THINGAMABLOG made simple

"Thingamablog is a free, open source standalone CMS/website/blog publishing package that makes it simple to author and publish content for the Internet. Unlike most CMS applications, Thingamablog does not require a cgi/php-enabled webserver or a MySQL database. All that is needed to set up and manage a site using Thingamablog is FTP or network access to a basic webserver. Thingamablog was created by the megalomaniacal evil-genius Bob Tantlinger."

"Thingamablog Made Simple is a free, but copyrighted web tutorial that utilizes space-age learning technologies and little-known brainwashing techniques to show you how to transform your prosaic and pedantic blog about your cat into a more technically elaborate prosaic and pedantic blog about your cat. Thingamablog Made Simple was authored by Bob Tantlinger's biggest fan, the curmudgeonly and "uncomplicated" Stephan Hoppe."

Chapter 0 - Front Matter

In the olden days, if you wanted to create even a simple web site you pretty well had to learn HTML. There were a few style tags you could use to get the styling job done but even if you did manage to get more than a few pages completed, maintenance was a chore...

Chapter 1 - Installing Thingamablog

When I wrote the first version of this tutorial back in 2005, I think I took an overly "granular" approach; I painstakingly created screen caps of each window you see when installing Thingamablog and captioned them with super helpful advice you'd never get anywhere else like: "Click Next". It...

Chapter 2 - Creating a New Weblog

Here's a mouthful: In Thingamablog, Articles, Posts, and Entries (APEs) reside within categories, which in turn reside within weblogs (or sites); all of which reside within your database - and you can have multiple databases scattered across your hard drive if you wish.

Chapter 3 - Configuration

"The dedicated team of TMS staffers configure Thingamablog prior to its third rewrite..." In this chapter I will lightly cover the steps required to set up your first site and create your first post. Now, this is boring stuff people, since Thingamablog makes it...

Chapter 4 - Posting and Viewing

In this, the third installment of the epic tutorial that is Using Thingamablog, let's get ready to do some serious work on some original templates of our own making, by creating one long test post that we can view in our browser(s), and modify in our editor. ...

Chapter 5 - Creating New Templates

OK, unfortunately it is here that I likely will lose half of my reading audience. Stated another way, one of my readers is destined to leave now, never to return. And the reason is that in order to continue with this book, you must have at least a passing acquaintance...