Download: post2myspace_plugin.zip

Downloading: post2myspace_plugin.zip Post2MySpace Plugin

Post To Myspace is a plugin that allows you to add a "Post To Myspace" link to your blog. This effectively allows you to copy/sync/duplicate your blog post on b2evo to Myspace using the "Post To Myspace" API provided by Myspace. It's not as automatic as importing an RSS feed, but currently it's the only way currently to import blogs into Myspace.

Additionally, you can allow readers to also post the content to their own Myspace blogs.

The plugin is implemented as a b2evo widget, which allows you to add it to any skin container via the Back Office control panel.

Post2MySpace Plugin
This screencap shows the Post To Myspace plugin in action.

Installation

  1. Download and unzip it.
  2. Copy the ''post2myspace_plugin'' folder into the "plugins" folder of your b2evolution installation.
  3. Login to the administrative interface for your blog.
  4. Install the Post To Myspace Widget plugin from the Global settings->Plugins install->Install new->Available plugins table using the [Install] link.
  5. Place the Post To Myspace Widget into the desired skin container on your blog using the menu: Blog Settings -> Widgets, and the [Add Widget] link.
  6. To add a ShareThis link to every post in your blog, you will need to add a new skin container. See "Customization" section below.

Usage

This plugin is implemented as a b2evo widget, which allows you to add a link anywhere to your blog skin using BackOffice widgets and skin containers. A link is added to every entry (post) in your blog (cannot add on a per post basis). However, if you have multiple blogs you can choose which blogs show the link (again by adding or removing the widget).

In order to copy your blog post to your Myspace blog, you merely click on the link "Post To Myspace". You will then be directed to a preview page, where you can see the content that will be posted. You also have the option to post it as a Myspace Bulletin or to the "About Me" section of your profile. Note that you actually have to click on the link in order to copy your blog post to Myspace. This plug-in merely puts the link on your blog.

Settings

Only show if logged in

This option only displays the "Post To Myspace" link if a user is logged in. In other words, it will not be available to blog readers (the general, non-editing public). If you want your readers to be able to also post your content to their pages (effectively, free marketing!), then leave this box unchecked.

Customization

Placement

You can add a Post To Myspace link to your blog by adding the widget to any container that shows up in your skin. (To see a list of containers, go to Manage->Blog Settings->Widgets in the BackOffice control panel).

However, currently all of the default containers are non-Post containers. That is, they are general containers for the entire blog, and not specific to each posting. This is not very useful to the Post To Myspace plugin, because generally you want to add a link to each and every post, not your blog as a whole.

To add a Post To Myspace link to every post, you will need to create a new container and add it to your skin. Copy and paste the following code into the appropriate xyz.main.php file in your skin (i.e. this can be index.main.php, posts.main.php, single.main.php, etc... more on this later):


// ------------------------- "Post Footer" CONTAINER EMBEDDED HERE --------------------------
// Display container and contents:
skin_container( NT_('Post Footer'), array(
		// The following params will be used as defaults for widgets included in this container:
		'block_start' => '',
		'block_end' => '',
	) );
// ----------------------------- END OF "Post Footer" CONTAINER -----------------------------

For example, if using the 'evopress' skin, insert this new container code here, after the feedback link:


<?php
	$Item->edit_link( array( // Link to backoffice for editing
			'before'    => ' | ',
			'after'     => '',
		) );
?>
<?php
	// Link to comments, trackbacks, etc.:
	$Item->feedback_link( array(
			'type' => 'feedbacks',
			'link_before' => ' | ',
			'link_after' => '',
			'link_text_zero' => '#',
			'link_text_one' => '#',
			'link_text_more' => '#',
			'link_title' => '#',
			'use_popup' => false,
		) );
?>
<?php			
// ------------------------- "Post Footer" CONTAINER EMBEDDED HERE --------------------------
// Display container and contents:
skin_container( NT_('Post Footer'), array(
		// The following params will be used as defaults for widgets included in this container:
		'block_start' => '',
		'block_end' => '',
	) );
// ----------------------------- END OF "Post Footer" CONTAINER -----------------------------
?>       

Which Skin Files to Change

For the evopress skin, there are two files where this code should be placed: posts.main.php, and single.main.php. The posts.main.php file generates the listing of posts (i.e. the usual main page of your blog, contain excerpts), whereas, the single.main.php file shows a single (full) post (if the user clicks on a post to read more).

For other skins, the process is generally the same. Some skins use different files (i.e. some only use index.main.php), so you'll have to look around in the particular skin folder you are using to see which file to place the new container.

Incidentally, if you do place the Post To Myspace widget into a non-Post container--such as the Sidebar--it will link to your blog rather than a specific post.

For more info, see the topic "HOWTO edit / copy / add containers to skins" in the b2evo forums: http://forums.b2evolution.net/viewtopic.php?t=14515 for more info.

Fine Tuning

Post To Myspace link is placed inside a div container which you can further style and position using css: <div class="post2myspace">

For example, to make the Post To Myspace link appear on the same line as the feedback link or edit... link at the end of each post, style using the following CSS:


div.post2myspace {
	display: inline;
	margin-left: 2em;
}

So, use the b2evo Widget/Container to make rough position/style changes. Then use the div class to fine-tune within the container.

Known issues

This plug-in has been tested using v2.4.2 and v2.4.6 of b2evo. It may or not work with others versions (unknown).

Version History

  • 2/14/2009 1.0 JJR Plugin created
  • 2/23/2009 1.1 JJR Fixed error with checking empty $current_User (don't use if empty)
  • 3/07/2009 1.2 JJR Fixed error when placing widget in a non-Post container (i.e. Sidebar, etc). Blog Title & URL will be used in this case.