Donovan Watts: Radio UserLand: The Missing Manual

Radio UserLand: The Missing Manual - Closing the Book

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 00:38:20 GMT

Before Radio UserLand was called Radio UserLand, it was called Pike. I've been a Radio user since the day it was born and I've enjoyed the power and flexibility it has afforded me over the last four or five years. It's been my pleasure to create this manual and I've learned much more about Radio than I ever would have had I not determined to create this weblog. It's been especially gratifying to get feedback from people. Trying to help out where I can, either here or in the Radio forums, is something I enjoy. However, with Steve Kirk's announcement today that he is no longer UserLand's Radio product manager, I see the writing on the wall. I've seen it for some time actually. UserLand is obviously focused on Manila, not Radio. The day UserLand hired Steve Kirks was the day I started the manual. And today, I am ending the manual. Radio was like the unfortunate child that showed so much promise but was unfortunately abandoned due to it's father's health crisis. The father tried to give Radio to a good home but the new parent's were more interested in Radio's big brother, Manila. Radio stumbled along with a minimum of updates and attempts by Steve Kirks to drum up a developer community to bring Radio in league with many of its weblogging brethren did little to achieve many of the items on the community's wish list. Steve did a great job! Don't get me wrong. Steve single handedly moved Radio forward at a time when it could have easily remained frozen in time. Rather, Steve led improvement in commenting, trackbacks, code bugs, aggregator functionality, user support, and more. Despite his attempts though, I got the impression that UserLand was content to keep Radio hobbling along just enough. That's fine but I'm interested in platforms that are moving forward, not remaining stagnant or tended to "just enough." Thanks to all my readers. It's been a wonderful experience. I wish you well with your Radio UserLand weblogging. Radio is still the little desktop publishing engine that could so keep on using it for your blog if you like it! I, however, have moved on and now it's time to officially close the doors here. I will leave the site standing, yet frozen. There will be no more updates to this blog. If you would like to follow my other endeavors, I invite you read my personal weblog, Donovan's Run, a WordPress powered site. I'm also available for web site development.. see my business site, Getting Sites Built. Become the Media (home of this manual) is going to become more active this year so keep tuned in to that site. And finally, I'm experimenting with thoughtStreams using the OPML Editor, which has been lots of fun. Check it out. Thanks for reading! - Your Host, Donovan Watts.

Radio UserLand script wanted

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 01:47:55 GMT

Goal: To assure that every weblog post appears on the home page. And to assure that every weblog post belongs to one category only. Namely, the 'iceplant radio daze' category. Why: Once my goal is achieved, I intend to export the entire site to an RSS Backlog file using Steve Hooker's backLogAllRSS tool. Then, I will import that into WordPress 2.0. I was referring to this Wiki article from one user who recounted the steps he took to convert from Radio to WordPress if you want more background on what I'm trying to accomplish once I cleanup my posts. How: I've broken it down into the following steps and assumptions. I don't know UserTalk but if you do, and would like to help, please look at the following and let me know if you can help. Thanks. 1. Change all posts in the weblogData.posts table to meet these two requirements: * post must appear on home page (flNotOnHomePage = false)
* post must get assigned to the 'iceplant radio daze' category. 'iceplant radio daze' should be the only category. any other categories (old ones that have been deleted for instance) that might already exist should be removed. 2. Copy link field to beginning of post. If the post contains a link in the Item-level Link field, the script should insert that link directly into the post, right at the beginning with the text, "[Original Link]" and that text should be a clickable link. Example: [Original Link] This is the text of the post. Notice how the link that used to appear in the Item-level Link field now appears at the beginning of this post as a clickable link? Thanks if you can help.

Radio turned four on the 11th

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:45:11 GMT

Dave Winer: “I missed the four year anniversary of Radio 8 on the 11th. When the software shipped, the home page of scripting.com was briefly replaced by a big number 8. Some people thought it was too commercial. I liked it then; I still do.”

Search Terms for this Site

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:04:56 GMT

It's nice to see the top results are exactly what I'd hope for.

Remote Access problem fixed

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:47:01 GMT

UserLand: "We released an update which fixed a bug in Radio for OS X that made it unable (sometimes) to get its own IP address, which was the cause of some problems with the remote access feature."

Radio UserLand: trackback spam

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 20:46:34 GMT

UserLand: “There's already a way to remove trackbacks, but it requires that your comment and trackback server be the same.” This is good to know. I had to turn off Trackback on this site recently due to spammers.

Radio UserLand: Looking for help with the Radio Roadmap

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:02:01 GMT

Once again, UserLand is looking for help with the Radio Roadmap. Help develop the future of our favorite blogging app by adding your feedback.

