Enable Comments in iWeb


As this book was going to press, Apple released a free iWeb update, version 1.1, which added several cool new features to the program, including extra themes and templates as well as support for letting visitors search your blog and podcast sites. As with all the features of the "original" iWeb, describing every version-1.1. addition is beyond the scope of this book, but one new feature support for reader comments on blog and podcast sitesis too cool to leave out.

Comments support lets you transform your blog or podcast from a speech to a conversation. It lets visitors respond to your posts with questions, observations, and even rebuttals. You can use comments yourself to answer your audience, and visitors can also talk among themselves about how much they admire your brilliant insights.

Here's an overview of how to enable comments on your site, and how to get rid of them in case you're extremely modest or the debate gets a little too heated:

To Activate Comments in a Blog or Podcast

1.

You can't enable comments in a blog or podcast until the blog or podcast site exists. So if you haven't already done so, follow the instructions in the preceding sections of this chapter to create an appropriate site.

2.

Open the iWeb application and highlight the name of the index, entries, or archive page for your blog or podcast (Figure 5.51). Comment activation applies globally to every page in a site, so the specific page you choose isn't important.

Figure 5.51. The first step in enabling comments on your site is to select one of its pages (any one of them) in iWeb.


Click the Inspector button (the blue circle with "i" in the middle).

3.

The Inspector palette opens.

Click RSS; in the RSS pane click the Blog tab (Figure 5.52) and check the "Allow comments" box.

Figure 5.52. Locate the "Allow comments" check box by clicking the RSS button in the iWeb Inspector, and then clicking the Blog tab.


4.

The first time you enable comments for a blog or podcast, a confirmation dialog appears, explaining what you're about to do (Figure 5.53).

Figure 5.53. The Allow Comments confirmation dialog makes sure you understand what you're doing.


Check the "Don't show again" box if you don't want to see this reminder in the future, then click OK.

5.

In the Blog pane, the "Allow attachments" check box, which was grayed out when "Allow comments" was unchecked, is now available. Check it if you'd like to allow site visitors to attach images, sound clips, or other files up to 5 MB in size to their comments (Figure 5.54).

Figure 5.54. Once "Allow comments" is checked, the "Allow attachments" check box becomes accessible.


6.

The first time you check "Allow attachments," a dialog appears, explaining that any attachments posted to your site will be stored on your iDisk (Figure 5.55).

Figure 5.55. If you check "Allow attachments," iWeb displays a cautionary dialog to make sure you understand what you've done.


Once again, check "Don't show again" if you don't want to see this reminder in the future, and then click OK.

7.

Click the Publish button in the lower left corner of the iWeb window to re-post your site with Comments enabled, and attachments allowed if you opted for that.

To Post or Respond to Comments

The processes of posting comments to your blog and responding to comments posted there are the same for you and your audience.

1.

To add and respond to comments, you must be viewing your site in a Web browser. If you're editing the site in iWeb, click the Visit button in the lower left corner of the iWeb window. Otherwise, point your browser to your site's index page, http://web.mac.com/membername/iWeb/sitename (replacing membername and sitename with your .Mac user name and (what else?) the site name.

Navigate to the entry with the comment you want to address and click the Add a Comment link (Figure 5.56).

Figure 5.56. To add a comment to a blog, or respond to comments made by site visitors, view the site in a browser and click the Add a Comment link.


2.

In the Add Comment window that appears (Figure 5.57), do the following:

Figure 5.57. The Add Comment window lets you type in your remarks, prompts you for an ID and an optional Web link, and makes you prove you're not a spamgenerating robot (which you probably already know).


  • Type your remarks in the large Comment field.

  • If an Add Attachment link appears below the Comment field and you'd like to post a file (photo, audio clip, or what have you) up to 5 MB in size along with your comment, click Add Attachment and then the Choose File button (Figure 5.58).

    Figure 5.58. On sites with comment attachments enabled, clicking the Add Attachment link below the Comment field exposes the Choose File button, used to select an attachment file.

  • Next, enter your name (or your nom de blog) in the "Comment as" field, and optionally add a URL for your homepage or any other Web site you care to be associated with.

  • Finally, type the random five-character sequence displayed in the bottom-left image into the Image Verification field to its right. This is a required test to prove you're a human being, not an automated spam generator (which wouldn't be able to see and read the characters).

3.

Click the Add Comment button to post your remarks and any attachments.

The Adding Comment progress pane appears and stays until the page and any attachments have been posted to the site (Figure 5.59).

Figure 5.59. Clicking the Add Comment button at the bottom right summons the "Adding comment" progress pane, which stays until your comment and any attachment are posted to the site.


To Delete Comments from Your Site

Maybe you're having second thoughts about a response you posted to one of your audience members; maybe the discussion between posters is getting a tad too personal; or maybe you just want revel in your absolute power over your online domain. Whatever the case, you can remove any or all comments from your blog any time you like. Here's how.

1.

Steer a Web browser to your site, by clicking click the Visit button for a relevant page in the lower left corner of the iWeb window, or by typing your site's URL into the browser address field: http://web.mac.com/membername/iWeb/sitename (replacing membername and sitename with your .Mac user name and site name, respectively).

Navigate to the entry that houses the comment(s) you want to delete.

2.

Locate the comment counter at the bottom of the main entry on the page (which indicates that there have been some number n comments to your post) and click the padlock icon next to it (Figure 5.60).

Figure 5.60. To delete an unwanted comment, begin by clicking the padlock icon next to the commentcount listing at the foot of a blog or podcast entry.


3.

In the Site Owner Login screen that appears, type your .Mac member name and password into the appropriate fields (Figure 5.61).

Figure 5.61. Type your .Mac member name and account password in the Site Owner Login dialog.


4.

In the Manage Comments screen that appears locate the comment(s) you want to delete.

Check the boxes to the left of the comments you want to zap and click either Delete button; there's one at the top and another at the bottom of the window. When you've finished, click the Return to Entry link (Figure 5.62).

Figure 5.62. Check the boxes to the left of any comment(s) you want to remove, click either of the Delete buttons, and then click the Return to Entry Page link to go back to your site.


Tips

  • If you want to delete all comments for an entry, you can select them all easily by checking one of the Select All boxes to the top left and bottom left of the Manage Comments page.

  • If you find yourself having to trash nuisance posts all the time, consider password-protecting your site, so that only people you authorize can see it and post comments to it. To do so, open the site in iWeb, launch the Inspector, and click its Site button (the blue orb) and the Password tab (Figure 5.63).

    Figure 5.63. You can password-protect a site by opening it in iWeb, clicking the Site button in the Inspector, clicking the Password tab, and checking Make my published site private. Add a user name and password different from your .Mac member name and password.





.Mac with iWeb Visual QuickStart Guide Series
.Mac with iWeb, Second Edition
ISBN: 0321442288
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 113

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