Frequenty Asked Questions

FAQ:

Q: Why do I have to use my .Mac account to register the software?

A: In order to keep time-bombs and intrusive reminders out of your way, we opted to link the registration to your .Mac account. If you register the software using a .Mac account, make sure that you enter your primary .Mac user account. E-mail aliases won't work because the alias account won't have "write" access to the iDisk.
Q: Why do I have to save my new blog file before publishing? Doesn't publishing save it anyway?

A: To allow you to edit your blog, make quick updates, and edit it from multiple computers, the blog document is saved in a container called the Blog.Mac Blog Document, or ".bmbg" file. Nothing is published to your .Mac website until you click the "Publish to .Mac Now" button on the final pane of your blog document window. When you click this button, Blog.Mac translates all of your settings, articles and links to an HTML file and uploads it to Blog.Mac.
Q: Why can't I use any file name that I want when saving my blog document?

A: We use the file name to determine the name of the html file that you'll share with friends and family. It must be simple enough for web browsers to understand, so avoid spaces, special characters and punctuation marks (i.e., use "petesblog" instead of "Pete's Blog").
Q: How are the files saved and published?

A: Blog.Mac saves the raw data in a Blog.Mac Document file type (.bmbg files). You can save this file wherever you like, including the Documents folder on your iDisk. Blog.Mac publishes your web logs in your iDisk's "Sites" folder in a folder named "blog".
Q: I have a desktop and a laptop computer. Can I register just one copy and use Blog.Mac on both computers?

A: Yes! Another reason we chose to use your .Mac account as your registration account is so that you can use the software on multiple computers...without worrying about piracy or unauthorized users blogging away on someone else's dime. One hint though: don't have Blog.Mac running on both computers at the same time unless iTunes and iSight updates are set to "Never"...you'll get all kinds of music and iSight image changes.
Q: Since I have two computers, can I edit the same blog on each computer?

A: The best way to accomplish this is to save your Blog.Mac document (the .bmbg file) on your iDisk. Since your registration key allows you to use as many darn computers as you want with Blog.Mac, put a registered copy on each computer you use to edit your .Mac account blog. Save the blog file on you iDisk in the "Documents" folder. When you switch computers and fire up Blog.Mac, simply navigate to your iDisk Documents folder and you're up and running.
Q: Why can't I use Blog.Mac to publish to other Blog pages, like Blogger?

A: You can if you're adventurous and patient. Try saving as HTML and uploading to your other blog service. However, we built Blog.Mac to get the new blogger on line using the .Mac service they've already paid for. If you have suggestions for automating publication to other blogging sites, let us know!
Q: Sometimes after I add an article and publish my page, the format is garbled and the page doesn't look right. What gives?

A: This is usually caused by an errant HTML tag in your article. While you normally enter just plain text in your article, you can enter your own HTML tags. It's possible one of these tags interupted the normal flow of HTML.
Q: Sometimes when I start up Blog.Mac, I get a spinning beach ball and the program is unresponsive? Are you qualified to write software?

A: I'm not sure if qualified is the correct term, but because Blog.Mac is chained to the hip of .Mac, there's a lot of information flying between them at start-up. I assure you that we tried to make the app as speedy as it could be, but there is some information that Blog.Mac absolutely must get from .Mac before proceeding. Please enjoy the spinning beachball for those few seconds that you see it.
Q: There's a lot of ties into the iTunes Music Store. Do you get a kickback or anything?

A: We wish. We do think that iTunes and the Internet have made music better...the less statistically-approved music we hear the better! At least now we have choices to make in lining up our daily programming. But we digress. There's no payment mechanism between the links in your blog and the iTunes Music Store...but if there was...;-)
Q: I put images of my family online, and don't want everyone to see my blog. How can I protect my blog?

A: Since your blog is saved in the folder called "Sites/blog", you can password protect the folder using normal .Mac tools (click here for instructions)
Q: I downloaded the new version of Blog.Mac and I got the warning about the new templates. I let it update the templates, but now my blog page lost all of its graphics. What happened?

A: The existing templates were modified in a couple of ways to correct the way pages were drawn using "Preview". You can easily correct this by choosing the same template you were using from the drop down box, saving your blog document, and then re-publishing.
Q: I was using an older version of Blog.Mac and created/modified my own template. I had it stored on my iDisk; how do I use that template now?

A: You can do it one of two ways:
1. Leave the template un-edited on your iDisk and select "Use a Template on Your Computer". Your iDisk will need to be mounted whenever you publish, and your graphics files will be referenced relative to the published web page. This option will not allow you to see any of your template images using the Preview button.
2. You can use the "Use a Template on the Web" option, enter the full URL of your CSS file (i.e. http://homepage.mac.com/username/Sites/blog/templates/my_css_template.css), and then edit your template's links to graphics files to be relative to the CSS file. This will allow you to see images and layout using the Preview button.
If we just blew your mind, then sticking to the built-in templates via the drop down always works for us. ;-)
Q: My templates need updating. How can I re-upload my templates?

A: Simple enough...choose "Templates" → "Re-publish Templates to .Mac" from the main menu and Blog.Mac will upload all templates and images to your .Mac /blog/ folder.
Q: Everything is messed up now...how can I start over and re-install my templates and Blog.Mac?

A: Lets start fresh! Accomplish these steps:
1. Quit Blog.Mac if it is running
2. If this is a registered version, ensure you have the e-mail with your registration code handy
3. Download the latest copy from the Blog.Mac homepage
4. Ensure you don't have any documents that you created in the /Sites/blog/ folder on your iDisk
5. Delete the entire "blog" folder from your iDisk
6. Delete the preferences file named "com.Largemouth.Blog.Mac.plist" found in the /Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/ folder
7. Delete the old Blog.Mac application file from your Applications folder and drag the new copy there.
8. Launch Blog.Mac; it will re-load all of your folders and templates back to your iDisk.
Q: I looked at my blog page and see a white box where my iSight Live Snapshot should be...what happened?

A: Only one application can use the iSight camera at a time, and Blog.Mac must have lost in the thumb-wrestling match. Quit any other application that might be using iSight.
Q: I tried Blog.Mac Version 1.1.2 Beta 2 and edited a blog. Now that blog file won't open in Version 1.1.2...what gives?

A: We had to make a minor change to the file format; please open the blog file using Blog.Mac V1.1.1, perform a "Save As..." command, then re-open the blog file in Version 1.1.2. This problem only affected users of 1.1.2 Beta 2.
Q: How do I change the Photo Browser's thumbnail size from small thumbs to large thumbs?

A: To keep you from having to delve in to the dirty details, we use the thumbnail size that was set when you published your photos using iPhoto. To have iPhoto publish large thumbnails, select "2 Columns" from iPhoto's publish options. For the small thumbnails, select "3 Columns".
Q: How do I insert a movie to play automatically in a blog article?

A: Here is a tag that I inserted in to a sample blog to play the Quicktime® trailer for the movie Jarhead:
<embed src="http://movies.apple.com/movies/universal/jarhead/jarhead_320.mov" width="320" height="152" scale="tofit" type="video/quicktime" controller="true" autoplay="true" loop="true" pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/">
The bold portion is the URL that you'll replace with your own movie. The underlined portion controls the width and height shown on your page. We haven't automated the placement of movies yet, but we're working on it.