varaonaid wrote:

... but for my purposes am I better off using Wordpress or b2evo? Do either of them allow multiple authors on one blog? Do they allow a single user to have more than one blog? Do either allow users to "approve" comments before they are posted?

I'd appreciate any thoughts you may have on the subject. I look forward to your replies! Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Rachel

WP does not do multiple blogs. that answers all the other user-related questions. Both allow comments to be moderated (approved) before posting publically..

In a nutshell, the main advantage to b2evo is the multiple blog thing, especially for ppl like you, obviously. They (both apps) are cousins, but quickly taking different paths.

b2evo. Each student can be the only author on their own blog OR one of many bloggers on multiple blogs OR any combination. To be the admin means running it all through the back office, which isn't entirely intuitive but isn't a miracle either.

So lets say you decide each kid er um student will have their own blog. No problem - you make a blog per student and give them posting permission in only that blog. Billy gets blog 2 (no one except you get blog 1 by the way) and Sally gets blog 2 all the way up to Nathaniel who gets blog 43. All posts come together in blog 1 - either a feature or gimmick depending on your view. Now lets say you want some subgroup of students to all post stuff to the (I dunno) "stupid school project" blog. Cool - you create it and allow 5 or 7 students permission to post to that blog as well as thier own. You turn on cross-posting across blogs and they got it made.

Mostly they'll tell you how it works is probably how it'll work ;)

Thanks for the input.

Now, what about simplicity? As much as I'd like cool features, I can't spend all my time figuring out and running a blog site! How does b2evo compare with WP on that score?

Anything else I need to know as I get into this new endeavor?

Thanks again.
Rachel

I don't know jack about WP, but either will have a learning curve. No matter which tool you use, keep it as simple as possible and STAY OUT OF THE FORUMS! If you go near the forums for either application you'll start hacking and tweaking and mod'ing and engaging in all sorts of other pointless exercises. :) Seriously, I think WP probably has an easier (or more user-friendly) interface, but since you want/need multiblogger and maybe multiblog you're better off with b2evo and it's 'harder' learning curve.

Its really easy. You can either sign up all the kids or make them go to your blog and register. Then, you just click...I'll take a screenshot:

http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 1 big.png
http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 2 big.png
http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 3 big.png
http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 4 big.png
http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 5 big.png
http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 6 big.png
http://flamesofplastic.net/projects/upload/files/b2evo step 7 big.png
Note for #7: The things checked are merely suggestions. Ask if u dont know what they mean.

EdB is right:
http://forums.b2evolution.net/viewtopic.php?t=2952&highlight=

And the great part, varaonaid, is that you get really cool people helping you with b2evo!

Have a look around the boards ... EdB, FlameBuddy, Owl (whoo) & others are quick to help!

I'm new to blogging too & chose b2evo. Glad I did. Great program, ultimate in customizability (the more u learn, the more u customize), and a great support network. PLUS ... because it's a multi-lingual, multi-blog ... you get the added advantage of "meeting" people across the globe.

Would you believe that my family has already received an invite to stay in the U.K.? All because of the b2evo conexn.

Just my $0.02.

You guys are making it a difficult decision! Folks in both b2evo and WP forums are giving me great reasons to choose each product.

All right. I have a question regarding the idea of "blog community".
What is it? Does it exist? How does it work? Is there some sort of b2evo community and larger website the blogs would be a part of or is it merely our little set of student blogs (or can we choose between the two)? Would the students feel a part of a larger group (ie like mindsay or some similar site?) or because I'm hosting it on our site would we be a sort of virtual island?

Sorry to ask so many dumb questions but I really am trying to learn.

Thanks!
Rachel

A blogging community is a theoretical thing more than anything else. Your website, assuming it's connected to the internet, hooks into that 'larger picture' by pinging and linking. Therefore if you turn on those features your site gets hooked in to the larger "community" though it's not a specific website somewhere. The other side is if your site is only available on a school's intranet then your site is an island, but it's an island community. Of a sort. I guess. The school is already a community. The blog, even on an intranet, is a communication method.

Here's what I would do if I were you. Get the latest release and unzip it on your PC. Add the two files for the security patch. Add the hack that allows new bloggers to post protected immediately and the hack that limits editing posts to the post author only. And the admin - the admin rules the universe. Oh I'd also turn on the smilies and probably do the "smilies in comments" hack too. If it was me I'd also hack the file that creates the whole blog and set up my defaults there, but that's just me. Anyway upload it and run the installation file then delete the installation folder. Next tell the students it's available and pick a couple of bright bulbs (pets?) to help you out with figuring out what some stuff is all about.

You would also need to answer some questions of yourself. Do you want the students to be able to post without your approval? If not you're going to have to invest the time to read and approve each post. The other way is to give them the permission to post immediately and take it away from those who act like teenagers ;)

I'm a newbie to blogs too, but here's my 2p-worth (2cents-worth for those on the other side of the pond).