Performancing plugin for Firefox

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 18:23:48 GMT

Steve Kirks: "...download, install and configure the Firefox plugin called Performancing that allows you to easily post weblog content. It's really handy and a much better solution than we currently have for Radio users. Here's the quick "how to" guide."

Tags: radio userland, firefox, performancing

10 Tools Every New Radio UserLand User Should Install

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 03:27:27 GMT

The following is a list of 10 tools every new Radio UserLand user should install. These tools should help new Radio users get off the ground and running with Radio UserLand. I tried my best to narrow the list down to the most essential tools. Of course, this list doesn't include all the great tools available, but then it wouldn't be a top ten if I included any more, now would it?

Before using any Radio tool, you should consider turning on nightly backups and learning how to back up your Radio UserLand data.

activeRenderer

activeRenderer is an outline publishing tool for Radio UserLand. It brings the power of outlining to your blogging and web publishing experience. With activeRenderer, you can publish outlines on your public web site. Style your weblog as an outline. Add active blogrolls to your site's pages. Publish your browser bookmarks as an active blogroll. Enhance your pages with news feed boxes. Browse outlines, RSS news feeds, and the content of Radio's aggregator from activeRenderer's outline browser.

dataFileCleaner

The dataFileCleaner tool will remove certain errant entries from your Data Files that cause problems.

editThisRadioPage

editThisRadioPage adds an Edit this Page link to your live site for easy editing of your weblog posts.

DirectoryTool

Using DirectoryTool for Radio UserLand, you can create directory files using the Radio UserLand outliner, generate HTML files corresponding to your directory structure, and automatically upload your directory to your Radio UserLand weblog.

Kit

Kit is a suite of "page tools" for Radio UserLand 8, including Weblog search, an improved News Aggregator page, a web Quick Script, "Radio to the Past" for changing weblog items' dates, a web outline editor, a per-category weblog index, a subscribed feeds lister, file uploader, and the Kit dashboard.

MailEdit

The MailEdit tool works like the Mail-To-Weblog functionality built into Radio. If you send a message with the correct subject to the email address that Radio is set up to monitor, it will be posted to your weblog. In addition, MailEdit will return an email confirmation of the posting, along with a copy of the post suitable for editing.

Markdown

Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML). In other words, it makes HTML editing easy! Andy Fragen created a tool for Radio UserLand that allows you to use Markdown on your Radio posts. His tool is in beta and you need to email him for the tool.

Master Ping

The Master Ping tool comes with blo.gs, blo.gs extended, Syndic8, Syndic8 extended, Yahoo and Technocrati.

RadioAtomBridge

The RadioAtomBridge tool is a way to mirror blog posts from Radio Userland to blogs that are hosted at Blogger.com.

Workbench

A set of easy-to-use scripts by Rogers Cadenhead, author of Radio UserLand Kick Start, that enhance the functionality of a Radio UserLand weblog. Workbench.viewCategories is a script to display category links on your home page template and other pages. Workbench.viewPostIndex is a script to display links to your posts in reverse chronological order.

Have a nice hot cup of Radio

Sat, 17 Dec 2005 20:57:03 GMT

On the house! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Bryce Yehl » Radio Userland Migration Bounty

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:24:09 GMT

Bryce Yehl: “So I’m offering $100 via Paypal or Amazon gift certificate to someone who can whip my old data into shape and get it into WordPress.” Speaking of migrating from Radio UserLand to WordPress, here is a blog entry that explains one person's experience. If you are not a geek, perhaps $100 is the way to go, assuming somebody gets the gig.

Technorati Tags: radio userland, wordpress

kossopml points out the useful link of the day

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 03:03:18 GMT

kosso: “Very useful post on the Userland Blog by Jave Savin: 'OPML in Manila and Radio'.”

WordPress weblog editing in Radio

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 01:51:15 GMT

Now there's yet another way Radio publishers can use Radio UserLand to post entries to an alternate weblogging system. In this case, you can use Radio to post to your wordpress.com weblog. This is pretty cool. Grab the tool and drop it in your Radio UserLand Tools folder. Restart Radio and you'll see it listed in your Tools menu like the graphic above shows. I was using the OPML Editor to post to my wordpress weblog using this tool but now that I know I can do the same thing with Radio UserLand, I'm going to give it a go. Update: It works! I posted this entry from Radio UserLand.

Writing Ruby code in Radio UserLand

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 18:14:32 GMT

Ever the pioneer, Steve Kirks is installing Ruby on his iBook so he can write Ruby code in Radio's outliner. "I'm spending some time today hand-compling a version of Ruby on my iBook using the excellent instructions found on the HiveLogic site by Dan Benjamin. So far, so good. I have been running Locomotive, a great app written to aggregate a Ruby, RubyGems and Rails installation to make it easier for developers to write apps. In the interest of reducing some clutter, I'm going to get my local environment set correctly. I have a secondary reason: writing Ruby code in Radio's outliner."

