The Good Stuff

Pontifications

Bootstrapping or Beta?
Userland dedicates itself to 'bootstrapping' new types of products for the Internet and new features for those products. This is entirely different from shipping software that is itself unready for prime time. While certain aspects of Radio push the envelope, Radio is fully usable, especially when we work wisely within its intended mission.

Mapping Your Weblog To The Desktop Application
Just a first look at how your browser-centered local weblog interface corresponds to menu selections within Radio's desktop application.

Document Road Map
This is what I hope to document long-term as well as what I am working on today and tomorrow.

Frontier, Manila or Radio?
A short guide to help you understand the similarities and differences between these Userland products so you can choose the right magic bullet for the right task.

Post, Link and Annotate
Action. Reaction. Interaction. Radio provides elegant support for three rhetorical devices. Which one suits your expressive requirements today?

Radio Demystified
The product is on-the-cusp between tire-kicking and a must-use tool for many. How can we bridge that gap?

Why RTFM Won't Work: Documentation As Narrative
Reading the manual helps but we have all long learned how to use software in community with other users of the same product. Why not make that explicit so we can cut to the chase and help each other?

Simplex Veri Sigillum
Keep it simple, stupid. In Latin. This will help you understand the motive behind the madness of my weblog.

Speak In Your Own Voice
Otherwise, why are you blogging? You know things that no one else in the world does, by definition. Share those with us. We really want to know.

Talking Terms
Radio unavoidably borrows, modifies and - sometimes - creates new jargon. This topic meditates on some of the jargon and interweaves the pieces together. Enlightening. Hopefully.

Userland Philosophy 101: Helping Us Write
Userland has been pursuing the same fundamental goal for over a decade. Dave Winer, its founder, has pursued the same essential goal for twenty-five years.

Userland Philosophy 102: Internet-Centered Authoring
The browser is a lousy place within which to write stuff. This should tip us off that Userland must have darn good reasons for choosing the browser anyway. These guys aren't dumb.

Of Weblogs, Websites and RCS
A weblog is just another type of website. Don't let yourself be intimidated by it. Describe it to your friends this way so they 'get it' ... and get Radio for themselves.

Four Views Of Radio
Radio is (choose one) a weblog on your personal computer, a website published to the Internet, a desktop Windows application or all of the above. Hint. It's all of the above.

Voices
A selection of weblogs whose authors speak in their own voice to us. Use them as models and inspirations ... but don't copy them. Otherwise, how will we hear your voice?

Why Are You A Windows Bigot?
I'm not.

Why Radio Is Based On A Subscription Purchase Model
It's simpler, supports near-daily updates and tends towards reduced prices for us. Convinced?

The Wish List
Gotta have more Radio features. Now.

What Is ....

What Is A Blogger?
The world's simplest definition.

What Is The Community Server?
Userland offers free weblog hosting for you during the period of your active annual subscription on its own Internet servers.

What Is The Difference Between The Community Server And RCS?
One comes to you free as a value-added premium for purchasing Radio. The other comes to you for free as a value-added premium for purchasing Radio. Confused? It's a win-win for you.

What Is Content Management
It isn't just anything someone claims it to be, despite apparent evidence to that effect.

What Is Hosting?
If the Internet is still unfamiliar to you, a short lesson on this concept may help you understand Radio more easily.

What Is An Installer?
Explaining how the Microsoft Windows standard installer works for beginners downloading Radio.

What Is My Local IP?
We all share the same local IP (Internet Protocol) address, enabling Radio to implements its thoroughgoing local-public weblog model cleanly.

What Is A Macro?
Radio uses macros liberally to substitute text and other nifty content elements to automatically assemble our weblogs. This is a big-time Radio building block and well worth the effort to understand.

What Is The Difference Between Posts and Stories?
You enter text into them the same way, but Radio stores them in different places and manages their archiving and retrieval distinctively.

What Is Publish and Subscribe?
Publish and subscribe is not only a cool technical mechanism (Radio's News Aggregator implements it for you in your weblog) but a signficant advance for the civility of Internet collaboration.

What Is The Radio Command Menu?
An overview of the persistent menu that appears at the top of all of your local weblog pages.

What Is Radio Userland?
Documenting Userland's introductory explanation of Radio en route to downloading and installing it for the first time.

What Is A Server?
... Just a computer that offers services which other computers (clients) can receive.

What Is A Static IP?
It's like your permanent street address. How would you like to ask the Post Office to calculate your address for each letter you received?

