0.6.1
20021102

weblog / news publishing tool

requirements - installation - template(s) - querystring usage - xmlrpc (Blogger API) - post via email - notes

requirements:

PHP4 (version 4.0.5 or higher)
MySQL (version 3.23.23 or higher)
Perl (optional - only for the spellchecker)
...and a link to http://cafelog.com on your site.

The link will help promoting b2, since this is its only mean of promotion.
If you like b2, you can help me with a donation (even if it's only 2 or 3 dollars, every donation helps), or you can buy me stuff from my wishlist :)

 

installation:

New users:

1. Unzip the package in an empty directory.

2. Open b2config.php in a text editor, and modify the variables as explained in the comments. Comments are lines that start with # or /* or //

3. Upload everything. This release is designed to sit in your root folder, IE the folder where your b2-powered page will reside.

4. a. This isn't necessary but ensures your security: With your FTP program, do a CHMOD 644 on the file b2config.php, so no-one can overwrite it except you. If your server is on Windows NT, then set the file on "read-only" mode.
   b. if you want to use the spellchecker, do a CHMOD 755 on sproxy.pl

5. Launch b2install.php in your browser. This should setup the MySQL database for your blog. If there is an error, double check your b2config.php file, and try again. If it fails again, please go to the support forums there: http://tidakada.com/board, and make a post with all the information about the failure (error messages, etc), and your setup (the PHP and MySQL versions on your server, and the browser you were using).

6. Delete b2install.php - this is not necessary since v0.5, because there's no "drop table" instructions in the install script anymore, but it's better to delete it anyway (or rename it to a random name in case you need it again in the future).

7. Go to b2login.php and log in with the login "admin" and the pass "admin". Then click on the menu 'My Profile', and change the password. Note: you need javascript enabled to launch the profile popup window.

8. Do this if you don't want to blog as "admin": log out, create an user account on b2register.php, then re-log in as "admin", and update the level of the new user to 5 or more, so that you have all the admin rights. Logout, then log in as the new user.

Whenever you want to post something, just open a browser and go to b2login.php to log in and post.
You can also use a bookmarklet and/or a sidebar (IE5+/NS6+) to post.
You can also post through the Blogger API, click here for more info.
Your site's blog is on b2.php (simple template) and index.php (CSS template), you can rename this file to index.php or any other name you fancy (provided it bears the php extension or is interpreted as a php file by your server).
You can also copy b2.php into a new file and modify that new file, it will work too ;)

Users upgrading from v0.5.x to v0.6.1:

1. Unzip the package in an empty directory, to avoid deleting your existing b2config.php file.

2. Open the new b2config.php file and your existing b2config.php file. Modify the new b2config.php file in order to use your existing settings there, in addition to the new settings. (There are a lot of additionnal settings, so it's best to edit the new config file than adding on the exisitng one.)

3. if you want to use the new spellchecker, do a CHMOD 755 on sproxy.pl

4. Edit all your templates and update your template tags to follow the changes to the template tags here, because there have been some modifications, and it would cause some errors if you didn't edit the templates. Tags noted with an orange asterisk * are tags that were added or modified in v0.6, these are those you got to update in your templates.
5. Upload the new files, and you're done. :)

Users upgrading from v0.6preX to v0.6.1:

1. Unzip the package in an empty directory, to avoid deleting your existing b2config.php file.

2. Open the new b2config.php file and your existing b2config.php file. Modify the new b2config.php file in order to use your existing settings there, in addition to the new settings. (There are a lot of additionnal settings, so it's best to edit the new config file than adding on the existing one.)
3. Upload the new files, and you're done. :) (Generally, this means every file but your template file index.php/b2.php)
4. To add support of the new TrackBack and Pingback functionnalities, you may want to check the Template tags section for the appropriate new tags, and the default index.php to see how they are used :)

 

template(s):

First notes:

Enclosed is an example of a template, in the file b2.php. You can rename this file to "index.php"or something else (recent b2 versions have a default index.php, which is an elaborate CSS-based template).
You can have any number of template files, since all they do is extract the posts from the database.
Pseudo-template for the comments is in b2comments.php. You needn't rename this file, but you can edit it.
The only thing to remember is that it's not actually a template, but a PHP file that you're manipulating. So when you see "don't delete this line", you know you mustn't, unless you want to have a broken page.
Required lines are: the first lines that call blog.header.php, the lines with the "while" statement, and the ones with just "}" (it ends the while loop).
Between the "while" line and the "}", is the template for your posts.

