Movable Type blogging software is here (open-source this time). An interesting application for the weblogs and the blogging dummies! Six Apart Ltd., a 6 year old company from San Mateo, California, launched a well rounded package a few years ago for those who wanted to host their own blog. Its 4.01 version is still free for individuals and non-profit organizations. Therefore, this blog software is available with its source code. However, the company prohibits any redistribution or any commercial use of the same.
Its features are largely aimed at the beginners with little or no experience in programming. If you plan to install Movable Type on your website, it would be helpful if you have a little knowledge of Perl Scripts and Linux. (Well, I did not have almost ANY such background and I was able to do it) Basically, Movable Type is server side software made in Perl that can be customized as per user requirements. It can be best associated with MySQL on your server. If you plan to host it yourself, ask your hosting service to give you complete details about cgi folder and where the scripts are located.

Techno Savvy Gigs…

Movable Type is written in Perl and is essentially server side software. You need to install it on your server or the network, in order to test it or view its functionalities. Although once the files are uploaded in the correct folder, the script automatically generates the necessary database files. You can also easily set up number of blogs; however, you would need to access the file system on the server. You may need to access the file systems on the server and adjust the permission settings once again.
MT 4 is a lot easier to install than its predecessors but little bugs still remain that needs to be fixed. On the other hand, it has its own advantages as well. It uses the flat text file database that means it is useful even on systems that do not use SQL as database. It also has support from mail services like Sendmail.
Once the server side is set up, you can now configure the client side with “Blog Config”. The Core Setup allows you to create a new blog. You can set your preferences to allow anonymous comments, email new comments or allow comments by default. After logging in as Admin users you can add more users, set up templates, add blogs or edit the existing ones.

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