Using the Blog Server Controls

Ektron provides server controls for displaying a Blog on a Web site. The Blog server control lets you display pieces that typically make up a blog site on a Web form, such as blog entries, posts, subjects, recent posts, RSS feed, archive, calendar, and a blog roll.

Additional Blog server controls let you display each item individually and offer additional ways to customize the page layout and appearance of the items. For example, you might want to display Blog entries and a Blog roll but not a Blog calendar. The individual Blog server controls also let you further define the display details.

NOTE: On a PageBuilder page, you can insert a blog using the Blog widget.

Blog

Blog Server Control

The Blog server control lets you add a blog to a Web form. This control has the items commonly found on a blog page, such as blog posts, a comments link, a blog roll, blog subjects, recent blog posts, the RSS feed for a blog, an archive, and a blog calendar.

The Blog server control lets you easily maintain the overall look of the blog. Any change to display properties, such as the background color or font, affects the entire blog. However, you cannot change the location of each server control item. The title always appears on top, with the tagline below it. The blog posts always appear to the left and the calendar, blog roll, blog subjects, recent blog posts, RSS feed, archive and blog roll to the right.

 

NOTE: You can use individual blog server controls to change the page layout.

To customize a blog's styling, edit the Blog.css file located in webroot\siteroot\Workarea\csslib.

Blog sever control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • ArchiveMode (String)

    Select whether the archive appears in month format or year format. The default is month.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41. If you don’t know the blog ID, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • BlogStartDateRange (String)

    Set the date range of the Blogs to show. For example, if you want to display blogs for only the past 3 months, set this value to Quarterly.

    • None—no start date range
    • Monthly—current month
    • Quarterly—past 3 months
    • BiYearly—past 6 months
    • Yearly—past 12 months
  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DateToStart (DateTime)

    The date of the last blog entries you want to appear. For example, if you want to display blog entries for January 1, 2007 and before, you enter 1/1/2007. Clicking the drop-down box provides you with a calendar.

  • DefaultUserID (Long)

    The ID of the user who owns the blog to be displayed. This property is used when the server control displays a user's blog. To display a blog not associated with a user, leave this property set to 0 (zero) and enter the blog's ID in the BlogID property.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • DynamicParameter (String)

    Gets or sets the QueryString parameter to read a Blog ID dynamically. Set to None—Use Default if you want to always display the default blog.

    • None—Use Default—use the default Blog ID list
    • ekfrm—reads a form block’s ID dynamically
    • You may display blogs dynamically by entering any value other than id. id is the default parameter for PostParameter.
  • DynamicUserParameter (String)

    Gets or sets the QueryString parameter to read a user ID dynamically. Set to Use Default if you wish to always display the default user's blog (static).

  • EditorHeight (Integer)

    Sets the height of the blog editor in pixels.

  • EditorWidth (Integer)

    Sets the width of the blog editor in pixels.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • MaxResults (Integer)

    Set the maximum number of posts to display. If set to 0 (zero), there is no limit. If set to -1, all posts for the day are shown. If set to -2, all posts for the month are shown, If set to -3, the control uses the # of Post Visible setting in the Workarea. The default is -3.

  • PostParameter (String)

    Works like the DynamicParameter for content blocks. When id is selected, this server control passes the blog post ID as a URL parameter. The default setting is id.

    • Blank—the list of blog posts is static. The links in the blog posts are inactive.
    • id—the id of the blog post is passed to the URL as a parameter.
    • None use default—the list of blog posts is static. The links in the blog posts are inactive.
  • RecentPosts (Integer)

    The number of post links contained in the Recent Posts list. The default is 5 (five).

  • RssTemplate (String)

    Specify the .aspx page to use to render the RSS for blogs. The default value is WorkArea/blogs/blogrss.aspx.

  • ShowHeader (Boolean)

    Shows the title and tagline when set to True.

    • True (default)—show title and tagline.
    • False—do not show header and tagline.
  • ShowRSS (Boolean)

    Displays the icon for the RSS feed () when set to True.

    • True (default)—show RSS feed icon.
    • False—do not show RSS feed icon.
  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
  • WrapTag (String)

    Lets a developer specify a server control’s tag.

    • Span (default)—designate an inline portion of an HTML document as a span element.
    • Div—apply attributes to a block of code.
    • Custom—Lets you use a custom tag.
BlogArchive

BlogArchive Server Control

The BlogArchive server control displays past months or years that have blog posts. This server control can be used with the BlogEntries server control and the Calendar control to let site users scan for older Blog posts.