Notes about parameters:

1. Some template tags can accept optional parameters between the parenthesis ().

2. To add a parameter to a tag, enclose it between quotes and put it between the ().
Example: <?php my_tag("my parameter"); ?>

3. You may have to put several parameters, for that you separate them with commas.
Example: <?php my_tag("first param","second param"); ?>

4. The order of parameters is important. If a function accepts 2 parameters and you only want to set the second one, you still have to provide the first one, and so on for any number of parameters.
Example: <?php my_tag("","second param"); ?>

5. Some template tags, like the_date(), display something only if in some conditions. They generally accept parameters to display something before and after them only when they display something.
Example: <?php the_title("<h1>","</h1>"); ?> would display <h1>title of the post</h1> only if the post has a title

Template tags are these:

<?php the_date() ?> *
the date of the post. example: 03.07.01 (default is dd.mm.yy).
the date is displayed only on new days. for example if you got 10 posts on the same day, the date for this day is displayed only once.
Parameters:
  • format string (default: "d.m.y")
  • string to display before the date (default is blank)
  • string to display after the date (default is blank)

<?php the_time() ?>
the time of the post. example: 18:37:00 (default is hh:mm:ss)
Parameters:
  • format string (default: "H:i:s")

Note: you can change the way the date & time are displayed in the Options page.
once you understand the format strings for the date & time (explained in the Options page), you can change the display right on the template: for example, the_date("d.m.Y") to have dates like 25.12.2001, the_time("B") to have Swatch Internet Time.
If you change the display of the date on the template, changing it from the options page won't have any effect.br />
Note about the_date(): if you want all your posts to bear the date, you'll have to use the_time() instead, with a date format string. for example, to have all your posts show like "25.12.2001 @ 8:04:50 AM" you'll have the_time("d.m.Y @ g:i:s A"). you can also repeat this template tag 2 times with 2 different formats: the_time("d.m.Y") for the date, and then later the_time("g:i:s A") for the time of the day.

<?php the_weekday() ?>
This displays the day of the week when the post was made. It works like the_time(), in that it would appear at every post. Weekdays can be obtained with a custom date format string in the_time() or the_date(), but for non-english weekdays you have to edit b2config.php
Note: this tag is OBSOLETE, the_time() and the_date() now use weekdays/months from b2config.php

<?php the_weekday_date() ?> *
Like the_weekday(), but works like the_date(), in that it would appear only on new days.
Note: this tag is OBSOLETE, the_time() and the_date() now use weekdays/months from b2config.php
Parameters:
  • string to display before the weekday_date (default is blank)
  • string to display after the weekday_date (default is blank)


<?php the_ID() ?>
the ID (number) of the post.

<?php the_title() ?>
The title of the post.
Parameters:
  • string to display before the title (default is blank)
  • string to display after the title (default is blank)


<?php the_content() ?> *
The text of the post.
Parameters:
  • text to display for the link to the complete entry (default is '(more...)')
  • 0 or 1, whether you want to show the teaser message or not, when showing the complete text (default is 1)
  • a filename of another template, if you want the 'more' link to link to a different template for the complete text of the extended entry (default is the current template)

For example <?php the_content("read more","0","blah.php") ?> would display a link to blah.php, with the link text read more, and won't display the teaser message.

* To enter an extended entry, just type <!--more--> in your entry. The part before that comment is the teaser, the part after it is the extended entry. To force the extended entry not to show the teaser message, type <!--noteaser--> somewhere in your entry.

* To enter an entry with several pages, just type <!--nextpage--> in your entry to start a new page.


