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Journals R7 Release in Beta
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
9:30:00 PM EDT
[Note: Scroll down if you're wondering where that rumbling noise is coming from.]
So, just over two weeks since the Journals R6 Release was installed, the Journals team has pushed Journals release R7 to beta, which means you can play around with it.
Now, depending on what's going on with the other Journals issues we're currently seeing, R7 is scheduled to be installed to production tomorrow, Thursday, June 29, during the early morning install window starting at 4AM ET. [Update, 6/28, 9:34pm: The R7 install is not going to happen Thursday. This means that due to the July 4th holiday moratorium, the earliest we're going to see R7 is next week, after the holiday break. You can still play with all the features in beta, though.]
You can see the R7 features on the Journals Beta right now -- just add beta. to the front of your Journal's address. For example, for my blog, the beta address is http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke)
R7 is a relatively small release that includes a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff -- but that doesn't mean you won't be able to see a bunch of cool features. Here's what's in beta right now that you can play with:
* Object Tags (Allows Embedded Video): I will have to do a more extensive post with step-by-step instructions, but you'll be able to embed video players from our approved list (right now AOL UnCut Video and YouTube) into your Journal entries.
Here's my Memorial Day Rolling Thunder Video hosted on UnCut Video:Basically, you'll just cut and paste the HTML code that invokes a Flash movie player.
Upcoming versions of the UnCut Video Player will have links back to the video's page (right now, it doesn't) -- also, at a future point, it would make sense for UnCut's "Blog This" link to embed the video player for you, automatically -- right now, it just does the clickable thumbnail.
Also note that right now, the UnCut Video player autoplays on load. This can be kind of annoying -- the mid-July release of the embedded player will have autoplay off.
* User-Friendly Journal Entry URLs: Right now, the URLs (Web addresses) of individual entries are not the most user-friendly things in the world. For example, here's the direct link to my cow-orker entry: http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/1121.
Now, you can't tell what the entry is about just by looking at the URL, since it's just a number.
With R7, we will be getting friendlier entry URLs -- they will automatically incorporate the date of the entry, as well as the title of the entry, into the direct link URL. For my cow-orker entry on beta, the URL is: http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/2006/02/13/about-my-cow-orkers/1121
As you can see, the front part of the URL is the same; after "entries", though, you get the date posted, and then the title of the entry (with dashes instead of spaces -- it will truncate after a limit), followed by the entry number. (The entry number was kept at the end so that the tech folks don't have to completely rework the database).
Also, some characters (like question marks, double quotes, etc) will need to be stripped out or URL-encoded in order for the URLs to work.
Old-style entries will redirect to the new ones; also, if you change the title of your entry, it will automatically change the URL, and the old URL will redirect so it won't break (which is nice).
If you don't have a title in your entry, that part of the URL will just be"untitled."
International will also get this change.
* Moblogging: It worked, it didn't work, finally it works again and is ready to go into production. As I've been ready to say several times, moblogging is just short for "Mobile Blogging" -- the ability to post entries (with pictures) to your blog using a mobile device, such as a cell phone, by sending e-mail to a special address. I just tried it out on beta and it works, so I will publish my moblogging instructions entry after the launch.
* Additions to the HTML Whitelist: In addition to the Object tags being added to the allowed list, there will also be enhancements to the HTML Whitelist (which defines the sites you can use Javascript from or IFRAME).
Seeing as how I still haven't been able to yet get to that entry on the earlier whitelist additions (the Technorati embed widget works, some of the others don't, at least when I tried), I will have to get to this.
Anyway, as noted, I owe you step-by-step instructions on the Moblogging and Embedded Video items, though I will probably wait until they've been installed to production -- it's scheduled for tomorrow, and I will let you know if the timeline changes. [Update: As noted above, the install isn't happening until next week at the earliest.]
Thanks -- Joe
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9:30:00 PM EDT
Journals R7 Release in Beta
So, just over two weeks since the Journals R6 Release was installed, the Journals team has pushed Journals release R7 to beta, which means you can play around with it.
Now, depending on what's going on with the other Journals issues we're currently seeing, R7 is scheduled to be installed to production tomorrow, Thursday, June 29, during the early morning install window starting at 4AM ET. [Update, 6/28, 9:34pm: The R7 install is not going to happen Thursday. This means that due to the July 4th holiday moratorium, the earliest we're going to see R7 is next week, after the holiday break. You can still play with all the features in beta, though.]
You can see the R7 features on the Journals Beta right now -- just add beta. to the front of your Journal's address. For example, for my blog, the beta address is http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke)
R7 is a relatively small release that includes a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff -- but that doesn't mean you won't be able to see a bunch of cool features. Here's what's in beta right now that you can play with:
* Object Tags (Allows Embedded Video): I will have to do a more extensive post with step-by-step instructions, but you'll be able to embed video players from our approved list (right now AOL UnCut Video and YouTube) into your Journal entries.
