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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Apache Roller enables you to build a fully-featured, multi-user blog server apt for all kinds of blogging sites. It is an ideal tool to create your own blogging network with unlimited users and blogs, forums, photo galleries, and more! While it is exciting to have a list of interesting features it can offer you, it might be a little difficult to get started with it by your self.
This book will teach you how to get started with Apache Roller and make the most of all its features using step-by-step, detailed instructions. You will learn how to establish your internet presence with an Apache Roller blog and use the latest web tools to enhance your posts and attract visitors. You will also learn how to promote your blog on popular social bookmarking services and customize it to suit your need.
This hands-on and practical book introduces you to Apache Roller. Starting off with the configuration and installation of your own blog, you'll then quickly learn how to add interesting content to your blog with the help of plenty of examples. You'll also learn how to change your blog's visual appearance with the help of Roller themes and templates and how to create a community of blogs for you and your colleagues or friends in your Apache Roller blog server. The book also looks at ways you can manage your community, and keep your site safe and secure, ensuring that it is a spam-free, enjoyable community for your users.
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Seitenzahl: 309
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009
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Table of Contents
Apache Roller 4.0
Beginner's Guide
Alfonso V. Romero
Apache Roller 4.0
Beginner's Guide
Copyright © 2009 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: December 2009
Production Reference: 1071209
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
32 Lincoln Road
Olton
Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.
ISBN 978-1-847199-50-8
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by Tina Negus (<[email protected]>)
Credits
Author
Alfonso V. Romero
Reviewers
Tarkan Karadayi
Ricardo Javier Romero
Acquisition Editor
James Lumsden
Development Editor
Swapna Verlekar
Technical Editors
Conrad Sardinha
Mazhar Shaikh
Copy Editor
Sanchari Mukherjee
Editorial Team Leader
Gagandeep Singh
Project Team Leader
Priya Mukherji
Project Coordinator
Zainab Bagasrawala
Indexer
Rekha Nair
Proofreader
Lynda Sliwoski
Production Coordinator
Shantanu Zagade
Cover Work
Shantanu Zagade
Foreword
Roller is not the most popular blog server out there, or the one with the most plugins and themes—that distinction goes to WordPress—but Roller can be the best choice in many situations. For an IT department seeking a Java-based blog server to run on their existing Java EE application server, Roller is the most complete open source option out there. It's also the best choice for developers looking to build full-fledged blogging features into an existing product. Roller's business-friendly Apache license means you can use Roller's code in your product even if your product is closed-source and commercial.
Alfonso's book fills a very important need for those of us who do find Roller the best choice. Roller has a basic installation guide, user guide, and template author guide. Roller also has user and developer mailing lists where you can ask questions and get some support from other Roller users. What this book provides, you won't find in the stock Roller documentation: illustrated, in-depth, and step-by-step instructions that explain how to setup, customize, and start blogging with Apache Roller.
Whether you're setting up an Apache Roller site for your own personal use or helping to set up a site for thousands of bloggers, this book is a great starting point for everybody involved.
David M. Johnson
Founder of Apache Roller
http://rollerweblogger.org/roller
About the Author
Alfonso V. Romero has been working with Linux and Open Source Software since 1999, when he started operating his first Web server (Apache) from a PC at home. Since then he's been working as a Computer consultant for LASECLAT & ProEco Laboratories in Mexico, along with several other clients, as a Java, C++, and web applications developer. He also works for Pearson Education in Mexico as a Computer Books Freelance Translator and Consultant. When he's not experimenting with new trends in Open Source and .NET applications, he enjoys spending some quality time with his beautiful wife, his three kids and his three dogs, or playing his old electric Ibanez guitar.
He's also a big fan of Stephen King, and one of his maximum aspirations is to write a fiction novel, but his passion for computers and information technology keeps him busy as a technical writer.
To my lovely wife Adelina, whose patience, love, encouragement, and support kept me working on this extreme project every time I just felt like bailing out... We finally made it through, baby! I love you very, very much! My heart will always be yours!
To my two daughters Adelina and Arlae, and to my son Alfonso Jr., because every time I got writer's block they always managed to cheer me up with a smile, a kiss or a hug… I love you infinitely, guys!
To my mother and father, for her unconditional support and for always showing me that patience, perseverance and stubbornness will always help you achieve whatever you're up to.
To all the staff at Packt Publishing for turning this dream into reality… Special thanks to: Kshipra, James, Swapna, and Zainab, who were always willing to answer my questions and coach me through the long journey of writing this book.
