How to Clear Out Your Weblog

Okay, you downloaded and installed Radio. You posted to your weblog. Then, sometime (the next day? the next week? the next decade?), you realize in a flash either ...

.... you don't want your boss, your significant other or generations still unborn to read this stuff.

(You mean when I broadcasted it to the Community Server, I really did become my own version of the New York Times?!)

.... you are now ready for your next weblog which is going to be entirely different than that wretched first one ... third one ... tenth one.

Of course, when it comes to starting new weblogs separate from the one you publish to Userland's Community Server, you can get a domain name, some hosting space, use Radio's categories feature and - with Ralph Kramden - away you gooo ....

But this page is dedicated to simple weblog trashing.

Unfortunately, it won't be simple until the Userland wizards give us a checkbox like, "delete all posts in your Weblog?" and another one, "delete all stories in your Weblog?"

(I would have regarded an automatic "clear Weblog" command a must-do feature from the beginning. In fairness to Userland, as Rosanne Rosannadanna used to say, "if it isn't one thing, it's another." There are always bound to be lots of little things that prove to be more significant to users than are first realized. Software vendors aren't omniscient, thank goodness.) 

If you know how to use the underlying Radio desktop application or can script UserTalk (Userland's scripting language), you can find ways to clear your weblog by deleting vast numbers of posts at once. But, if you knew how to do that, you wouldn't be reading this page.

Deleting Posts

So, here is the clumsy but workable method.

1. Back-up important Radio files just in case something untoward skulks your way.

1. Go to the home page of your desktop website.

2. Under the text entry area, you will see some number of your most recent posts. Click the checkbox to the left of each post. Then click the "Delete" button. Presto. Gone.

3. If you have been posting for many moons, you will need to click on each day in your calendar for which you created posts. This will display those daily posts on your home page. Repeat step 2. above.

4. Now, repeat 3 above until you have deleted every post for every day on your calendar.

(Nothing like a bit of recursive, manual deleting to build an appetite. What is recursion? Never mind).

Don't forget that upstreaming must be turned on so that your deletes are 'published' to your public weblog. And don't come crying to me about your lost work ;-).

Deleting Stories

Getting rid of your stories is a bit trickier.

The Stories page from which you created stories (accessible from Radio's Command Menu) does not allow you to delete them directly. The reason for this is that stories are not stored directly within Radio databases where hidden scripts can work their magic on your behalf. They are stored elsewhere in your file system.

(Actually, UserTalk is so powerful that scripts can be written to find files within Windows and delete them. Never mind).

To delete stories and a heck of a lot more, consult step 9. in How To Clear Out Your Weblog - The Advanced Course.

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