Features

Thank you for downloading BlogHelper. BlogHelper aims to help you add a simple web log to your website.

Features of BlogHelper

• Simple, no-frills web log starter kit
• Password-protected interface for adding new blog entries
• CSS-friendly! Make the look-and-feel yours with a few stylesheet changes
• Dynamically creates links to archived blog entries
• Easily configured to display a certain number of blog entries per page
• Open source, so you may tweak it to better serve your needs

Requirements for using BlogHelper

• PHP version 4.0 or greater
• MySQL version 3.2.3 or greater

Get Started

First, edit BlogHelper.sql and replace all instances of "YourName" with your name. Do not use spaces in the name!. For instance, if your name is John Doe then use the variable "JohnDoe". Next, source BlogHelper.sql to initialize the MySQL tables. Set the "author" variable in DisplayBlog.php to the same value.

Now edit the top four variables in common_db.inc: should be set to your database host ('localhost' if PHP and MySQL are on the same computer), and are your login information, and can remain as 'blog'.

Next, configure your individual blog settings in ViewBlog.inc. Set yourAuthorName to the variable from step one (ex: "JohnDoe"). Set secretpassword, the password you will use when adding a blog entry. Finally set numEntries, the number of blog entries that will display on your blog.

Make any desired changes in your blog's stylesheet. Modify the CSS code in the displayHeader method of common.inc.

Write an entry in your blog using http://Your.web.server.path/your_blog_path/WriteBlogEntry.php?author=JohnDoe (link example for John Doe). Remember to type in your password before hitting submit.

View your new entry by accessing http://Your.web.server.path/your_blog_path/DisplayBlog.php

File Descriptions

Here's a brief overview of what each file does.

ViewBlog.inc

This file contains the information needed to configure your blog, and also contains the back-end logic.

WriteBlogEntry

This file contains the blog entry form. It can only be accessed with the proper "author" variable in the query string.

DisplayBlog.php

This file displays your blog to the world! It shows your most recent blog entries and creates links to archived blog entries. The archive links are dynamically created.

common.inc

This file has the common header and footer functions. It contains the Cascading Style Sheet which easily changes the look-and-feel of your blog.

common_db.inc

This file has the common database functions. It must be configured before use.

BlogHelper.sql

This file contains all the SQL queries you need to create the blog database. Either "source" this file from the MySQL command prompt, or use PHPMyAdmin to read the queries from this file.