And last, but not least, to Dave Johnson, creator of Apache Roller, the best blog server I've ever worked with!
About the Reviewers
Tarkan Karadayi has been writing code since age 14. He has a Masters in Computer Science and is currently working as a Lead Developer.
I would like to thank my wife Anna, my parents, and my three sons Taran, Kyle, and Ryan for their love and support.
Ricardo Javier Romero is an Electronic Systems Engineer with over thirteen years of software development experience, both as a developer and as a team leader, in many of the technologies that have surfaced over the past few years.
He has worked on military projects, and is currently a team leader for an oil and gas service company, focusing on .NET development in C#, C++, and MFC, as well as web development and database engines.
He has also translated two technical books into Spanish, and worked extensively in web development when the Internet was still in its infancy, using JavaScript, VBScript, and ASP.NET.
When he's not delving into his love for all things technical, he works on his screenwriting, filmmaking, and music.
Preface
This hands-on and practical book introduces you to Apache Roller. Starting off with the configuration and installation of your own blog, you'll then quickly learn how to add interesting content to your blog, with the help of plenty of examples. You'll also learn how to change your blog's visual appearance with the help of Roller themes and templates and how to create a community of blogs for you and your colleagues or friends in your Apache Roller blog server. The book will also look at ways in which you can manage your community, and keep your site safe and secure, ensuring that it is a spam-free, enjoyable community for your users.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, An Introduction to Weblogs, gives you insight on weblogs and how they can be used to create a worldwide presence through the blogosphere. It also teaches you the difference between a blog and a CMS, the basics about newsfeeds and the important role they play for blogs, and how you can use them to spread information on the blogosphere.
Chapter 2, Installing Roller on Windows, teaches you how to install Apache Roller in a Windows environment, along with all the supporting software required—Apache web server, JDK SE 6, Tomcat servlet engine, and MySQL database server.
Chapter 3, Installing Roller on Linux, teaches you how to install Apache Roller in a Linux Ubuntu environment, along with all the supporting software required—Apache web server, JDK SE 6, Tomcat servlet engine, and MySQL database server.
Chapter 4, How to Start Working with Roller, teaches you the basics about blogging with Apache Roller, and how to manage the blogroll—an important element of every blog that shows up on the front page. You'll see how to create your first user and weblog, adjust basic settings of your server and weblog, create and edit weblog entries (posts), manage categories, use the Rich Text Editor included in Roller in order to enhance the appearance of your post, and maximize your front page's space by means of the Summary field.
Chapter 5, Spicing Up Your Blog, teaches you about all the different tools available on the Internet that can help you build a very attractive weblog for your visitors. You'll learn how to upload files to your blog and use the Rich Text Editor to insert images, sound files, and videos, change the file uploading size limit of your blog server in order to upload bigger files, and use Google Maps, YouTube, and SlideShare to embed maps, videos, and document presentations in your blog.
Chapter 6, Roller Themes and Blog Promotion, teaches you how to change your Roller weblog theme, download additional themes, and promote your weblog on all the popular bookmarking services. You'll learn how to choose a weblog theme from Roller's administration interface, download additional themes and install them in your Roller weblog server, create an account in No-IP.com—a dynamic DNS service provider—to run your Roller weblog from your own PC, open the web port (80) via port forwarding on your DSL modem/router firewall, and add a Digg It button to your weblog so that visitors can vote for your posts on the Digg.com social bookmarking website.
Chapter 7, Working with Templates, teaches you how to create and edit your first template in Roller, along with some basics about the Velocity template language, and how to create your first Roller theme from scratch. You'll also learn about Roller's model and data objects, and how to use these objects' properties, methods, and macros in a custom template to show data from your weblog.
Chapter 8, Comments and Trackbacks, will show you how to work with comments and trackbacks in your Apache Roller blog, using Roller's comment management tools to approve, disapprove, and delete comments. You'll also learn to moderate comments in Roller using comment management tools, avoid spam, and use all the anti-spam tools available in Roller, and how trackbacks can help you in interacting with other bloggers.
Chapter 9, Advanced Topics, will show you "some stuff" that will help in promoting your blog and creating your own weblog community. You will learn to manage group blogs, use aggregators and blog search engines, and configure Google webmaster tools to find out about visitors to your blog. You will also learn to use Google docs as a web client to publish entries, use podcasts in your weblog entries to attract visitors, and Planet Roller to aggregate external blogs along with your Roller blog.
