Final thoughts on creating a SharePoint blog [Post 3/3]

jarod8016b

Source: http://www.bluedoglimited.com/SharePointThoughts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=91

Update 9/29:
- Added question about the complexity of the working templates
- Added question on how to customize a ListFormWebPart
- Demo files updated: added NewComment.aspx, corrected ViewPost.aspx, added readme.txt, and simplified file names.  
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This is the last post in the blogging series.  The previous post was focused on the core steps required to get a couple of pages working together.  In looking at my blog as a fully operational SharePoint blog, a few more questions come to mind... :)

Can you format DataViewWebParts without FP2003?
Yes, but you will absolutely need to be willing to get your hands dirty.  In the demo zip file, you'll find a DVWP dwp... if you know what you're doing; you can easily adjust the display, query and filter characteristics.

Can you really build a blog system w/o FP2003?
Absolutely, but using FP will make the task much more palatable.

What about search functionality?
If your SharePoint server is using SQL server as the backend, you can easily use the built-in search mechanism.  If you’re using WMSDE or MSDE, then you will need to create a DataViewWebPart which filters its display based on the parameters provided to the web part from a SimpleFormWebPart.

How did you create the Recent Referrers list?
The referrer lists is a manual work item.  My server produces site usage charts 3x a day -- I pull the information from those charts and push into a links list.  See my previous post on using a 3rd party tool to create super cool usage charts (http://www.bluedoglimited.com/SharePointThoughts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=8).

How do you produce an RSS feed for you blog?
That’s simple – I used the Syndication Generator!  Download it from http://www.bluedoglimited.com/Downloads/pages/SyndicationGenerator.aspx.

Do you have samples or working templates?
Yes.  There are two files you can download from http://www.bluedoglimited.com/Downloads.  Check out the fully functioning templates... they add more features and serve as great learning tools.

File: WebLog_Model_1.fwp

Description:
A fully functioning model 1 blog with customized search.

Usage:
You can use FrontPage or smigrate.exe to create a working site based on the web package.

File: Model_1_Demo_Files.zip

Description:
Zip file containing two demo files which represent the work in the "fundamentals" post 2/3.

Usage:
Not intended for use, but with some tweaking the demo files can be made to work on your site.

What about a template for model #2?
FrontPage 2003 has a template for a blog based on model #2.  Go to File | New | New Web Site | Web Package Solutions.  Select the Packages tab.  Select Web Log.

Are the working templates more complex?
Yes. They add more functionality and often times you will find pages created to handle just one task (i.e. NewComment.aspx) so that user only sees what is relevant to that one task.  As you work with your own blog, you may find this page-separation approach helpful.

How do I customize the new item form's display?
If you open the default NewForm.aspx for a list, you will find that the input form is a ListFormWebPart.  To customize the display using FP2003, right click on the web part, select "Customize SharePoint List Form".  From there, use the FP's design view to customize the display.

How has the SharePoint Thoughts blog evolved?
Like I said in the previous post, building and maintaining a blog is a labor of love. Here's a quick rundown of how my blog came to be where it is today...

• 
  I started with the built-in blog template provided by FP2003
  
• 
  then, I ripped out all cross page web part connections
  
• 
  updated the ui
  
• 
  converted over to a model 1 blog
  
• 
  updated the ui
  
• 
  decided that I didn’t like the moderation requirement and converted everything back to model 2
  
• 
  updated the ui (again for like the umpteenth time)
  
• 
  and, finally changed the search mechanism to use the oob functionality instead of the customized search (simply because I got tired of tweaking everything).
  

Am I done tweaking?
Nah... I'm sure there is something else I will want to change in the coming days!  :)

Closing comments...
SharePoint is a great blogging tool.  It has the necessary data structures and permissioning systems in place... all you need to do is put together a couple of pages and you're well on your way to establishing your presence in the blogspace.

Series articles:
Post 1/3 - http://www.bluedoglimited.com/SharePointThoughts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=89
Post 2/3 - http://www.bluedoglimited.com/SharePointThoughts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=90
Post 3/3 - you're reading it!