Maverick Blogs http://blog.uta.edu Weblogs at the University of Texas at Arlington Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:17:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Maverick Blogs upgraded to Wordpress 2.9 http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2010/08/22/maverick-blogs-upgraded-to-wordpress-2-9/ http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2010/08/22/maverick-blogs-upgraded-to-wordpress-2-9/#comments Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:17:00 +0000 Bryan Maupin http://blog.uta.edu/?p=85 We have upgraded the Maverick blogs. A few things have changed as a result of the upgrade. Please read the notes below pertaining to any features you may have been previously using.

New features

Other notes

New features

New design

You’ve probably already noticed this, but the Maverick Blogs now has a fresh new look, which you’re seeing now. But it’s not just for looks. The new design has some new features as well, like:

  • A special section containing featured blogs, the newest blogs, and the most recently updated blogs, with gravatar images
  • A search box in the page header
  • A special “Start here” page, which walks users through setting up their blog simply by answering questions. See: Start here
  • Helpful links in the footer, including a site map, links to other UTA sites, and the RSS feed
  • A separate section just for support, so you know right where to go if you need help
  • Removal of redundant content
  • As well as other design elements to make the Maverick Blogs more appealing and easier to use

To see more, check out the front page:

http://blog.uta.edu

Additional screen options

When you’re logged into the dashboard of your blog, there is a tab in the top right for Screen Options. There are now more options available, such as customizing the number of columns displayed on the dashboard, and the number of items to display per page when viewing posts, comments, etc.

Improved video embedding

Previously, to post a Youtube video, you needed the Youtube plugin. Now, all you need to do is paste the URL of the Youtube video into your post, and the video will automatically appear when you publish your post. In addition to Youtube videos, videos from many other sites are now supported, including:

  • Vimeo
  • DailyMotion
  • Hulu
  • Google Video
  • …and many more!

For more information, see:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds

Integrated image editing

You can now perform basic editing on images you upload to Maverick Blogs. To edit an uploaded image, log in to the blogs and go to the dashboard for your blog. Then go to Media –> Library, and click on the image you want to edit. In the page that comes up, click the Edit image button. From there you can do simple editing such as cropping, rotation, and flipping.

New trash feature

When you go to delete a post or a comment, the link will now say Trash instead of Delete. When you send an item to the trash, you’ll see a new category at the top of the page for the Trash. From there, you can restore the item or delete it permanently. Items left in the trash for 30 days are automatically removed.

New themes

As part of the upgrade, we have added some new themes:

  • Freshy

    Freshy screenshot

    Freshy comes with quite a few built-in templates as well as the ability to customize other elements such as the number of sidebars, menu links, and more.

  • Illacrimo

    Illacrimo screenshot

    Illacrimo is a crisp 3-column theme with a bold style.

  • P2

    P2 is a unique and innovative twitter-like theme. The above video explains it better than we could.

    Redesigned widget interface

    The widget interface has been completely redesigned. You can now edit widgets on the fly, have multiple copies of the same widget, drag and drop widgets between sidebars, and save inactive widgets so you don’t lose all their settings.

    Other notes

    AddThis sidebar widget

    The plugin to add the AddThis sidebar widget was buggy and outdated, and has been removed. But don’t worry, if you want to add an AddThis widget to your sidebar, it’s easy. Just follow the directions in this link:

    AddThis – Get Your Button Code

    On a side note, the button will probably look better if you remove this part of the code:

    style="border:0"

    Peter’s Custom Anti-Comment Spam plugin

    This plugin has been replaced with an improved plugin, called WP-reCAPTCHA. If you were previously using Peter’s Custom Anti-Comment Spam plugin, you’ll probably want to enable the WP-reCAPTCHA plugin.

    ]]> http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2010/08/22/maverick-blogs-upgraded-to-wordpress-2-9/feed/ 0 New plugins and themes available http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2010/07/20/new-plugins-and-themes-available/ http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2010/07/20/new-plugins-and-themes-available/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:48:53 +0000 Bryan Maupin http://blog.uta.edu/?p=52 The following plugins and themes are now available to all Maverick Blogs users:

    Plugins

    Themes

    • Orange Sky
      Orange Sky screenshot
    • The Beauty Within
      The Beauty Within screenshot
    ]]>     http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2010/07/20/new-plugins-and-themes-available/feed/ 0     Maverick Blogs Upgrade Notes http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2009/08/16/maverick-blogs-upgrade-notes/ http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2009/08/16/maverick-blogs-upgrade-notes/#comments Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:56:33 +0000 Bryan Maupin http://blog.uta.edu/?p=22 We have upgraded the Maverick blogs. A few things have changed as a result of the upgrade. Please read the notes below pertaining to any features you may have been previously using.