Here's my Memorial Day Rolling Thunder Video hosted on UnCut Video:Basically, you'll just cut and paste the HTML code that invokes a Flash movie player.
Upcoming versions of the UnCut Video Player will have links back to the video's page (right now, it doesn't) -- also, at a future point, it would make sense for UnCut's "Blog This" link to embed the video player for you, automatically -- right now, it just does the clickable thumbnail.
Also note that right now, the UnCut Video player autoplays on load. This can be kind of annoying -- the mid-July release of the embedded player will have autoplay off.
* User-Friendly Journal Entry URLs: Right now, the URLs (Web addresses) of individual entries are not the most user-friendly things in the world. For example, here's the direct link to my cow-orker entry: http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/1121.
Now, you can't tell what the entry is about just by looking at the URL, since it's just a number.
With R7, we will be getting friendlier entry URLs -- they will automatically incorporate the date of the entry, as well as the title of the entry, into the direct link URL. For my cow-orker entry on beta, the URL is: http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/2006/02/13/about-my-cow-orkers/1121
As you can see, the front part of the URL is the same; after "entries", though, you get the date posted, and then the title of the entry (with dashes instead of spaces -- it will truncate after a limit), followed by the entry number. (The entry number was kept at the end so that the tech folks don't have to completely rework the database).
Also, some characters (like question marks, double quotes, etc) will need to be stripped out or URL-encoded in order for the URLs to work.
Old-style entries will redirect to the new ones; also, if you change the title of your entry, it will automatically change the URL, and the old URL will redirect so it won't break (which is nice).
If you don't have a title in your entry, that part of the URL will just be"untitled."
International will also get this change.
* Moblogging: It worked, it didn't work, finally it works again and is ready to go into production. As I've been ready to say several times, moblogging is just short for "Mobile Blogging" -- the ability to post entries (with pictures) to your blog using a mobile device, such as a cell phone, by sending e-mail to a special address. I just tried it out on beta and it works, so I will publish my moblogging instructions entry after the launch.
* Additions to the HTML Whitelist: In addition to the Object tags being added to the allowed list, there will also be enhancements to the HTML Whitelist (which defines the sites you can use Javascript from or IFRAME).
Seeing as how I still haven't been able to yet get to that entry on the earlier whitelist additions (the Technorati embed widget works, some of the others don't, at least when I tried), I will have to get to this.
Anyway, as noted, I owe you step-by-step instructions on the Moblogging and Embedded Video items, though I will probably wait until they've been installed to production -- it's scheduled for tomorrow, and I will let you know if the timeline changes. [Update: As noted above, the install isn't happening until next week at the earliest.]
Thanks -- Joe
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This entry has 8 comments: (Add your own)
-
I don't have an AOL Journal yet, though I do have a webpage. I'm used to being able to design my own pages (layout, tags, etc.) using an external HTML editor rather than the 1-2-3 or Designer software. (I'm no whiz-bang designer, BTW, I just like doing the work myself, headaches and all.) I understand that isn't possible when starting up a journal (bummer). What I'm curious about is the limited number of allowable HTML and java codes. What is the Whitelist, and where can I see what's on it, before I take the journal plunge? Or do I just have to go to the beta site, after creating a journal, and play around a bit? And if I don't like the way my journal is shaping up, can I completely trash it and start over?
Thanks for all the tips and info - it's been helpful, as well as entertaining, to wander through your Magic Smoke.
-- E -
Paul:
* The embedded video player is back in my Journal -- when I did my last update last night (about the R7 No-Go), I think I did it in my production Journal, instead of my beta Journal, which caused the embedded player to get stripped out.
* Yes, all that whitelist stuff means you will be able to use javascript based hit counters; again, I will be testing and writing about the different features that you can use (for example, I am using the Javascript-powered Technorati Embed code in my All About Me -- it looks pretty similar to a plain text link, but it's Javascript.)
Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed) -
Nightmaremom -- work on fixes continues while work is also done on new features. I don't pretend to know a lot about software development, but we're talking about different parts of the team, with different specialties (QA testers don't do development, etc).
To use a terrible, horrible car analogy, people working on problems with the a car's transmission don't affect people who are redesigning the car's interior. Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed) -
Also, I don't see an embedded video player in this entry. Did you take it out, or am I missing it for some reason?
-Paul
7/24/06 7:03 PM
Regarding the whitelist -- it regulates Web sites that are allowed to be included in IFRAMES (currently pretty much Flickr and AOL Polls), as well as sites that you can include Javascript from (such as AOL UnCut Video and YouTube) -- I need to do a more complete documentation on this, so please stay tuned.
While you don't get complete control over the layout in AOL Journals, it is somewhat offset by the fact that the blog format makes it really easy to post a public Journal, as well as provide Alerts, feeds and comments.
Regardless, playing around is always encouraged. And, as you note, if you don't like your blog, you can always trash it and start over.
Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed)