IP.Blog is our popular blogging platform for the IPS Community Suite. We've been working on updates and improvements to this platform for the upcoming 2.5 release which we wanted to talk about today.
Interface Improvements
We've spent a lot of time cleaning up the interface and making use of the new styles available in 3.2. The aim was to make it simple and intuitive to create, manage, post to and find blogs.
Here's a few screenshots:
Tags
IP.Blog was our first product to make use of tags. In IP.Board 3.2 however, we added a more global tagging system with more advanced features (for example, an open or closed system and prefixes).
In IP.Blog 2.5, we've updated the tags system to use that new global system, so the features and interface that you're familiar with will now be available in Blog too, including tag search.
Existing tags in entries will be updated to the new system, so nothing will be lost.
Friends Only
Currently IP.Blog allows you to have blogs that are private or only viewable to those who you specify. We've integrated IP.Blog into the friends feature in IP.Board and added a new "Friends Only" option which allows your friends (and only your friends) to view your blog.
Blog This
IP.Blog currently has a hook called "Blog This" which allows you to blog about a post you find on the forums. We've extended this feature so that a new "Blog This" link now shows in the standard share links used throughout the IPS Community, in:
- Forum topics
- Blog entries
- Gallery images
- Downloads files
- Content articles
- Nexus products
- Calendar entries
By clicking the Blog This icon in any of these locations, you can blog about the content on that page with just one click. The content will be quoted and a link to the content will be added automatically to your entry.
Manage Comments
IP.Board 3.2 added a global moderator control panel. In IP.Blog 2.5 we've deepened the integration with this feature and so unapproved comments on blog entries will now show under "Unapproved Content" in the moderator control panel.
Entry Images
We've added an additional field when submitting a blog entry for an "Entry Image". This allows you to upload an image which will then display in your blog entry both in the entry itself and on listings in the entry and blog lists.
Entry Views
In addition to seeing how many views a blog has, you can now see how many views a single entry has had.