Chapter 9 is not a part of the book, but you can download it from Packt's website. It is available at http://www.packtpub.com/files/9508-Chapter-9-Advanced-Topics.pdf.
What you need for this book
Basically, you'll need a PC with Windows XP/Vista or Ubuntu Linux installed (you can use other Linux distributions, just be sure they have the GNOME desktop manager to follow all the exercises in this book), a text editor, and a web browser. In Windows, you can use Internet Explorer 7 or Mozilla Firefox 3 (or later versions); in Linux you can use Mozilla Firefox 3 or later.
The latest Apache Roller release is 4.0.1, and before installing it you'll need the following software:
Who this book is for
If you are interested in establishing a blog, using Apache Roller and popular web applications to write attractive posts, and promoting your blog on all the major social bookmarking services, this book is for you. No previous experience on Tomcat, MySQL, the Apache web server, or Linux required.
Conventions
In this book, you will find several headings appearing frequently.
To give clear instructions of how to complete a procedure or task, we use:
Time for action — heading
Instructions often need some extra explanation so that they make sense, so they are followed with:
What just happened?
This heading explains the working of tasks or instructions that you have just completed.
You will also find some other learning aids in the book, including:
Pop quiz - heading
These are short multiple choice questions intended to help you test your own understanding.
Have a go hero — heading
These set practical challenges and give you ideas for experimenting with what you have learned.
You will also find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "With the mod_jk connector, Apache and Tomcat will share the http://localhost address without conflicts."
A block of code is set as follows:
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "In the Edit Entry page, go to the Content field and click on the Toggle HTML Source button."
Tip
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.
To send us general feedback, simply send an email to<[email protected]>, and mention the book title via the subject of your message.
If there is a book that you need and would like to see us publish, please send us a note in the SUGGEST A TITLE form on www.packtpub.com or email<[email protected]>.
If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book on, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.
Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.
Tip
Downloading the example code for the book
Visit http://www.packtpub.com/files/code/9508_Code.zip to directly download the example code.
The downloadable files contain instructions on how to use them.
Errata
Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books—maybe a mistake in the text or the code—we would be grateful if you would report this to us. By doing so, you can save other readers from frustration, and help us to improve subsequent versions of this book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.com/support, selecting your book, clicking on the let us know link, and entering the details of your errata. Once your errata are verified, your submission will be accepted and the errata added to any list of existing errata. Any existing errata can be viewed by selecting your title from http://www.packtpub.com/support.
Piracy
Piracy of copyright material on the Internet is an ongoing problem across all media. At Packt, we take the protection of our copyright and licenses very seriously. If you come across any illegal copies of our works, in any form, on the Internet, please provide us with the location address or web site name immediately so that we can pursue a remedy.
Please contact us at<[email protected]> with a link to the suspected pirated material.
We appreciate your help in protecting our authors, and our ability to bring you valuable content.
Questions
You can contact us at<[email protected]> if you are having a problem with any aspect of the book, and we will do our best to address it.
Chapter 1. An Introduction to Weblogs
Welcome to the world of blogging with Apache Roller! In this first chapter of the book, you will learn some useful facts about blogs, and how you can use them to become a part of the blogosphere—a term used in the blogging world to describe all the blogs on the Internet as one giant community. We'll also see several examples about promoting your business or professional activities, how you can get in touch with customers (or potential customers) for your business, express your ideas, hobbies, feelings, and share your experiences with other bloggers. This chapter is designed to illustrate the world of blogs to absolute newcomers. It is intended to foster thoughts and ideas as to how you might use and gain advantage from blogs. Of course, it may be that you are well aware of the blogosphere, and are itching to get your feet wet with Apache Roller straightaway. If so, please feel free to skip ahead to the next chapter which shows you how to install Roller. If, however, you want to learn more about blogs, we shall:
Are you ready? Let's begin.
Basic concepts about weblogs
Before we start with some examples and exercises, let's review some common terms used in the blogging arena:
Term
Definition
Tip
Weblog
A website that shows text entries, or posts in a chronological order.
The terms blog and weblog are interchangeable; you can use a weblog as a personal diary, as a journal to record your activities during working hours, to share photos from your last family vacation, and so on.
Post
An individual entry of a weblog.
In a post, you can include text, images, sounds and videos, links to other posts/websites, and so on. A post always includes the date and time of its creation.