<?php next_post() ?> *
Displays a link to the next post(s). (Generally you might want to use that tag only in single-post templates)
Parameters:
  • format string for the link (default is "%", where % is replaced with the title of the next post)
  • text to display to announce the link (default is "next post: ")
  • "yes" or "no": display the title of the post, or no (default is "yes")
  • "yes" or "no": display a link to the next post only if the next post is in the same category (default is "no")
  • number: which next post ? if you make it '2', the 2nd next post is linked instead of the 1st next one (default is "1", which means first next post)


<?php previous_post() ?> *
Displays a link to the previous post(s). (Generally you might want to use that tag only in single-post templates)
Parameters:
  • format string for the link (default is "%", where % is replaced with the title of the previous post)
  • text to display to announce the link (default is "previous post: ")
  • "yes" or "no": display the title of the post, or no (default is "yes")
  • "yes" or "no": display a link to the next post only if the previous post is in the same category (default is "no")
  • number: which previous post ? if you make it '2', the 2nd previous post is linked instead of the 1st previous post (default is "1", which means first previous post)


<?php next_posts() ?> *
Display the URL portion of a link to the next set of posts.
Generally you would use this in a template to navigate to the next "set" of posts when the "Show Options" settings for the site is set to "posts paged". The displayed string can be used to construct a link. When the site options are not set to 'posts paged", the next and previous functions will display nothing.
Parameters:
  • Max page number to use. Default "0"; no limit


<?php next_posts_link() ?> *
Displays a full link to the next "set" of posts only if show options set to "posts paged" and only if there is another page or partial page of data.
Parameters:
  • A user supplied string. Default "Next Page >>"


<?php previous_posts() ?> *
Displays the URL portion of a link to the previous posts.
Generally you would use this in a template to navigate to the previous "set" of posts when the "Show Options" settings for the site is set to "posts paged". The displayed string can then be used to construct a link. When the site options are not set to 'posts paged", the next and previous functions will display nothing.
Parameters:
  • No parameters.


<?php previous_posts_link() ?> *
Displays a full link to the previous "set" of posts only if show options set to "posts paged" and if there is a previous set, otherwise nothing is displayed.
Parameters:
  • A user supplied string. Default "<< Previous Page"


<?php posts_nav_link() ?> *
The function displays a complete navigation set of links including a user definable "separator" with the ability to supply a the text string to be used for the "previous" and "next" links.
The default result will produce the following string:

<< Previous Page :: Next Page >>

Parameters:
  • A user supplied "separator" string. Default " :: "
  • A user supplied "previous" string. Default "<< Previous Page"
  • A user supplied "next" string. Default "Next Page >>"


<?php link_pages() ?> *
Displays links to the pages of the post if it's a multiple pages post.
Parameters:
  • string to display before the tag (default is "<br />", a newline)
  • string to display after the tag (default is "<br />", a newline)
  • "next" or "number": display links like "next/previous page" or links to each page with the number of the page "1 2 3 4 etc" (default is "number")
  • string to display the "next page" link (default is "next page")
  • string to display the "previous page" link (default is "previous page")
  • format string for the "number of page" link (default is "%", where % is replaced by the number of the page)
  • file name, in case you want to load the posts with multiple pages in a different template (default is the current template)


<?php the_author() ?>
The author of the post.
Depending on the user's profile settings, it can display whether their nickname, login name, first name, last name, both first& last name, or last & first name. look below for more author-related template tags.

<?php the_category() ?>
the name of the category the post belongs to. you can as an admin add categories, and rename them if needed. default category is 'General', you can rename it too.

<?php the_category_ID() ?>
The ID (number) of the category the post belongs to. This is static data thatyou can use, for example to associate a category to an image, or a css style.

<?php trackback_rdf() ?> *
This will include the RDF data that can be used by some weblog tools to locate your posts' trackback URLs.
You should put this tag after the <?php the_content() ?> tag in your template, or just before the end of the loop.

<?php dropdown_cats() ?>
this is a special tag, meant to be used in the template, but outside of the b2 loop. it will display a list of <option name="x">category-name</option>, where x is the number of the category and category-name is the name of it.
Parameters:
  • 0 or 1, depending if you want to have an option to display all categories (default is 1)
  • text to display for the option to show all categories (default is "All")

you can use it like this:

<form action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF ?>" method="get">
<?php dropdown_cats() ?>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="view" />
</form>