I tried around 5 or 6 different blog script packages when I started out. They were all pretty easy to install, but then I'm a computer-literate techie sort who knows his way around phpmyadmin and the like. However, if I couldn't get my head round the admin within 10-15 minutes it got junked. A bit harsh maybe but I was looking for specific features that I knew I wanted even though I was new to blogging (I actually need it for a personal on-line journal rather than a public blog). b2evo was the closest to my ideal blog (it may not be yours). It has the ability to do multiple blogs as standard. WP needs multiple installs - basically, one for each blog you need - and that takes time or server root access to make it simple. I also found b2evo intuitive to use with a lot of nice features straight "out of the box".

On the downside of b2evo, to get things the way you want, you need to poke around in code. But, the code is well documented so it's relatively simple once you know where to look (and that's where these forums become invaluable).

I did play with WP but it didn't do multiple blogs nicely and didn't do private blogs the way I wanted.

Getting b2evo to look the way you want it to is simple but assumes a little html/xhtml/css knowledge. Alternatively, just drop in one of the many themes available on here.

I would strongly recommend installing b2evo and having a play as edB suggests. Do the same with some of the other blog scripts that take your fancy. To be honest it's the only way you'll find out if one particular package suits your requirements.

John

OK, really showing my newbie status. Do I have to actually install the software on my webhost to try it out as suggested?

Secondly, what is involved if I try both software(s) and wish to migrate from one to the other - possible, difficult, unthinkable?

b2evo has a demo, check the link list at the very top of this page > the demo is here > http://b2evolution.net/demo/index.html

wordpress has a demo also, however I dont have the URL off the top of my head, and im not at home to look for it -- its not on the wordpress.org domain, so I would need to look for it. Since you posted a similar question on the WP forums, you might ask about a demo there also -- someone can prolly point it to you before I get home.

migration between the 2 is very simple, IF you have a basic understanding of how to manipulate mysql databases using phpmyadmin, assuming your host has that available to you (most do).

Ill be honest and say this, having used them both --

b2evo's main advantage is the multiblog thing. As far as hacks, addons, etc.. WP outshines b2evo. The admin userfaces are barely distinguishable, really. b2evo has 2 things that WP doesnt have in theres: the refer stats, and the built in spam thing, HOWEVER there are plugins for both of those for WP. Then again, WP has built in drop and go plugins, litterally upload them to the folder, activate the plugin, and youre done.

Yesterday wp1.5 came out and its much nicer than 1.2.2 and has even more built in stuff. Again, though, no multiblogs.

Wordpress has a HUGE community of ppl that use it, so support is VERY easily had. Its been said here that replies to some posts dont come in a timely enough fashion, thats not a flaw, just a general observation made by a 1-2 ppl.

I prefer wordpress -- I dont need the multiblogs, and I wanted the plugins. If I were you, I would prolly go with the other though.

I hope that helps.

Whoo@work, thanks a ton for the opinion. Actually, it really helped me.

I guess I'm realizing that I really don't understand what is meant by the "multiblog thing". Is that more than one blog per user? More than one blog period? More than one blog....

I feel really thick not getting some of these concepts more quickly but I'm doing my best to learn. Thanks for all your patience with me!

I guess I'm realizing that I really don't understand what is meant by the "multiblog thing". Is that more than one blog per user? More than one blog period? More than one blog....

OK.. I'm currently setting up blogs for about 50 teachers and administrators at my school. In order for each of them to have their own blogs, I had to use a multiblog system.

I chose b2evo because I could have as many blogs as I wanted for as many people as I wanted and I only had to install the software once! With Wordpress, you have to install the software over and over again for each blog you want to setup. Talk about a pain..

I just started this last week and went through 3 different scripts before I chose b2evo. It's slick and easy to setup.. Each of your students can have thier own blogs, or students can be assigned to a blog as a group.

The only way you are going to know is by installing the programs and checking them out... If you don't like them, delete them and try something else..

OK, that helps clarify. Thanks.

I think I'll have to just take the plunge as suggested and try both out. It seems the only option left to make my decision - as soon as I think I've decided more info come available and I'm back between the two!

Anything else I should know before I get into this?

A demo of the older version of WP can be found here:
http://www.opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=144

Multiblogs is a big issue to consider.

My understanding of WP is that you create 1 blog when you install the script. That 1 blog can have multiple users posting on it but it's all in the same blog (albeit with the potential to have sub-categories). If you want another independent blog, ie a different owner, with a different set of users, then you need to do a second install of WP. This means that you install all of the scripts in a sub-directory on your website or even a subdomain. That installation will need either it's own database or have its own tables in the main database. There is no sharing of data between these blogs. They exist as separate, standalone blog applications.