Comment
A text-based response to a post.
Comments are very useful both for bloggers and blog visitors. They help to establish a two-way communication.
Newsfeed (or Feed)
A collection of the most recent posts and comments from a weblog in XML format (RSS or Atom feeds).
Newsfeeds can help you receive the latest information from any blog through RSS or Atom feeds. And you can offer these newsfeeds from your blog, too.
Newsfeed Reader
An application used to read one or more RSS or Atom feeds.
A feed reader gets you the latest information from one or more blogs, without even having to visit them!
These are just some of the terms we're going to use extensively in this chapter.
What can you do with a weblog?
Maybe we should rephrase the title of this section as "What can't you do with a weblog?", as the only limit is your imagination! We're about to take a ride along the cyber-universe of the blogosphere, where you'll see some interesting ways in which people use blogs.
Express your feelings to the world
One of the most popular uses of weblogs is to express people's thoughts and feelings. When you publish a post, it shows up in your weblog's front page. But if you know how to take advantage of websites such as Google, Technorati, Dzone, Digg, and Slashdot, among others, what you write can be read by hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people!
Time for action — a little visit to Technorati
In this little exercise, we're going to visit the Technorati website (http://www.technorati.com) and see how some people use their blogs to express their feelings and opinions about fiction writing.
It's very likely that your search results will differ from the ones shown in the following exercise, because Technorati updates its listings daily.
What just happened?
Congratulations! You've just entered into the world of blogs and the blogosphere! Technorati is just one of several popular social bookmarking websites (or aggregators), where you can search for posts, which people like you publish on their websites. In the previous example, we saw that when you enter one or more search words, Technorati shows you a list of all the related posts and their corresponding blogs. There are millions of bloggers who use their own blogs to express their feelings and opinions. These blogs show up on Technorati, Digg, Dzone, del.icio.us, and many more social bookmarking websites, virtually covering every imaginable category or subject. With this book and Apache Roller, you're going to learn how to become one of them, and express your thoughts to the world through the blogosphere!
Note
An aggregator is a website dedicated to collect information about other websites that share something in common. For example, Technorati aggregates blogs and classifies them into categories, as you saw in the previous example.
Get in touch with other people
Blogs let you express your feelings and thoughts, but that's not the only thing they can do. The real power invested in them is that, people can not only read your posts but can also interact with you, by means of the comments they leave! Your blog can help you start a two-way conversation; for example, let's say you write something about your favorite Italian dish. A couple of hours later, your post shows up on Technorati and someone reads it. As a result, the reader leaves a comment saying that it's his/her favorite dish, too. Now you can respond to that comment and maybe post something else about other Italian dishes. Suddenly, you realize there are several readers commenting about your posts and you decide to use your blog as an Italian food community! As you can see, a blog is not only static text; it's a dynamic tool that people can use every day to get in touch with other people who share their same interests.
Time for action — leaving comments on other people's weblogs
In this exercise, you'll visit my personal blog and leave a comment on one of its posts.
Note
Nowadays people use validators very frequently on websites where anyone can leave comments, as in the above example. There are several types of validators, but the basic operation is the same—they help us to avoid spam attacks caused by robots, as they can't answer to the validation question like an ordinary user would.
What just happened?
In the previous exercise, we saw how to leave a comment on a weblog. This is one of the most powerful uses of blogs—someone posts about a subject you're interested in, then you leave a comment on that post, and later the owner of that post answers you back with another comment. If you leave your e-mail, both can establish a two-way communication! With Apache Roller and this book, you'll learn how to make blogs and interact with other blog owners in the ever-expanding blogosphere universe.
Promote your business or professional activities
At the time of writing this book, a lot of companies are already using blogs to promote their products and services. There are employees from several companies who use internal blogs to communicate with other employees, and external blogs to communicate with clients, potential clients, and anyone who's interested in their professional activities, or even their hobbies. The beauty of it is that you can mix posts of your activities at work, along with posts of your hobbies and personal interests. Moreover, if someone has the same hobby as yours, he/she will be attracted to your blog. He/She will also see the other posts you have, including any promotional message about your professional activities, the company you work in, or your small business. The possibilities with this type of "free advertising" are endless.
Time for action — Microsoft employee blogs
In this exercise, we'll visit the Microsoft Community Blogs website, where you can see what Microsoft employees are writing in their blogs.
If you can't find it in the list, you can type the following URL: http://port25.technet.com. Next, the Port 25