When a site visitor clicks a month in the archive, the blog posts for that month appear.

Typically this control appears along side other individual Blog server controls.

BlogArchive server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • ArchiveMode (String)
  • Select whether the archive appears in month format or year format. The default is month.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41.If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • DynamicParameter (String)

    Sets the QueryString parameter to read a Blog ID dynamically. Leave blank to always display the default blog.

  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
  • WrapTag (String)

    Lets a developer specify a server control’s tag.

    • Span (default)—designate an inline portion of an HTML document as a span element.
    • Div—apply attributes to a block of code.
    • Custom—Lets you use a custom tag.
BlogEntries

BlogEntries Server Control

The BlogEntries server control displays several blog posts or a user’s Journal (personal blog) on a Web form. You can change this server control's appearance without changing the other individual blog controls. Below is an example of a BlogEntries server control.

To use this server control to dynamically display a blog’s entries, set the following properties:

  • DynamicParameter—set this property to the parameter name used to pass a blog ID to the QueryString. The default is blogid.
  • BlogPostParameter—set this property to the parameter name used to pass a blog post’s ID to the QueryString. The default is id.

To use this server control to dynamically display a user’s Journal, set the following properties:

  • DynamicUserParameter—Set this property to the parameter name used to pass a user’s ID to the QueryString.
  • BlogPostParameter—set this property to the parameter name used to pass a blog post’s ID to the QueryString. The default is id.
BlogEntries server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron from which blog entries are displayed; for example, 41. This is the default ID that is used when a blog ID is not passed dynamically to the QueryString. To pass a blog ID dynamically, set the DynamicParameter property. If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • BlogPostParameter (String)

    Set this property to the parameter name used to pass a blog post’s ID to the QueryString. The default is id. When a parameter is defined, this server control passes the blog post’s ID as a URL parameter. If you do not set this parameter to id, you will not be forwarded to the blog post’s page when you click on any links in the post. The default setting is id.

    • Blank—the list of blog posts is static. The links in the blog posts are inactive.
    • id—the ID of the blog post is passed to the URL as a parameter.
    • None use default—the list of blog posts is static. The links in the blog posts are inactive.
  • BlogStartDateRange (String)

    Set the date range of the Blogs to show. For example, if you want to display blogs for only the past 3 months, set this value to Quarterly.

    • None—no start date range
    • Monthly—current month
    • Quarterly—past 3 months
    • BiYearly—past 6 months
    • Yearly—past 12 months
  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DateToStart (DateTime)

    The date of the last blog entries you want to appear. For example, if you want to display blog entries for January 1, 2006 and before, you enter 1/1/2006. Clicking the drop-down box provides you with a calendar.

  • DefaultUserID (Long)

    The ID of the user who owns a Journal from which to display journal entries. To display journal entries not associated with a user, leave this property set to 0 (zero) and enter the blog's ID in the BlogID property.

    WARNING! If you define a DefaultUserID, it overrides the BlogID property.

  • DisplayXslt (String)

    If desired, enter a relative or absolute path to an Xslt that determines the display of the page.

    WARNING! If you specify an external file, do not store this file in the Workarea folder. If you store this file in the Workarea folder, the file will be lost when you upgrade.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • DynamicParameter (String)

    Gets or sets the QueryString parameter to read a Blog ID dynamically. Set to “None—Use Default” if you want to always display the default blog. The default is blogid.

    NOTE: If an ID for this property is passed on the QueryString and a an ID for the DynamicUserParameter property is passed the control displays blog entries for a user.

  • DynamicUserParameter (String)

    Gets or sets the QueryString parameter to read a User ID dynamically. Set to “Use Default” if you wish to always display the default user's blog (static.)

    NOTE: If an ID for this property is passed on the QueryString and a an ID for the DynamicUserParameter property is passed the control displays blog entries for a user.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • MaxResults (Integer)

    Set the maximum number of posts to display. The default is -3.

    • 0 (zero)— no limit
    • -1—all posts for the current day
    • -2—all posts for the current month
    • -3—the # of Post Visible Workarea setting
  • ShowHeader (Boolean)

    Shows the title and tagline when set to True. The default is True.

    • True—show title and tagline.
    • False—do not show header and tagline.
  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
BlogCalendar

BlogCalendar Server Control

The BlogCalendar server control displays a calendar on a Web page and associates it with a blog. Days with blog posts are highlighted on the calendar. You can use a BlogCalendar server control with a BlogEntries server control to display blog posts for a given day.