<?php list_cats() ?> *
this is a special tag, meant to be used in the template, but outside of the b2 loop. it will display a list of the categories, with links to them. like in b2archive.php, each category is on a line, the only way you can change this is by editing b2.template.functions.php
Parameters:
  • 0 or 1, depending if you want to have an option to display all categories (default is 1)
  • text to display for the option to show all categories (default is 'All')
  • sort by: possible values are 'name' and 'ID' (default is 'ID')
  • sorting order: possible values are 'asc' for ascending or 'desc' for descending (default is 'asc')
  • filename, in case you want to display the categories' posts in another template (default is current template)

<?php bloginfo() ?> *
This tag is out of the b2 loop.
It outputs info about your weblog.
Parameters:
  • string: can be 'name' to display the name of your weblog (you set it in b2config.php), 'url', 'description', 'admin_email', 'rss_url' to display the URL of your b2rss.xml file, 'pingback_url' to display the URL of your xmlrpc.php file
    (default string is 'name')

<?php single_post_title() ?> *
This tag is out of the b2 loop.
It outputs the title of the post when you load the page with ?p= (see 'Usage' section for explanation). When the weblog page is loaded without ?p=, this tag doesn't display anything. Generally, you could use it like this:
   <title><?php bloginfo('name') ?><?php single_post_title() ?></title>
Parameters:
  • prefix string that will appear before the post's title (default is ' :: ')

<?php single_cat_title() ?> *
This tag is out of the b2 loop.
It outputs the title of the category when you load the page with ?cat= (see 'Usage' section for explanation). When the weblog page is loaded without ?cat=, this tag doesn't display anything. Generally, you could use it like this:
   <title><?php bloginfo('name') ?><?php single_cat_title() ?></title>
Parameters:
  • prefix string that will appear before the category's title (default is ' :: ')

<?php single_month_title() ?> *
This tag is out of the b2 loop.
It outputs the name of the month when you load the page with ?m= (see 'Usage' section for explanation). When the weblog page is loaded without ?m=, this tag doesn't display anything. Generally, you could use it like this:
   <title><?php bloginfo('name') ?><?php single_month_title() ?></title>
Parameters:
  • prefix string that will appear before the month's name (default is ' :: ')

Note: The above three functions can be used together to produce the Title of the page:
   <title><?php bloginfo('name') ?><?php single_post_title(' :: ') ?><?php single_cat_title(' :: ') ?><?php single_month_title(' :: ') ?></title>
Only one, if any, of these functions will produce output, thus the page Title can be customize to the task being done.


More about the author of the post ? Here goes:

<?php the_author_email() ?> - the author's email.
<?php the_author_url() ?> - the author's url.
<?php the_author_email() ?> - the author's number of posts.
<?php the_author_icq() ?> - the author's ICQ number.
<?php the_author_aim() ?> - the author's AIM handle.
<?php the_author_yim() ?> - the author's Yahoo Messenger handle.
<?php the_author_msn() ?> - the author's MSN Messenger handle.
<?php the_author_posts() ?> - the author's post count.
<?php the_author_login() ?> - the author's login name in b2. If you want some static data about the author, this is what you're searching for. You can, for example, associate a picture with an author, like this: <img src="pictures/<?php the_author_login() ?>.jpg" border="0">
<?php the_author_ID() ?> - the author's ID number in b2. This number is automatically set when the user registers: to see the ID of an user, go to the Team page. This is static data too, so you can use it like the_author_login() in associating stuff with authors.


Tags for permalinks
are:

<?php permalink_anchor() ?> *
this will display <a name="..."></a>, replacing "..." with the ID or the title of the post in the database.

Parameters:
  • string for kind of anchor: either 'id' that displays '50', or 'title' that displays 'title_of_post_50' (default is 'id')

<?php permalink_link() ?> *
this will display the name of the file followed by #ID to link to the post, in the month archive if archive-mode is "monthly".
note: this tag does not display the link, for this you've got to type <a href="<?php permalink_link() ?>">text of the link</a>.
Parameters:
  • file name, in case you want to link the archive to a different template (default is the current template)
  • string for kind of link: either 'id' that appends '#50' to the link, or 'title' that appends '#title_of_post_50' (default is 'id')


<?php permalink_single() ?> *
this will display the name of the file followed by #ID to link to the entire post (the linked page will also show the extended text on that post if it is an extended entry, and the comments).
note: this tag does not display the link, for this you've got to type <a href="<?php permalink_single() ?>">text of the link</a>.
Parameters:
  • file name, in case you want to use a different template for single posts (default is the current template)