    New Features

    Plugins

    Other Notes


    New Features

    More Privacy Options

    We have added a much-requested feature: you can now restrict your entire blog to be viewable only by certain users or a certain group of users. For more information, see:

    http://blog.uta.edu/faq/#visibility-groups

    New Dashboard

    We have upgraded to a new version of the blog software, and this version has a completely redesigned dashboard. One major difference is that the menu is now on the left-hand side of the screen instead of at the top. Each menu option is collapsed by default. To expand a menu and see all of that menu’s options, simply click on the down arrow to the right of the menu name that will appear when you put your mouse over the menu name. For instance, if you wish to add a new post and the Posts menu is collapsed, simply put your mouse over the word “Posts” in the menu, and a down arrow will appear to the right of the word. Click on it, and it will expand the menu. From there you can click on the “Add New” link to add a new post to your blog.

    If you maintain more than one blog, changing blogs is slightly different. You will now click on the “My Blogs” link in the Dashboard menu. There you will see all the blogs that you are subscribed to. You may view a blog by clicking on the “Visit” link under the blog’s name, or go to that blog’s dashboard by clicking on the “Dashboard” link. Remember: when you are making changes to a blog, always make sure that blog’s name appears in the upper-left corner of the screen. If it doesn’t, that means you are on another blog’s dashboard. Change to the correct blog by using the steps listed above. This will probably only occur if you manage or are subscribed to more than one blog.

    New Themes

    As part of the upgrade, we have added some new themes. These themes are compatible with the latest version of the blog software and support features such as avatars and threaded comments.

    • Aeros
      Aeros screenshot

      Aeros has a transparent header and sidebar. It also has 27 different backgrounds to choose from. To change your background, first make sure the Aeros theme is activated (go to “Themes” in the Appearance menu), and then go to the “Change Background Image” link in the Appearance menu.

    • Arclite
      Arclite screenshot

      Arclite includes many options such as 8 header images to choose from, upload a custom image header, custom CSS, sidebar placement on the left or right, 3 columns, a speed-improving imageless layout, as well as CSS code examples.

    • Mandigo
      Mandigo screenshot

      Mandigo has 7 different color schemes, as well as the option to change color schemes randomly. It can have 2 or 3 columns as well as 3 split columns. It features the ability to insert custom CSS or HTML into your blog, and has collapsible posts and sidebars.

    • Monochrome
      Monochrome screenshot

      Monochrome is a simple black and white theme which features page navigation and multi-level dropdown menus.

    WordPress Super Cache

    We have implemented a new site-wide plugin called Wordpress Super Cache that will improve performance of the blogs. If you make a change to your blog and do not see the change immediately, it is because you are seeing a cached version of your blog. Once the cache expires, you will see your changes.


    Plugins

    Brian’s Threaded Comments

    This plugin was removed because this functionality is now built-in to Wordpress. Threaded comments must first be activated before they can be used. To use them, log in, go to “Site Admin,” and then look for the Settings menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Make sure it’s expanded (click the down arrow to the right of the word “Settings” if it isn’t), then click “Discussion. Click the box to put a check next to “Enable threaded (nested) comments,” and then scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen and click “Save Changes.”

    Threaded comments is a feature only supported by certain themes. Before the upgrade, only two themes supported threaded comments. Now, the following themes support threaded comments:

    • Aeros
    • Arclite
    • Cutline 3-Column Split
    • K2
    • Mandigo
    • Maverick (the Maverick Blogs default theme)
    • Monochrome
    • WordPress mu Default (WordPress default theme)

    MyCSS

    If you were previously using this plugin, you will have to manually reactivate it. See here for more information on using the MyCSS plugin:

    http://blog.uta.edu/faq/#custom-css

    Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam

    If you were previously using this plugin, you will have to manually reactivate it.

