Creating NuGet Package
BlogEngine uses NuGet format for sharing extensions. NuGet package in a nutshell is a ZIP containing files you want to share with some metadata NuGet uses internally. The easiest way to create a package is to use Package Explorer. Download and install this small application on your local machine, then click to run as any regular Windows application. At the time of writing, I’m using Package Explorer version 2.0. More...
Data Persistence
What we need next is to save metadata for each picture used by every slider, and also we need to be able to add and delete all these records. Extension settings are standard way of doing it in BlogEngine - you declare what kind of data you want to maintain, set initial values and first time extension runs it will instantiate settings object and save it on the back-end. To maintain these data, blogger goes to admin/extensions and clicks extension link in the right sidebar. This will load auto-generated form where settings can be edited. The code below would be sufficient: More...
I have updated Picasa extension for BlogEngine.NET 2.0. If you haven’t use it before, take a look at instructions here, the way it works didn’t change much. I made it better match new admin UI, but functionality stays very much the same. More...
Sorry about post title, could not resist :) You probably saw these "new" and "hot" links next to list items all over the place. Something was added or updated and it makes sense to put an indicator that clearly shows this. I wanted to do it for list of extensions on BlogEngine site, so that when something new added anyone could see it right away, because list is pretty large. And I don’t want to maintain it afterwards, that image should go away when it is not “hot” anymore, all by itself. How hard is this with BlogEngine and .NET? Walk in the park: More...
My previous post was about awesome code syntax highlighter JS library I have converted into extension for BlogEngine and no so awesome button I’ve added to TinyMCE to insert code snippets. Let’s make it better by building custom plugin that will let us select language and enter actual code in the pop-up window eliminating messing up with TinyMCE editor itself. More...
There are several implementations of this extension for BlogEngine, but I wanted it to work with latest JS library and be more configurable. And also I wanted it play well with TinyMCE - yes, it might come as a shock but some people don't use Windows Live Writer. I don't know why... So, if you go through usual routine downloading and moving files to corresponding location (you’ll need to overwrite couple) this is what you’ll get. More...
If you are using Commentor with Waegis like I do, you probably got email about Waegis suspending services for uncertain time this coming Friday (September 4th). Waegis served me well all this time and blocked hundreds of spam comments helping to keep this site reasonably clean. I hope it will find a way to get back soon, meanwhile you might want to flip the switch and start using Akismet as your primary anti-spam service. Here what I did to get Akismet up and running. More...
I've got email from user having issues with embedding HTML snippet into BlogEngine's page. Not really sure what was wrong with that tag, because I have never get to test it. Why? Because it is sometimes easier to add simple extension or widget than to deal with row HTML when it comes to BlogEngine. Seriously, it took me way under half an hour following steps in my own simple widget tutorial to put this together, and this is including time spent opening Disby account. More...
If you are using Picasa extension I published while back you might want to take a look at another choice and try to use HighSlide JavaScript library instead of the LightBox. Just take a look at this post by Radim Boušek and get it there along with instructions. I’ve never herd about HighSlide before, but it seems like a nice thumbnail viewer with Ajax support and more options, so give it a try.
Attached to this post is a small extension which is really just a proof of concept. To install it, do the regular routine: unzip and install files into corresponding locations. This is what we always do to install extension in BlogEngine. It is not hard, but requires you to have FTP client, opened port for FTP connection and, most importantly, you must have some basic administration skills. As I said nothing extra ordinary here, but still – we should not assume casual blogger comfortable doing all this little tricks. It’s a good thing most of BE users are also .NET developers ;) More...