

Hi folks, I am a newbie here and having a look around when I came across this thread. For more on Widgets you can check http://www.widgetbox.com/ which covers most of what you need to know. I am also interested in multiple blogs on the one domain so this was of interest! :)