Tags for comments, trackback, and pingback are:

<?php comments_popup_script() ?> *
This will include the javascript that is required to open comments, trackback and pingback in popup windows.
You should put this tag before the </head> tag in your template.
Parameters:
  • width (default is 400)
  • height (default is 400)
  • file name, in case you want to use a different template for comments (default is b2commentspopup.php)
  • file name, in case you want to use a different template for TrackBacks (default is b2trackbackpopup.php)
  • file name, in case you want to use a different template for Pingbacks (default is b2pingbackspopup.php)


<?php comments_popup_link() ?>*
This will display the link to open comments in a popup window, with the number of comments.
To edit the popup window's template, edit the file b2commentspopup.php (it's the default one for comments popup).

Note:
The same tags exist for TrackBack and Pingback, respectively named 'trackback_popup_link()' and 'pingback_popup_link()'. They take the same parameters.

Parameters:
  • string for comment-less posts (default is "no comments")
  • string for posts with one comment (default is "1 comment")
  • string for posts with 2 or more comments (default is "% comments")
    Note here that the sign "%" is then replaced by the number of comments.
  • string for CSS class, so you can have a styled link with class="" (default is empty, no CSS class applied)


<?php comments_link() ?>
This is a bit like permalink_link, it will display an URL to the comments page, but again you'll have to create the link tag.

Note:
The same tags exist for TrackBack and Pingback, respectively named 'trackback_link()' and 'pingback_link()'. They take the same parameters.

Parameters:
  • file name, in case you want to use a different template for comments (default is the current template)


<?php comments_number() ?>
This displays the number of comments that have been posted on this post. Example: "5 comments".

Note:
The same tags exist for TrackBack and Pingback, respectively named 'trackback_number()' and 'pingback_number()'. They take the same parameters.

Parameters:
  • string for comment-less posts (default is "no comments")
  • string for posts with one comment (default is "1 comment")
  • string for posts with 2 or more comments (default is "% comments")
    Note here that the sign "%" is then replaced by the number of comments.

Example: <?php comments_number("no comment","1 comment","% comments") ?>

This tag differs from v0.5's tag because in v0.5 and prior, it would only display a number, not a text with it, so you could have terrible things like "1 comments" (doh !)

Necessary: <?php include("b2comments.php") ?>
you'll put this line where you want the comments to be placed on your page.
typically, under the post itself. don't worry, the comments only appear if the page is called in the comments mode. (like this: url?c=1)

Necessary: <?php include("b2trackback.php") ?>
you'll put this line where you want the TrackBacks to be placed on your page.
typically, under the post itself. don't worry, the TrackBacks only appear if the page is called in the TrackBacks mode. (like this: url?tb=1)

Necessary: <?php include("b2pingbacks.php") ?>
you'll put this line where you want the Pingbacks to be placed on your page.
typically, under the post itself. don't worry, the Pingbacks only appear if the page is called in the Pingbacks mode. (like this: url?pb=1)


Tags that go in b2comments.php, b2trackback.php, b2pingbacks.php: (these are easy too)

<?php comment_author() ?>
<?php comment_author_email() ?> - displays the e-mail address, but not the link
<?php comment_author_url() ?> - displays the url, but not the link

<?php comment_author_email_link() ?> *- displays a link to the comment's author's e-mail
<?php comment_author_url_link() ?> *- displays a link to the comment's author's website
Parameters for comment_author_email_link() and comment_author_url_link():
  • string for the link (default: "email"/"url" depending on the tag)
  • string to display before the link (default is " - ")
  • string to display after the link (default is blank)

<?php comment_author_IP() ?> - displays the IP of the comment's author
<?php comment_text() ?>
<?php comment_date() ?>
- unlike the_date(), this tag appears on every comment
<?php comment_time() ?>

Parameters for comment_date() and comment_time():
  • format string (default is "d.m.y"/"H:i:s" depending on the tag)

<?php trackback_url() ?> *
This tag is out of the b2 TrackBacks loop.
It will output the URL to TrackBack the post, that other people can copy and use in b2's posting interface to trackback this post.
Parameters:
  • no parameter


In b2comments.php b2trackback.php and b2pingbacks.php, like in the main template file, please keep the first PHP lines, the "while" lines, and the "}" lines.
You can modify the form, but do not remove "<?php echo ... ?>" and all the name="..." attributes.


