Activate and Manage Blogs

Once you set up a blog in Flock, you can copy text, pictures and videos from anywhere on the web and instantly post them into Flock's Blog Editor or directly into your own blog. You can also monitor, manage and post to different blogs.

In this section:

• Set Up a Blog Service in Flock
• Set Up a Self-hosted Blog in Flock
• Use Flock to Post to Your Blog

Set Up a Blog Service in Flock

1. Visit the blog service that you have an account with.
2. If you don't have a blog yet, but would like to start one, we recommend the following Flock-supported blogging services:
   • WordPress
   • TypePad
   • Blogger
   • Blogsome
   • LiveJournal
   • Xanga
   • A complete list of Flock-supported services is available on our website.
3. Log in to your blogging account.
   Note: If you were already logged in, please log out and then log back in.
4. If you've logged in to a service that Flock supports (see above), you will see a confirmation message and your login identity will be added to the list of available services in the Accounts and Services Sidebar .
5. That's it; you're now ready to blog with Flock anytime, from anywhere on the web!
6. Repeat with any other blogs you have.

Set Up a Self-hosted Blog in Flock

Important Note: Flock can be configured to work with a variety of "Self-hosted" blogs; that is, blogging programs that you've installed through an Internet Service Provider on your own distinct domain, like Flock's blog at www.flock.com/blog. Currently, Flock only works with self-hosted blogs that support these APIs: Movable Type, Metaweblog, and ATOM. Ask your internet service provider which API it supports, or you can try guessing at the appropriate time described in the instructions below.

1. Open the Accounts and Services Sidebar by clicking on the key icon in the Flock Toolbar or selecting View > Sidebar > Accounts and Services from the menu.
2. Click on Self-hosted Blog in the Accounts and Services Sidebar.

3. The Blog Set-up dialog will open.

4. Type the web address for your blog, like http://www.flock.com/blog/ and click Next.
5. If Flock cannot automatically detect the API, click Next again to manually configure the blog.
6. Select the type of API for your blog. If you don't know, ask your ISP, or try guessing using the drop-down list.
7. Type the web address for the access point. If you don't know it, ask your ISP. If you know how to view your files on your website, by using CPanel File Manager for example, look for a file that begins with "xmlrpc" and note the URL location for it. (The file will likely be somewhere in your "public_html" directory, but skip "public_html" when you type in the full web address.)
8. Click Next.
9. Type the username and password you use to log into your blog.
10. Click Next.
11. You should receive a confirmation message that you're ready to blog with Flock!
12. The title of your blog will be listed in the Accounts and Services Sidebar.

Use Flock to Post to Your Blog

1. Of course, you can log into your blog and post normally using Flock just as you would using any browser. But then you'd be missing half the fun! There are several ways to open Flock's handy, built-in Blog Editor and start a post.
   • Click the feather pen icon on the Flock Toolbar.
   • Select Tools > Blog Editor from the menu.
   • Click Blog This from within the Magic Bar or Media Bar
   • Right-click over just about anything on any web page and select Blog This from the drop-down menu.
2. In the Blog Editor, as with any blog posting, type in a title, message and keyword tags. A spellchecker underlines questionable words. The toolbar allows you to bold, underline, create lists, centre, or insert hyperlinks. At the bottom there are also options to preview and edit source HTML.

3. There are a number of handy ways to add quotes, pictures or video links into your Blog Editor blog posting:
   • Click the clipboard icon to open Flock's Web Clipboard to allow instant dragging and dropping of pictures, videos and text quotes into your post. (To learn more about working with the Web Clipboard, see Share Pictures, Text and Video.)
   • Drag and drop pictures or videos directly from the Media Bar into your blog post. (To learn more about working with the Media Bar, see Preview and Access Media with the Media Bar.)
   • Drag and drop pictures directly from your computer into your blog post.
   • Rest your mouse pointer over the top part of a picture or video on the web until the floating Magic Bar appears, and then click Blog This.
   • Click the Insert Image button on the Blog Editor Toolbar, or select Insert > Image from the menu and type in the web address for the image.
4. When you're finished, click the Publish button at bottom right or select File > Publish to Blog.

5. Click the arrow next to Post to the following blog and select the blog to which you want to publish from the drop-down list.
6. Choose the Category for the post.
7. Review your other options and click Publish.
8. That's it!
9. If there are any problems posting to your blog, Flock will automatically save the post as a draft. You can also save a draft manually by selecting File > Save Draft from the menu.
10. You can edit your post later or try to publish it again by opening the Blog Editor and selecting File > Open Saved Blog Post from the menu, or clicking the Open Post icon on the Blog Editor toolbar.

Now let's learn how to Track Feeds...

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