Blog Resource Evaluation

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Moderators: OpenUru.org Moderators, Blog Resource Managers

admin
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Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by admin »

WordPress MU is currently under evaluation for blog software. WordPress MU, unlike WordPress standard, handles multiple users (MU). This is essential to support project groups and to avoid installing a separate instance of WordPress for each individual who wants one.

WordPress MU also handles subdomains but, unfortunately, subdomain support requires DNS wildcards which this server does not support. it would have meant blog addresses like area51.blogs.OpenURU.org. Instead, you will see blog addresses like blogs.OpenURU.org/area51.

WordPress MU is, for now, the only package under evaluation because it looks promising, is well known, and does the job. If anyone would like to propose another strong product, we'll certainly take a look. One issue worth considering is whether OpenURU.org needs a Content Management Systems (CMS) and if such a package would render other tools superfluous. It is preferable to avoid functional overlap on the tools we offer and use to avoid waste and confusion.

The currently active test instance of the blog resource is:

WordPress MU: http://blogs.openuru.org

Please feel free to volunteer as resource admins and managers for any resource evaluations.
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Nalates
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by Nalates »

I'm not sure I understand about your use...

I am using Wordpress for a blog and find it great. The easy setup to use with Word has made it my choice. There are some gotcha's here and there. But, once one learns it is not problem. That the blogs can be free or pro ($5/mo) is nice too.

eBlog was one I tried and play with a little. I think it is simpler for one new to blogs. Wordpress seems to have more capabilities. I assume that style would extend to part you are considering.
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JWPlatt
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by JWPlatt »

Nalates wrote:I'm not sure I understand about your use...
I'm not sure what you mean. ;)

About WordPress versus WordPress MU? Or about the functional overlap (good word combo - credit to Mac_Fife) between a CMS and other resources like dotProject, WordPress, Mantis, MediaWiki, etc?
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JWPlatt
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by JWPlatt »

There has been no real use of WordPress MU for testing. The evaluation was set up initially for the purposes of the D'Uru Project. They seem to like it, and WordPress is faily well accepted everywhere - moreso probably than any other software in use here besides phpBB and MediaWiki. Because they would like to know that what they do now will not be wiped, WordPress MU will become the Blog software of choice at OpenURU.org within the week unless there is a significant objection or a compelling reason for an additional evaluation. And because of the limited use so far, there is little point to the wipe.

Enjoy.
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JWPlatt
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by JWPlatt »

Hi folks,

I'll consider WordPress MU adopted in a few days, hearing no objections.

But just to see if anyone is paying attention, I'd like to hear from those in agreement with this as well. Who likes WordPress?
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Nalates
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by Nalates »

I was not clear about "your use"... I was thinking use as in whether you were going to host it or use a service.

I'm not sure what differences MU might have over whatever they use at WordPress.org. I do know that they have many features for improving search placement and blog authority. Those that need to get information out to and attract people definitely are a step ahead with WordPress.

I am curious as to why you want to host a set of blogs rather use a free service... :)
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JWPlatt
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by JWPlatt »

WordPress MU has what WordPress has, but it handles multiple users under one install instance instead of needing to install a separate instance for each user, avoiding a large drain on time and resources.

Why host here instead of using a free service? It's free for people here too, but that's not really the primary consideration. It also keeps the scope of the blogs relevant and focused within the project nature of OpenURU.org domain without the unrelated distractions, but that too is not the primary concern.

Of primary concern is how all free services left unattended by people who abandon their site eventually render the content therein unusable or lost. The content hosted here is guaranteed to not get lost or its self-contained links broken simply because the person who created them thinks little of archival importance or has left to pursue other things. Just look at free upload sites like Photobucket and others and think about all those great pictorial forum discussions and other hotlinked source material websites use which are now diminished by the loss of its linked content due to abandonment and account expiration. I want people to trust that the content here will not vanish with the originator who abandoned it. It helps projects to do and include all that under one integrated domain with unfettered access.

That is also the reason for this post about resources here generally:
JWPlatt wrote:Evaluations may be hosted externally, but the final selection will be hosted on this server. That said, gung ho - and trusted - resource admins can ask for an FTP account and a database, then do the entire install themselves if they wish. Otherwise, it will be installed for you and managers can take care of normal operations.

Three measures of when it is acceptable for external hosting are resource dependence risks, privacy/identity risks, and replicability (documentation and the ability to rebuild the resource elsewhere without loss).
viewtopic.php?p=1469#p1469
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JeffLewis
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by JeffLewis »

Something I'm noticing, though I'm unsure if it's the wordpress MU itself, or some settings the install has within it is this:

User accounts cannot be registered to a gmail address. This is a bit strange, as the only reason is that it goes into the spam folder. Honestly though, I'd think to check the spam folder if I was expecting an account e-mail. I don't see a reason to limit the use of gmail accounts, if that's something under our control and not of wordpress' choice.

Also, user accounts cannot have capital letters in them without wordpress returning an error, which is strange, because any other wordpress I've used allows it. (Not as a main blog account name, just as sub-user's names for each blog specifically.)

Any reasoning behind these two things? They're no real drawback to using this as the official blog, just wondering if they can be fixed.
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by JWPlatt »

Neither gmail nor lowercase is anything intentional. I'd also prefer having use of caps.

I'll check on both, thanks.
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admin
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Re: Blog Resource Evaluation

Post by admin »

Briefly moving this to the Suggestions forum to see if anyone has more to say on this evaluation.
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