wordpressmu

wpmu session Chris Brown - Avoca 37 - Wilmette IL [] brownc@avoca37.org

Wordpress Multi User(WPMU) is a version of wordpress that allows for central management of many blogs - is the backbone of Wordpress.com where individual users can set up free blogs. Used by edublogs.org to create teacher/student blogs.
 * What it is**

Needed a revision of web site - but didn't want to spend $ Looked at services like Final Site, School World etc.- cost was issue especially long term maintainence We explored a number of open source options like Joomla, Drupal, but didn't find them as user friendly - we used Adobe Contribute which was wysiwyg but had installation and maintenance difficulty with the publishing system.
 * Why we went to WordPress**

Wanted teachers and eventually students to blog Looked at edublogs and classblogmeister but want control of updates and content - space concerns - users want to upload video, audio, and not be limited which causes pushback support community is outstanding
 * we only run updates during the summer if that
 * certain types of files are/are not allowed by default - needed control over that - taking a bit of a risk here but for the general ed teacher it provides buy-in

[|Wordpress MU] [|WPMU] [|bavatuesdays] Free but not free server that runs web service(Mac, Windows, Linux - we use Mac) Need someone who knows sql php 4.3 or greater mysql 4.0 or greater mod_rewrite Apache module
 * Fundamentals/System Requirements**

wpmu plugins we use: [|plugin commander] - mass turn on/off plugins for entire site [|mu-admin-bar]- town hall banner
 * Plugins** - wp plugins or wpmu plugins

many options - will research again this summer- I have been experimenting as these are turned on a blog by blog basis unless through plugin commander [|Anarchy Media Player] - creates automatic player for video/audio [|Angsuman Authenticated..]. - locks pages [|User Permisions]- make posts visible for certain level of user [|DD Import Users] - adds users in mass - but does not create blogs in mass [|KB Advanced RSS Widget] - expands the functionality of the RSS widget [|Language Translator] - automatic language options - may be better options [|nextGen gallery]- automated picture galleries [|Role manager]- show newspaper page/users - discuss user levels [|Page Links to]- makes a page send to any URL [|Thread Comment]- is default in 2.7 [|WP-table]- makes tables
 * wp plugins:**

site admin can turn on/off access to certain themes we chose cutline which is now default wp modified through css play cut out certain parts of themes - like comments to start - quickly had to begin putting them back in.
 * presentations**

all kinds of combinations with either built-in prefs or editing the internal pages - examples or [|ricks], [|stewartn] all comments are moderated, emails sent automatically, we have yet to install any comment spam protection but will probably add in the future
 * discussion/comments**


 * take good notes!!!**

Future - student blogging - looking for a manageable way to do this Possible upgrade to latest version summer of 2009