What Is A Template?
Templates separate form and content to simplify your web design and make it easier for you to manage your writing over time.

What Is Upstreaming?
During the upstreaming process, Radio flows or publishes your content from the local weblog on your own machine to your public weblog, either on their Community Server or a different Internet server that you have chosen.

What Is The Difference Between Upstreaming and Working Offline?
While Radio consistently applies its local-or-public model (depending on whether you are composing or publishing your weblog content), it can become confusing at times. Hopefully, this will dispel the fog.

What Is The URL For My Weblog?
Radio gives you two URLS: an entirely local one on your own computer where you will compose your weblog content and a public, external URL in the location where your content has been published.

What Is Your User Number?
A rose by any other name? Your user number is your name so far as Userland's own servers are concerned.

What Is A Weblog?
'A weblog is just a website organized by time'.

What Is The Difference Between WYSIWYG And Source Editing?
If you are new to Radio, this topic will clear up one of the most common areas of confusion. Hey, don't blame Userland!

How To ....

How To Backup Important Radio Files
Understanding not only how to use Radio's automatic backup but also backup a few other valuable files may save you lots of frustration when murphy strikes.

How To Buy Radio
If you really need this topic in a serious fashion, Userland is in big trouble. Don't forget to give me a commission along the way.

How To Download Radio Userland
It's easy, but that's what they always say. If you are having problems or would enjoy a bit of hand-holding, this is for you.

How To Use Your Calendar
Sure, we are all familiar with calendaring. Still, this may help you bridge from your intuitive understanding to the way that calendars are used in weblogs.

How To Create A Category
Get started with one of Radio's most powerful features.

How To Clear Out Your Weblog
It isn't necessarily obvious, but it is easy. You can delete your weblog contents and start over again if you wish.

How To Clear Out Your Weblog - The Advanced Course
Blow it all away by getting at the source - all those Radio Userland folders.

How To Use Your Cloud Links
The 'cloud' refers to that large world 'out there' on the Internet. Use these links to analyze some of the activity in that cloud, including activity affecting your own weblog.

How Many Copies Of Radio Do I Need?
Almost certainly, the answer is 'one', but I tell you why.

How To Enter Text Into Your Weblog
While browser-centered editing is awkward at best, it is also extremely convenient. This topic describes the most important features and techniques for making the process as painless as possible.

How to Exit and Shutdown Radio
Yes, all good things must come to an end from time-to-time.

How To Get Radio Help
Some words and tips on getting needed support from Userland when all else fails.

How To Add A Google Box To Your Weblog
It's fun, it's easy and you get to display the results of honest-to-goodness Google search queries in your own weblog. Why not?

How To Install Radio Userland
An introduction as well as links to topics that help beginners get from here to there: their first post to a Radio weblog.

How To Manage Radio On The Desktop
Radio is a full-blown desktop application hiding behind that browser-centered user interface that comes to the fore when you launch Radio. Here are a few hints on opening the hood and looking at the engine.

How To Manage Your Home Page
A topic that ties together and links to other topics relating to your local weblog home page.

How To Create Navigation Links
You will use navigation links as a key means to organize access to sites of greatest interest to you and your readers.

How To Open The Radio Desktop Application
Opening the desktop application is different than launching Radio in your browser. This explains why.

How To Organize Your Weblog Posts
Really, how to understand and take advantage of the way that your weblog home page is designed.

How To Place Pictures In Your Weblog
This how-to will not turn you into a graphics designer but it will make you comfortable with integrating graphics into your weblog.

How To Post To Your Weblog
It only takes six steps and four of them are the same: write.

How To Post A News Item To Your Weblog
Annotating posts from other weblogs to which you are subscribed and republishing them on your weblog is elegantly easy within Radio. Come on. Just do it.

How To Post An Outline To Your Weblog
Hidden under the hood, among other things, is a world-class outlining product. This topic gives the merest hint of some of the power available.

How To Post To Weblog Categories
A simple introduction to categorizing your posts.

How To Reinstall Radio
While you may never need to reinstall Radio, there are a few subtleties involved that may repay some close attention.

How To Retrieve and Enter Your Serial Number
If you misplace your serial number, you can recover it from Userland. You'll need it if you ever need to do a complete reinstall of Radio.

How To Create Shortcuts
Use Shortcuts to associate a name or label with a longer text for Radio to substitute wherever it sees the name in your weblog.