To include your archives:

<?php include("b2archives.php") ?>
this will include the links to your archives, one link per line.
if your archive mode is "monthly", it will display the names of the months and the years, like "july 2001".
if your archive mode is "post by post", it will display the titles of your posts, one title per line. if a post is untitled it will display the ID (number) of this post.


To include the calendar:

<?php include("b2calendar.php") ?>
this will include a table with the current month's calendar, each day when you posted shows a link to this day's posts. You can customise this table with CSS classes:
.b2calendarmonth {}
    the style that is used to display the month and year
.b2calendartable {}
    the style of the <table> tag (border etc...)
.b2calendarrow {}
    the style of the <tr> tag
.b2calendarheadercell {}
    the style of the <td> tag that shows the weekdays on the top of the table
.b2calendarcell {}
    the style of the <td> tags that show the days
.b2calendaremptycell {}
    the style of the <td> tags that are empty
.b2calendarlinkpost {}
    the style of the link to the post
.b2calendartoday {}
    the style of the day if it is today

 

usage:

b2 relies a lot on the querystring, these variables passed with the URL (note: to pass variables in the querystring, preceed the first variable name with a '?' question mark and every other variables with a '&' sign.)
Most of the time you won't have to do anything about it, but if you want to know how it works, it's here:

How to use the QueryString:

index.php?m=200107 will display the month of July 2001.

index.php?m=20010701 will display all posts from July 1st, 2001.

index.php?w=20 will display the posts from the 20th week of the year, where January 1st is in the first week (according to PHP).

index.php?p=50 will display the post labeled #50 in the database.

index.php?s=blue+house will display the posts that match the search request "blue house".
here is the code for a simple search box:

<form name="searchform" action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF ?>" method="get">
<input type="text" name="s" />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="search" />
</form>


index.php?cat=1 will display all posts that belong to category #1 (1 is the default). you can add/rename/delete categories from b2's interface.

index.php?author=1 will display all posts from the author #1

index.php?p=50&c=1 will display the comments and a form to add a comment below the post.
you should use this variable only with p=, example: index.php?p=50&c=1.

index.php?p=50&tb=1 will display the TrackBacks to the post #50.
you should use this variable only with p=, example: index.php?p=50&tb=1.

index.php?p=50&pb=1 will display the Pingbacks to the post #50.
you should use this variable only with p=, example: index.php?p=50&pb=1.

index.php?p=50&more=1 will display the extended entries' text. this, too, should be used only with p=, for individual entries.

index.php?p=50&page=1 will display the first page of post #50. this, again, should be used only with p=, for individual entries.

You can also mix these variables, example: index.php?m=200107&s=hotdog will display the posts that match the search request "hotdog", but only in July 2001.

 

XMLRPC interface:

b2 now has a XMLRPC interface. The only API available right now is the Blogger API (complete specs here). There are talks about a new API that would cover a lot of weblog/CMS systems in the future: when it's ready, b2 will support it.

The Blogger API has been completely emulated on b2, with some little differences:

  • using blogger.getRecentPosts with the number 'zero' returns all posts in the blog
  • blogger.getTemplate fetches your file $blogfilename (as specified in the config), while blogger.setTemplate overwrites it with the edited data
  • blogger.getUsersBlogs is a dummy function that returns '1' and $blogname, since b2 supports only one blog as of now

If you use blogger.newPost, your post is submitted without title and in category #1.

However, you can type <title>my title</title> and/or <category>2<category> in the body of your post to make its title be 'my title' and its category be #2 (refer to your categories section to find out the ID numbers of the categories). b2 would then delete that extra info from the body of your post once it is posted.


