Overview

There are just a few windows you'll need to know about to interact with Blog.Mac: the main application window, the blog document window, and the preference panel.

Main Application Window

The main window is the "control panel" to your blog on .Mac. From this window, you can see your available storage, upload status, iTunes Now Playing info, and controls for the iSight WebCam.

Blog Document Window

The blog document window is split in two. On the left side is a navigation table that allows you to select portions of your blog for editing or for re-arranging the order of content on your blog. As you select sections, you will be able to edit settings and change display options on the right side of the window. The first item in the navigation table is the Blog Information section, where you can identify your blog and set blod-wide options for article comments and RSS feed generation.

Blog Owner

The second item in the navigation table is the Blog Owner section. Here you will be able to describe yourself, set e-mail and iChat links, and display an image of yourself. These items will be shown in the top of your blog's sidebar, which is the narrow column that runs next to your articles.

Template and Preview

The third item in the navigation table is the Template and Preview section. Here you can choose from a built-in template, reference a template on the web, or import a template from your computer. The preview section will show you what the blog will look like once it is published.

Articles

The Articles section is where you'll add new postings. The top half of the window is a summary of the articles you've published. The lower half is the editing pane where you can edit content, drag and drop links, quotes, even images or files that will be immediately published to your blog page.

Sidebar

The sidebar is a collection of blog sections that can display what you are listening to on iTunes, show live snapshots from your iSight or DV camera, link to your favorite sites and archived blog pages, or show your own custom blocks of blog content.

iSight

The iSight section allows you to post a live snapshot to your blog; you can configure the upload frequency and image quality in Blog.Mac preferences.

iTunes Now Playing

The iTunes Now Playing section will add a section to your blog that shows your readers what is playing on your iTunes with artwork and links to the iTunes Music Store. Leave iTunes and Blog.Mac running and your published blog page will show live updates of what you are listening to or watching on your Mac.

iTunes Favorite Playlist

Share your great taste in music by publishing your favorite iTunes Playlist with links to the iTunes Music Store. Simply check a box and select your favorite playlist from the drop-down menu.

iTunes RSS Feeds

Publish a constantly updated list of new releases, top selling albums, or latest audiobooks with feeds from the iTunes Music Store. Customize the list to match your taste in music with Apple's customizable RSS feed generator. And since it's based on RSS technology, you just select the feed and your published blog is updated automatically every time someone reads your blog.

RSS News Feeds

The RSS News Feeds section gives you the ability to show constantly updated headlines on your web page with news feeds from newspapers, magazines or websites.

Links

Easily add and publish links to your favorite Internet destinations. Drag and drop URLs from your web browser to create a link to that perfect reference for your favorite hobby or news source. Link to a photo album that you published with iPhoto from the easy to use drop down menu.

Recent Posts

Customize the display options for your list of recent blog articles; give the section your own title and choose to show some or all of your recent blog entries.

Archives

Keep tabs on your old blog pages with an easy to manage interface; blog pages that you archive are automatically added to the archives table or you can manually add them to your list.

Web Counter

Want to track user visits to your blog? Simply sign up for one of dozens of free or subscription-based web counter tools, copy the code provided to you, and paste it here for a simple to manage web counter. The web counter is displayed at the bottom of your blog's sidebar.

Meta Tags

Need more control over your blog's meta data? Need to add a few words to the blog description to help web search tools that only read meta tags? Simply enable the meta tag section and enter your own customized meta-tag data. If you have no idea what meta data is, then let Blog.Mac's default settings take care of business for you!

Custom Code Blocks

Ready to start making money on your blog with Google AdSense or Amazon links? Want to add advertisements from the iTunes Music Store? Want to insert a photographic link to your Flickr account? Even if you just want to add a javascript calendar, you can quickly add a custom block of code, label it with its own name, and paste in any valid HTML or JavaScript code.

Sidebar Photo Browsers

Want to share photos from your recent vacation or display photos about your business? Simply select a photo album from the list and insert a thumbnail browser with forward and backward navigation buttons.

The Toolbar

The toolbar allows you to publish your blog, export HTML data for uploading to another webserver, preview it using your default web browser or uploading an image.

Preferences

The preference panel gives you easy access to Blog.Mac settings. Customize how often iTunes Now Playing data and iSight snapshots are updated, set default section labels for new blogs, select which blog search engines get updated whenever you publish, and customize your blog's date format.