MailEdit Documentation

What does it do?

Basic Idea

Used in the most simple fashion, the MailEdit tool will work exactly like the Mail-To-Weblog functionality built into Radio. If you send a message with the correct subject to the email address that Radio is set up to monitor, it will be posted to your weblog. In addition, MailEdit will return an email confirmation of the posting, along with a copy of the post suitable for editting.

Full Speed Ahead

The real power of the MailEdit tool is when the directives are used. Directives can be used to specify post titles, post links, the categories that the post should be routed to, as well as specifying the identity of the post, in case you wish to correct an error that crept past your proofreading.

It can also fetch a post for editting, if you don't have a local copy around.

The theory is that if you wish to make a change to the most current post, you send a #get command to the Mail-To-Weblog address, using the secret subject that you've configured MailEdit to use. MailEdit will then format the post and send it back to you. You can make the changes you desire, and when you send the post back, the #id directive that was embedded in the post you editted will identify the new email message as the editted version of that post.

Believe me, it's harder for me to explain than it is for you to use.

Images

If you attach images to your message, MailEdit will save the attachment in the proper place and alter your post to include an image refereance before the text.

Personally, I use it to post images I've taken with the toy camera that comes with the SideKick.

For an even more powerful and flexible way to handle images, there is an #upload directive that saves images and creates shortcuts for use in subsequent weblog posts.

Why

I wrote this becuase I do most of my weblog posting when I'm away from my Radio installation, like when I'm at work, or when I'm wandering around with only my SideKick. I was tired of posting an entry with a typo, and then having to wait until I got back home to correct it. I also didn't like that I couldn't add a title.

I'm making it available in the hope that someone else will find it useful.

Directives

#title <quoted string>

Specifies the title of the post. If not specified, no title is provided.

#link <quoted string>

Specifies the URL that the title, if provided, will point to.

#imageAlign <quoted string>

If specified, it should be one of "left" or "right", and will control how text wraps around any images that were attached to the message.

#notOnHomePage

Specifies that the post will not appear on the home page. Works exactly like clearing the "Home Page" checkbox on Radio's weblog posting form.

#categories <list of quoted strings>

Specifies a list of categories that this post should be routed to.

#category <quoted string>

Specifies a singular category for this post. A shortcut for #categories {"single category"}

#id <post id>

Specifies the post id of the post being processed. If the post exists, it will be copied over. If not, a new post will be created, although not necessarily using the number that was passed as an id.

#get [<post id>]

If <post id> is specified and exists, that post will be fetched and returned by an email reply, in a format suitable for editting. If it doesn't exist, an error will be returned. If no <post id> is specified, the most current post will be returned.

#upload

If specified, MailEdit will save the attached images and then create shortcuts for use in subsequent weblog posts. For an image "foo.jpg", three shortcuts will be created: "foo", "foo.left", and "foo.right". These shortcuts insert the image normally, or aligned to the left or the right, respectively. No post will be created, and the confirmation email that is returned contains a listing of the shortcuts that have been created.

#publish

Causes the home page of your weblog to be published. If, for some reason, the last past or last edit didn't take, the publish directive will force Radio to republish the page. Note that all subsequent publish directives correspond to the "Publish" menu commands in the Radio menu in the Radio Window.

#publish homePage

Like "#publish" without an argument, the #publish homePage directive forces the home page of your weblog to be republished.

#publish month

Causes the entire month of posts to be republished.

#publish weblog

Causes all posts in the weblog to be republished.

#publish category

Causes all category home pages to be republished.

#publish allCategory

Causes all category pages to be republished, not just category home pages.

#publish all

Causes all weblog and category pages to be republished.

#publish everything

Causes all pages in your website to be republished.

Examples

#title "This is my title"

Sets the title of the post to "This is my title"

#link "http://www.python.org"

Makes the title point to the specified URL.

#notOnHomePage

Works like clearing the "Home Page" checkbox when posting an entry -- makes the entry only show up in categories, not on the main page. Any arguments passed to this directive will be ignored.

#categories {"My Interests", "My Hobbies"}

Routes the post to both the "My Interests" and the "My Hobbies" categories.

#category "My Hobbies"

Routes the post to the "My Hobbies" category.

#imageAlign "right"

Images will be linked to in a way that causes the image to be displayed on the right side of the page, with the text wrapping around the left.

#id 219

Identifies the post as post #219, any edits will be saved over post #219. Used for editing posts.

#get

Without an argument, #get will cause the most recent post to be returned via email reply, suitable for editting.

#get 219

With a post id as an argument, will return the specified post for editting.

#upload

If an image named "road.jpg" is attached to the message, the image will be saved, and three shortcuts -- 'road', 'road.left', and 'road.right' -- will be created.