New Message: News Item Department Enhancements

[webmaster at userland.com]

A new message was posted:

Address: http://manila.userland.com/discuss/msgReader$195

By: Jake Savin (jake at userland.com)

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We've made a number of enhancements to Manila's news item departments feature.
News item departments now each have an RSS 2.0 feed. In addition, each Manila site now has a page which lists all the departments in the site, along with links to each department, and its RSS feed.
These features are enabled now on all UserLand-hosted Manila sites. To get the new features, <a href="http://frontier.userland.com/howToUpdate">update</a> Manila.root.
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Department RSS feeds
   Department RSS feeds make it easy for people who use news readers like "Radio UserLand" to follow posts in a specific department, without having to manually filter through other posts on your site.
   For any given department, its RSS feed will have a URL like the following:
   http:/\/www.example.com/newsItems/departments/myDepartment.xml
   You can find the RSS URL for any department in your site using the department list page -- see below.
Department list page
   The department list page provides a list of all departments in your site, with links to each department's home page, RSS feed, and edit-department page, if you're logged in as a managing editor. (<a href="http://static.userland.com/images/manila/deptListScreenshot.gif">Screenshot</a>.)
   It's linked to from the News Items page -- Click the News link in the Editors Only menu, and then click the department list link at the bottom of the page.
   When logged in as a managing editor, the globe icon next to each department links to the department's home page, and the department's name links to the department-editor page for the department. The rightmost column contains XML icons, which link to each department's RSS feed.
   To edit a department's name or description, click its name. To create a new department, click the Create a New Department link at the bottom of the department list page.
   To delete a department, check the box to the left of its name, and then click the Delete button at the bottom of the page.
Department editor
   The department editor includes some previously unavailable preferences. (<a href="http://static.userland.com/images/manila/editDeptScreenshot.gif">Screenshot</a>.)
   Departments can now have a description. This text is used for the tagline on the department's home page, and for the description in the department's RSS feed.
   Departments may also specify a language for use in their RSS feeds. (You can also choose to not specify a language.)
Notes
   If your site's template includes the rssLink macro for creating a link to your site's RSS feed, then the department page will link to the department's RSS feed, rather than the site's RSS feed.
   If a department has no description, then the site's tagline (edited on the Appearance Prefs page) is used for the description in the department's RSS feed.
See Also
   Manila Newbies: <a href="http://manilanewbies.userland.com/usersguide/newsitems/">News Items</a>
   Technology at Harvard Law: <a href="http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss">RSS 2.0 Specification</a>
   Macros.UserLand.Com: <a href="http://macros.userland.com/basic/rssLink">rssLink</a>