    Registered Only

    This plugin has been replaced by a new feature. To get the same functionality as the old Registered Only plugin, see:

    http://blog.uta.edu/faq/#visibility

    Simple Trackback Validation

    The functionality of this plugin is now provided by Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam. If you were previously using this plugin, please use Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam instead.

    TanTanNoodles Spam Filter

    This plugin has been removed because it has the same functionality as the Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam plugin. If you were previously using this plugin, please use Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam instead.

    User Permissions

    This plugin has been replaced by a new feature. Instead of having to manually set restrictions on each post, you may now limit viewing of your blog to registered members of your blog. To enable this feature, see:

    http://blog.uta.edu/faq/#visibility-groups

    Wordpress XML Export

    This plugin was removed because this functionality is now built in to Wordpress.


    Other Notes

    K2 Theme

    The K2 theme has been upgraded to be compatible with the latest version of the blog software. If you are using the K2 theme, your blog may not look exactly the same in the new version. To change the look of your blog, you can go to the “K2 Options” link in the Appearance menu. You may also go to the “Custom Image Header” link in the Appearance menu to change your header image and colors.

    You will likely have to reconfigure your K2 sidebars. To do this, go to the Widgets link in the Appearance menu, and under “Current Widgets,” select the sidebar you wish to configure. You may add widgets, and drag them up or down to change their position. Don’t forget to click “Save Changes” when you’re done.

    If you had your blog set up so you had 3 columns (2 sidebars), and the sidebars were on either side, you may have to reconfigure the sidebars. To do this, first go to the K2 Options link in the Appearance menu and make sure the Columns option says Three Columns. Then, if you want your sidebars to be on either side (instead of both being on the right side), scroll down to the Styles section of the K2 Options page. Look for the Styles Directory option, and make sure “K2″ is selected from the dropdown menu and the word “styles” is in the text box to the right of the dropdown menu. If it isn’t, you’ll have to click Save Changes and then return to the Styles section. Lastly, look for “Dueling Sidebars” in the styles table, place a checkmark in the box beside “Dueling Sidebars,” and then click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. Now when you view your page the sidebars should be on either side.

    Widgetbox Widgets

    If you were previously using a widget from widgetbox.com, you may have to set up your widget again. To do so, first go to widgetbox.com, find the widget you want to add, click Get Widget, click Wordpress, and click Copy to get the widget code.

    Then, use the instructions from this link to add the widget to your blog (note that you’ll want to create a Text widget and paste the code you got from widgetbox.com):

    http://blog.uta.edu/faq/#add-widget

    There are also instructions available at widgetbox.com, although they are somewhat outdated:

    http://docs.widgetbox.com/help/installation/wordpress/

    ]]>     http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2009/08/16/maverick-blogs-upgrade-notes/feed/ 0     New Sidebar Login Widget http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2008/01/14/new-sidebar-login-widget/ http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2008/01/14/new-sidebar-login-widget/#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:54:35 +0000 admin http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2008/01/14/new-sidebar-login-widget/ A new widget has been added to Maverick Blogs. The “Sidebar Login” widget allows you to put a login form in the sidebar of your blog to allow users to login.

    To add the widget to your sidebar, simply go to “Presentation”->”Widgets” and drag the “Sidebar Login” widget from the available widgets into the sidebar. Save the settings and a login form will then appear in your sidebar.

    Note that you will need to add add additional widgets, if you have not already customized your sidebar, to accomplish the same default sidebar.

    ]]>     http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2008/01/14/new-sidebar-login-widget/feed/ 0     Welcome to the UT Arlington blog service http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2007/08/17/welcome-to-the-ut-arlington-blog-service/ http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2007/08/17/welcome-to-the-ut-arlington-blog-service/#comments Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:01:12 +0000 Jason Hardy http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2007/08/17/welcome-to-the-ut-arlington-blog-service/ UT Arlington is providing all students, faculty and staff the ability to create their own blog. We have chosen Wordpress as the software for this service, software that many of you may already be familiar with.

    Please let us know what you think of this service and if you find it useful.

    ]]>     http://blog.uta.edu/blog/2007/08/17/welcome-to-the-ut-arlington-blog-service/feed/ 0