You can now post to your b2 blog with tools like BlogBuddy, Bloggar, WapBlogger (post from your Wap cellphone!), Radio Userland (which means you can use Radio's email-to-blog feature), and other tools that support the Blogger API ! :)

Your XMLRPC server/path are as described here: if you login to b2 on http://mydomain.com/me/b2login.php, then you have:

  • server: http://mydomain.com/me
  • path: /me/xmlrpc.php
  • complete URL (just in case): http://mydomain.com/me/xmlrpc.php

There's also a b2-specific method: b2.getCategories. Request it with 3 strings: blog_ID (use '1'), username, password. The response is an array of structs with strings categoryID and categoryName.

 

Post via Email:

You can post news from an email client !
But first you'll have to edit b2config.php, filling the appropriate values for your POP3 email account (this interface doesn't support IMAP yet, only POP3, sorry).

Once you have edited the config options, you can make your webserver execute b2mail.php every set amount of time (depending on your host's performance, this script can be resource intensive, so don't make it run every minute or you'll be kicked).
You can do it with Cron-jobs, or if your host doesn't support it you can look into the various website-monitoring services, and make them check your b2mail.php URL.

Preliminary advice:
It is strongly advised to send your email as text-only (Outlook and Outlook Express default to 'html', which may cause problems), but HTML email could work (the script would strip all your html tags though...).
It is also advised not to use your public email address, but create a new one especially for this script. If you use your public email address and the script goes crazy posting every email on your blog and deleting all your emails, I can't take responsibility for this.
Make sure you delete any email sent to your blog in your 'Sent' folder too, just in case (you don't want someone to find your login and password in the 'Sent' folder).

The script will delete the emails that were used to post stuff on your weblog if it successfully posted your stuff. If it didn't manage to post, the email is not deleted.

How to post:
Now to post something, here's how your email should look like:

To: address@domain.com (you set it in the config file)
Subject: blog:the post's title (you can change 'blog:' in the config file)
Body:
login:password (example: Jack:Starwars)
The content of the post, blah blah blah.
More blah blah. ___

Subject must start with 'blog:', or any string you set in the config file (so that the script doesn't check EVERY email in your mailbox).
Body's first line must always be login:password, else the script will just skip the email.
If you don't use '___' (or any body terminator that you set in the config file), the script will post the whole body, which is not what you want if you send email with Yahoo or Hotmail (you don't want their ads on your blog, do you ?).

Special cases for mobile phone email:
Some mobile phone service providers may allow you to send email with your mobile phone or PDA, but on such devices you can't always include line breaks. In such case, you have to set $use_phoneemail = 1 in b2config.php, and then here's how you write the email:

To: address@domain.com
Subject: blog:the post's title :::
Body:
login:password ::: The content of the post, blah blah blah.___

You will have to append ':::' (or whatever string you set in the config file) after the subject, and after the login:password.

Some mobile phone service providers may not allow you to set a subject, and they'll make the subject be the first characters of the body, in which case you would send an email like this:

To: address@domain.com
Body:
blog:the post's title ::: login:password ::: The content of the post, blah blah blah.___

 

notes:

On multi-user:

You don't invite users, they can register on b2register.php.
Then you (as an admin) click the "+" next to their name in the user-list, to upgrade their level to 1 or more, so they can post. If you don't want an user to post anymore, just click "-" until their level is 0.
Note: you can now disable users registration altogether from the config file.
Levels are these:
0 - new user: can't post.
1 - user: can post & edit/delete their own posts.
3 & more - admin: can post, edit/delete other people's posts, and change the options.
Any user whose level is higher than 1, can edit/delete the posts and change the level of users whose level is inferior. Example: a level 2 user is not an admin, but can edit the posts of level 1 users, and up the level of a new user from 0 to 1.

Usually, you'll want to have a team of only level 1 users except you. ;)
Note: you can modify a variable in b2config.php, to enable new users to post once they've registered.
If you don't want users to register on your blog at all, just delete b2register.php once you've registered your user account.


Final notes:

b2 is functionnal, but a lot of coding and code clean-up remain to be done.
If you've got suggestions, ideas, or comments, or if you found a bug, why not joining us in the Forums ?
If you can code in PHP, you'll see the structure of b2 is flexible enough to allow for more functions and sections to be added.


Copyright notes:

b2 is ©2001, 2002 Michel Valdrighi - m@tidakada.com - http://tidakada.com
Wherever third party code has been used, credit has been given in the code's comments.
b2 is released under the GPL (see license.txt).