How To Use Your Status Center Links
Thanks to the connection between your local copy of Radio and Userland's Community Server, you can subscribe to a wealth of content from other weblogs as well as check out other interesting developments in the larger community.

How To Enter or Confirm A Weblog Subscription
There are two ways to do it, both easy, but it never hurts to go through the drill.

How To Use Your Support Center Links
These links give you ready access to help from Userland.

How To Download and Swap Themes
You can change the look-and-feel of your weblog in a few minutes. Or change it back.

How To Turn Upstreaming On Or Off
Upstreaming is one of the foundation concepts behind Radio's design. You can manage upstreaming to suit your posting style and calibrate your machine's physical performance.

How To Update Radio
Userland offers a state-of-the-art model for receiving product enhancements.

How To Get Your User Number
Radio assigns a unique number to you to manage your public weblog on its Community Server and other servers.

How To Implement Weblog Search
So your readers can find documents within your own weblog, that is. It's easy. It works. Why not?

How To Work Offline
Online? Offline? Huh? I try my best to unravel some rather confusing concepts.

How To Inspect Your WWW Folder
Understanding the contents of your WWW folder will accelerate your mastery of Radio.

How To Open Your WWW Folder
Much of your content is stored by Radio to a WWW folder on your local hard drive. Opening the folder and inspecting the contents will become increasingly useful to you as your Radio expertise grows.

Preferences

Overview of Preferences
A short roadmap to the entire system of preferences. Tweaking these enables you to customize Radio to suit yourself.

Overview: Basic Preferences
Basic Preferences determine identity and upstreaming options.

Overview: Weblog Preferences
Weblog preferences give you control over your day-to-day posting and archiving options.

Overview: Templates Preferences
Templates preferences allow you to inspect the actual HTML contents of all templates used by Radio as well as edit them to change your weblog's look-and-feel.

Overview: Internet and Server Settings
Internet and server settings allow you to fine tune the way that your local copy of Radio communicates with the greater world out there in the Internet cloud.

Overview: News Aggregator
The News Aggregator is one of Radio's unique value-added contributions to the blogging world.

Overview: Advanced Preferences
Advanced preferences cover areas not easily sectioned elsewhere - you know, the kitchen sink.

Setting Prefs For WYSIWYG Editors
The Radio method is straightforward but the same cannot be said for the way that browsers themselves are implemented by their creators.

Tips and Tricks

Community Documentation, Scripts and Tools
Welcome to the chaos. It's worse than it appears but better than it looks.

Copy and Paste Graphics Into Your Weblog
What it says.

Copy and Paste URLs
Sometimes, you will want to paste a URL into your weblog or a template. There is slightly more to this than may meet the eye.

Correcting for Blurred Vision: Local vs Online Posts
We need to understand the difference between our local and our published weblog - especially if we need to reinstall Radio. Otherwise, we can lose our content without realizing why. This is not a bug in Radio but a simple consequence of its reasonably consistent design.

Creating A Link To Your Home Page
This somewhat complex topic will help you understand how to modify the main template to add a link-to-home page button for your weblog stories.

Deleting Stories
Story deletions require a bit more effort (and a different method) than deleting posts.

Forcing Upstreaming Of All Website Elements
Radio upstreams most of your weblog changes but not all. For instance, it won't automatically change the look-and-feel of already published stories when you change a theme. This tip shows you how to force your public weblog to reflect all of your most recent changes.

Grabbing Graphics From The Internet
A simple technique for cutting- or copying-and-pasting graphics from your web browser to your local computer file system.

Jump To Your Radio Task Using Favorites
Put your Web browser to work by bookmarking a range of URLs within-and-outside your local version of Radio to simplify your work.

Keeping Two Browser Windows Open
This allows you to view content in one (browser) window while working on another weblog task in a second, third or fouth (browser) window.

Learning HTML
This page lists some of the best web sites around for learning HTML. Beginners welcome.

Learning Scripting
Yes, you can. If you want to. An introduction to Userland resources for learning its dialect (UserTalk) as well as an encouragment to learn some Python. As in Monty Python.

Managing Your Subscriptions
Unmasking the secrets of that  XML Coffee Cup thingie as well as other roads to the Rome of weblog subscriptions.

Spell Check Your Weblog
MicroSpell might be the ticket for correcting those nasty little misteps.

Using Radio for Userland's Scripting Tutorial
A few simple encouragements and look-outs will make it possible for you to work through a superb if slightly obsolete Userland tutorial on both scripting and website development.

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