Joomla blog / diary extension

[_Bat_]

Another one for you Joomla experts.

 

I have been asked to set up a system on one of my websites where the school can keep a weekly diary of what they have been up to.

 

This sounds suspiciously like a blog to me, so I had a look at the joomla blog extensions are was disappointed to find only one that was any good at all (mamblog) and that just looks rubbish (there is no way to get it to display the full blog, it just displays the first few words and wants the user to click to read the full thing. This is not what I'm after).

 

Has anyone set up a blog or diary type system on Joomla before? How did they do it and / or what did they use? I could just do the entire thing manually, but I suspect that'll just take a lot longer in the long run.

[localzuk]

I've not looked at it but there is a module that can link Wordpress into Joomla. Take a look at http://www.joomlaspan.com/joomla-downloads/Download/JoomlaComponents/JoomlaWordPressBridge/

[russdev]

Wordpress bridge is ok but when I used it last was few bugs such as not showing user name of person who posted the entry etc.

 

Russ

[Guest]

another option is to use a blogging system in a wrapper.

[_Bat_]

another option is to use a blogging system in a wrapper.

 

So what really is the difference between the wrapper and bridge?

 

@russ

 

Are there any other bugs you are aware of? The username won't be a problem as there is only going to be one user i.e. the school so it doesn't really need to state who it is.

[Guest]

The wrapper just shows another site / part of your site within your joomla site.

 

A bridge is is usually a component + module which intergrates joomla with something like gallery2 / wordpress etc so that the user base is shared between the two.

 

Also with bridges you can for example with gallery2 show side bar options within joomla modules.

[_Bat_]

Okay, thats what I thought. I suspect I'd prefer a bridge because I quite like the idea of central control over the entire site in the joomla frontend/backend, which wouldn't be the case with a wrapper. I assume a bridge allows this to happen?

[_Bat_]

Okay I had a go at installing this, this morning and I'm confused. I thought it was a bridge, yet it appears to work on its own? Am I correct in saying this, or haven't I played about with it enough yet?

[russdev]

If you mean you can access wordpress then yes you can access wordpress as normal what bridge does is lets you access it via joomla and using logins in joomla.

 

Russ

[_Bat_]

I assumed a bridge meant you had to install wordpress manually on your site and then use the "bridge" software to merge wordpress with joomla. Obviously I am mistaken though, lol.

[Guest]

No James that is exactly what a bridge is.

 

If it were me I would use the wrapper option. Seeing as you are only using a user with wordpress.

[_Bat_]

I just don't understand this particular bridge then. I haven't installed wordpress at all, I simply installed the bridge from the link localzuk

provided. It works fine already, it appears I don't have to install wordpress manually... I have a fully functional blog already.

 

I have been told that I need seven separate blogs, one for each year group in the school. This isn't a problem because I can have each year group in a category and then make links to each category. I'm liking wordpress already . Thanks for the help

[russdev]

Maybe this one might server you better as there is better documenation with this bridge etc

 

http://projects.j-prosolution.com/projects/os-projects/project-openwp.html

 

Russell

[_Bat_]

@russ... have you ever had a problem with the "send to editor" feature before? I'm trying to upload images as I would expect a teacher to and the images I upload are not being sent to the editor. I've tried in IE7 and firefox now, without any luck. According to google research, other people have had this problem but i can't find a solution that will work. Are you aware of this issue at all?

 

Thanks

 

James