MarsEdit 1.1b5 public beta

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 17:20:10 GMT

MarsEdit 1.1b5 public beta: “MarsEdit 1.1b5 is the first public beta of MarsEdit 1.1. Yes! Now I can talk about it. I've been on the MarsEdit beta test team from day one, making sure to get in those Radio UserLand requests for my favorite weblog editor. Guess what Radio users? Now you can add enclosures, such as podcasts, to your posts. I use MarsEdit to post to three of my blogs on a near daily basis. It's cool and I think you should try it out, especially now that development is moving forward on this essential app.

Time to turn off TrackBacks for this site

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:20:28 GMT

It finally happened. I've been trackback spammed. I'm going to turn them off on this site until I can figure out my options.

What is this Radio UserLand error? TCP/IP error code -3259

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 21:38:26 GMT

My copy of Radio reports this error so frequently that I have become numb to it. I'm attaching a .mov file of my About Radio UserLand window to this post, which shows the error.

Technorati Tags: radio userland

Radio UserLand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:45:30 GMT

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is the entry for Radio UserLand. Kind of sparse. I wonder if there are any Radio wikis out there?

If you fiddle enough, it will disappear

Sun, 27 Nov 2005 20:14:40 GMT

Do you recall my irritating Radio UserLand issue about an error window that would appear every time I started Radio? Well, for the first time in many moons, I just started Radio and did not get the error window. Why not? Well, I can only say that I've been fiddling around with my two copies of Radio UserLand, deleting old categories, cleaning things up, etc. Something I did must have cleared up the issue. I have no idea what at this point.

New version of the RadioAtomBridge tool - v3.2

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 18:14:14 GMT

Scott C. Lemon: "I posted the latest version (v3.2) of my RadioAtomBridge tool for Radio Userland. This tool is a way to mirror blog posts from Radio Userland to blogs that are hosted at Blogger.com." As a test, I setup a blog so I can mirror posts to Radio UserLand: The Missing Manual. This entry should appear on the manual as well as the mirror site thanks to Scott's tool.

Long standing calendar bug squashed

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 17:51:29 GMT

The 'draw calendar' script in Radio appears to have a bug and apparently, many have been affected. The issue stems from posting anything on categories and *not* on the home page in the last day of a month. Then, next month radio would stick with the older dates and not the updated calendar. Steve Kirks of UserLand has been digging around and discovered the problem.

I found the bug, a frightfully simple one to fix. The script was only checking the day number to determine what items went on a day. The change is simple: check the whole date! I sent the fix to Lawrence this morning and we'll release it ASAP.

Shared outlines, finally

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 16:11:34 GMT

Paolo is going to resurrect the Shared Outline Tool for Radio UserLand. I always liked the promise of this particular tool but it never left the beta stage. I figured it was never to see the light of day. Until now. Paolo says..

"During the first on-line outliners era, when Instant Outlining was what everybody was talking about, we decided that it would have been useful to be able to share the same outline with other users in read/write mode. We started developing a tool, it kinda worked but after a while we dropped the project to focus on other issues.
With SSE supporting OPML it looks like the time has finally come for an application allowing me to share my outlines with my friends, coworkers, clients and partners using my favorite outlining tool."

Technorati Tags: OPML, RSS, SSE

Swicki Search Engine Installed on This Site

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 05:56:01 GMT

Swicki is an interesting search engine that you can find on this site. So, if you are reading this in a news reader, please visit Radio UserLand: The Missing Manual to see it in action. From the swicki FAQ:

A swicki is new kind of search engine that allows anyone to create deep, focused searches on topics you care about. Unlike other search engines, you and your community have total control over the results and it uses the wisdom of crowds to improve search results.

They make it very easy to set one up and the results integrate well. Here's what it looks like on my site: This will be interesting. I seeded it with the existing words. Let's see what happens as the Radio community starts searching for words and phrases.

Technorati Tags: swicki, search engine, radio userland

Squib, like Radio but different

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 01:33:00 GMT

Matt Mower: "Squib is a blogging tool influenced by Radio Userland. Like Radio, Squib is a local app that publishes a static site to a Radio Community Server. Unlike Radio, Squib is written using Rails, is stable & non-funky, and uses SQL for data storage."

Radio to detect when application folder has been moved or renamed

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:15:06 GMT

This is something that has plagued Radio users for years. If you move Radio to a different folder or rename the folder Radio resides in, all hell breaks loose. Andy Fragen wrote a script called myFixFilePathsAndAddresses to handle this situation but now UserLand is going to be finishing a set of special startup-code for Radio, which will detect when the application folder has been moved or renamed.