Where b2evo scores in this respect is that multiblogs is built in. You do 1 installation, set up 1 database and then everything else is done through the admin panel. At most you might want to use stub files (basically a configuration file that goes on the server) for the blogs but this isn't necessary. b2evo also has, by default, the "aggregator" blog. This basically shows the latest posts from all the public blogs on the front page of your website.
Setting up a new blog is easy. Go into the admin section, create a new blog, give it some characteristics, assign some user permissions and that's it.

To be honest, although WP is a slicker blog (and 1.5 is nice) with a bigger and arguably, more active community, it really would be a pain for your use, especially if you're not keen on having to install scripts on a server every time you need a new blog. Also, consider server space. b2evo will take up, what, a couple of meg server space. WP will need a couple of meg times the number of blogs you want.

John

btw, the development of this -> ( http://mu.wordpress.org/ ) is progressing nicely.

The scale is tipping / towards b2evo. I was really getting set to go with WP but your points are quite strong. I want as much simplicity-point and click use as possible so it's very attractive to be able to setup new blogs through the admin panel.

What about using themes with b2evo? These are kids, mind you so the "cool factor" is a big deal. I know they'll want to customize their pages and maybe upload pics etc. Is this easy? Is it something they can do or will I have to. I REALLY don't want to be called everytime one of them decides their page needs to change colors or something!

Thanks again!
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Just drop in a bunch of different themes and they can choose the one they like. Even better, if a blog owner has enabled skin switching, it doesn't matter what style a user has set their blog to, the person browsing it can select the skin they like and view that blog in their favourite skin style.

Users can't create their own skins though, but if you have a wide enough selection it shouldn't be an issue.

John

OK, that doesn't sound too bad. Where would I get the themes to "drop-in" and is that action simply a matter of copying some files onto our webhost? (I sure don't want to design them from scratch!) What would the setup on my end require to allow the kids to enable skinning and would I have to drop-in skins on our host as well? Are "premade" skins available as well?

Skins can be found here:
http://skins.b2evolution.net/

It's a simple as downloading the zip file, unpacking it and uploading to the skins directory and it's then available for selection.

John

great, easy enough. same for themes?

skins are themes, and technically they're called evoskins.

What they do is pick content and how that content is displayed. The first is a matter of the php coding, the second is your css. Download the zip and unzip it, then make sure you have "a folder with some files and maybe an img folder" instead of "a folder with a folder with some files and maybe an img folder". Some skins unzip with a folder in a folder, and it's the inner one you want. Anyway you then upload the "folder with some files and maybe an img folder" to your server and place it in the skins folder. On a regular installation the skins folder will already have 5 skins in it - custom, bluesky, guadeloupe, and a pair of WPC_ skins. Each of those folders is a skin.

All right, I've downloaded the software and I'm ready to give this a try!

Now what?

I've read the user support faq's and the installation part of the user manual but it seems to begin at a later (or perhaps simply a more advanced) stage. I need to know what to do after downloading to get it onto my webhosting service.

Is there anything I would do to mess up my webhost? I know that the server supports b2evo as it was their website where I first found out about it.

Sorry to be so simple!

Thanks for your help.
Rachel

Got a database handy? You will need one for b2evo to use, and you will need to tell it your connection info. Before you upload stuff to your webserver open conf/_config.php and edit a total of 7 lines:

define( 'DB_USER', 'demouser' );      // your MySQL username
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'demopass' );  // ...and password
define( 'DB_NAME', 'b2evolution' );   // the name of the database
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );     // mySQL Server (typically 'localhost')

AND

$baseurl = 'http://localhost/b2evolution/blogs';		// IMPORTANT: NO ENDING SLASH !!!

AND

$admin_email = 'postmaster@localhost';

AND FINALLY YOU MIGHT NEED TO SET THIS TO 1

$config_is_done = 0;

There's info in the file that tells you a bit more - I just pasted the goodies. On the "config_is_done" thing, you can hold off on that and see if b2evo can set it to 1 for you, but it might not be able to. If not you change it on your local machine then upload that file again.

A bit about the zip... When I unzipped it I had a folder called b2evolution that had three folders in it: blogs, doc, and extra. You only need the stuff in the blogs folder. All the stuff in blogs needs to be in your baseurl path. So if you want b2evo to be on yourdomain.com in a folder called test_b2e then $baseurl is http://yourdomain.com/test_b2e and you want to the contents of the 'blogs' folder on your local machine to go to your 'test_b2e' folder on your server.

Anyway you edited your conf/_config so upload the blogs folder to the test_b2e folder on your server. Now open up a browser and point it at http://yourdomain.com/test_b2e/install/ and do like it says. After you've got it all running nice and purty DELETE YOUR INSTALL FOLDER!

By the way one of the first things you should do after you finish the install process and delete the folder is go into the admin area and select the settings tab then pick a "default blog to display". It comes up with 'none' so it shows this really funky screen that you won't want anymore. Probably anyway.