Hi,
I decided to build my photography blog with Movable Type 5.
I'm new to blogging and to blogging software.
I'm very excited to create a blog with a customized design (I have built my own websites with HTML, CSS hand coded, and a few sprinkles of Javascript for a photo gallery).
I checked out the manual, but its for version 3.2.
Is there any documentation for version 5.1 - or are the versions still so similar I can use the 3.2 manual?
I have not yet downloaded MT5.
I'm trying to get the best information together and have a basic understanding before I go to the installation (so I won't create a mess).
thanks!
Reported on Movable Type 5
Movable Type Documentation and Movable Type 5 Documentation. I suggest you read them in that order.
Many of us are still at MT 4.x; MT 5 is significantly different, and may be more than you need.
Thanks for the links.
I will read them before I do the install.
Not all of us are stuck with MT4 forever, it is a great blog softare but effectivly dead WRT development. MT5 is a great CMS which does blog as well if not better than MT4 and is under active development. If you're new to it and expect to grow your site for some time, don't waste time with MT4.
I will definitely download and install MT 5.1.
Francois, do you upgrade clients to MT 5? I ask because you wrote, "if you're new to it."
Yes I do, and did on several sites. I've encountered one reason so far why I didn't: the MT4 installation works well and does not need any change. There are costs associated to a migration, so it'd be wasting a client's money to upgrade without a need to (that's why I make a distinction between an old-timer who groks the differences between MT4 and MT5 and someone who's brand new to the software).
I started reading the documentation, but the problem is that it only mentions what's there.
It doesn't explain anything.
It doesn't explain the relation of "website" and "blog". It doesn't explain what an archive path is and why I have to set it up.
I used to have my blog in Wordpress and all those things came automatically.
Is it true Movable Type 5 is only for programmers, and non-programmers will fail trying to use it? This is what I currently think because even though I spent many hours on trying to find out what to do: the information is simply not there.
MT5 is not more designed for programmers than any version before it. What you're facing is THE main problem with MT: its documentation is sub-par compared to the software qualities.
In your case, what you need to do until MT5.2 comes out (it's supposed to be more flexible about the website presence) is to keep the website (it's mandatory) but set all its Index templates to "Don't publish" (preventing it to overwrite your existing files). Then work only on the blog. You might want to create yourself another account separate from your admin account, and give it the blog administrator role on the blog, so that you'll only see the blog when you login.
Thanks, Francois.
I would be gladly pay for a manual, but there have no books been published since MT 3.
The problems with the documentation are:
1. It never defines the terms it is using. A dead sin in writing.
2. It never says what the use of a feature is. There is no goal. Another deadly sin and completely ignoring rhetorics.
3. It never has any concern about who it is talking to.
Basically, someone who knows MT can use it to upgrade from older versions, but for a newcomer like me it's absolutely impossible to learn it.
These problems concerned the basics.
I don't even want to think of the problems I would get into when I try to customize the look. (I heard you can do it with HTML and CSS alone, not with Perl or PHP (a downside of Wordpress as I understand - you need to be a programmer to go past the rather ugly templates)).
I would hate it, but if I can't find a solution I have to delete MT and go back to Wordpress.
A lot of money goes into developing software. Why not pay a professional writer a few thousand to write a top-notch manual? It would improve business for the paid enterprise and business clients.
Hi
I am having the same problems as Fellini. I chose MT because I thought I could produce a more powerful website than with Wordpress. I am not a coder or a programmer and have never launched a blog before, but I did do a website about 10 years ago but that was in Frontpage - however I can use Dreamweaver to an extent.
Like you Fellini, I don't understand the relationship between the Website and Blog etc and the documentation that is available seems to be appalling. MT is definitely not user friendly.
I would like to be able to tweak Headers, change font type, size and colours on my web pages etc and have drop down menus and also incorporate video say from YouTube etc, but I don't know how to do this - there isn't a WYSIWYG editor - instead it is all in html or CSS (which for me would be ok if it was like css in Dreamweaver where you can actually see what the changes are in a WYSIWYG format but it isn't) and for a novice like me this is highly complex.
I also don't understand that the main page has a home.html name but not an index.html page and there doesn't seem to be an index page unless I change the name of the home page to index.html.
Someone please help. Arghhhh!!!!
Thank you in advance.