BlogCalendar server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41. If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
  • WrapTag (String)

    Lets a developer specify a server control’s tag.

    • Span (default)—designate an inline portion of an HTML document as a span element.
    • Div—apply attributes to a block of code.
    • Custom—Lets you use a custom tag.
BlogCategories

BlogCategories Server Control

The BlogCategories server control displays a blog’s subjects as a clickable list of links on a Web form. When a link is clicked, it displays all subjects associated with the category. See Also: Adding BlogSubjects. Typically this control appears along side other individual Blog server controls.

BlogCategories server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41. If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
BlogPost

BlogPost Server Control

The BlogPost server control displays an individual blog post on a page. There are 2 ways that this control displays a blog post.

  • If a user is logged in as an Ektron user or a Membership user, the control displays the blog post, comments, and comments from the Web page.
  • If a user is not logged in, the control displays only the blog post.

NOTE: The Enable Comments property in the Workarea must be enabled for comments and the comments form to appear.

BlogPost server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DefaultContentID (Long)

    The ID of a default blog post that appears where you inserted this server control if no other content block is identified, or is not available. If you don’t know the ID number of the blog post, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it.See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • DisplayXslt (String)

    If desired, enter a relative or absolute path to an Xslt that determines the display of the page.

    WARNING! If you specify an external file, do not store this file in the Workarea folder. If you store this file in the Workarea folder, the file will be lost when you upgrade.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • DynamicParameter (String)

    To make this blog post dynamic, select id. When you do, this server control uses the blog post passed as a URL parameter.

  • GetThankYouMessage (Boolean)

    Determines whether a message appears after adding a blog comment.

    • True—Displays "Thank you" message after adding a blog comment
    • False—Do not display the message.
  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • ShowType (String)

    Shows a blog post’s content and its comments or just the blog post’s comments. The default is Content.

    • Content—Show a blog post’s content and its comments.
    • Description—Show a blog post’s comments only.
  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
  • WrapTag (String)

    Lets a developer specify a server control’s tag.

    • Span (default)—designate an inline portion of an HTML document as a span element.
    • Div—apply attributes to a block of code.
    • Custom—Lets you use a custom tag.
BlogRecentPosts

BlogRecentPosts Server Control

The BlogRecentPosts server control displays a list of recent blog post links on a Web form. When you click a link, you are directed to the blog post. The NumberofPosts property lets you control how many links appear. Typically, this control appears with other individual Blog server controls.

NOTE: On a PageBuilder page, you can display recent blog posts using the Recent blog posts widget. See Also: Widget Reference

BlogRecentPosts server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41. If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • BlogStartDateRange (String)

    Set the date range of the Blogs to show. For example, want to display blogs for the past 3 months, set toQuarterly.

    • None—no start date range
    • Monthly—current month
    • Quarterly—past 3 months
    • BiYearly—past 6 months
    • Yearly—past 12 months
  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • NumberofPosts (Integer)

    Sets the number of post links to display. The default is 5 (five).

  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
BlogRoll

BlogRoll Server Control

The BlogRoll server control displays a blog roll on a Web form. A blog roll is a list of links to other blogs. For more information, see Adding Blog Roll Links. Typically, this control appears with other individual Blog server controls.

BlogRoll server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41. If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.
BlogRSS

BlogRSS Server Control

The BlogRSS server control displays a blog’s RSS feed icon () on a Web form. When the icon is clicked, the blog's RSS feed appears. Typically this control appears along side other individual Blog server controls.

BlogsRSS server control properties

The following are Ektron-specific server control properties. You can find information about native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style in Visual Studio® help.

  • Authenticated (String)

    Indicates if you are logged into the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to content, collections, and so on. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer.

  • BlogID (Long)

    The ID of the blog in Ektron. For example: 41. If you don’t know the ID of the blog, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Browsing Your Ektron Site Using CMS Explorer

  • CacheInterval (Double)

    The number of seconds that the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). For example, if you want to cache the data for 5 minutes, set to 300. See Also: Caching with Server Controls.

  • DoInitFill (Boolean)

    By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown.

  • Hide (Boolean)

    Hides or displays the output of the control in design time and run time.

    • True—Hide the control output.
    • False—Display the control output.
  • Language (Integer)

    Set a language for viewing content; shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser).

  • SuppressWrapperTags (Boolean)

    Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control.

    • True—Suppress wrap tags.
    • False (default)—Allow wrap tags.