MetaWeblog API

Posting to WordPress with Python and MetaWeblog API

The author of the blog Vizible has written a short Python script that shows how to use the programming language to post a weblog entry to WordPress using the MetaWeblog API:

import xmlrpclib

user = 'username'
passwd = 'password'
server = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy('http://example.com/xmlrpc.php')

blog_id = 0
title = 'test title' 
content = 'test content, from python'

blog_content = { 'title' : title, 'description' : content }
categories = [{'categoryId' : 'programming', 'isPrimary' : 1}] 

post_id = int(server.metaWeblog.newPost(blog_id, user, passwd, blog_content,0))
server.mt.setPostCategories(post_id, user, passwd, categories) # not work
server.mt.publishPost(post_id, user, passwd)

New Blogging Platform Oxite Supports MetaWeblog API

Sarah Perez reports that a division at Microsoft has introduced Oxite, a new open source blogging platform that supports the MetaWeblog API:

The software is an open source, standards compliant, and extensible content management platform designed to run anything from a small personal blog to a big business web site. Did we say open source? Yes, we did. The Microsoft Web Platform can support web standards, too. If you’re wondering how well it works, look no further than MIXOnline, a site currently powered by the Oxite blogging engine.

The Oxite platform supports all the blogging features you would expect including pingbacks, trackbacks, anonymous or authenticated commenting, optional comment moderation, gravatar support, RSS feeds at any page level, and support for the MetaWebLog API. That last bit means that there’s no trouble integrating Oxite with Windows Live Writer, a must-have for any serious blogger.

New DotNetNuke Module Supports MetaWeblog API

A new version of Engage: Publish module has been released for the DotNetNuke (DNN) content management system (CMS) that provides "unmatched" versioning and workflow capabilities within the DNN framework.

The most significant feature in version 5.3 of Engage::Publish, according to the authors, is better Metaweblog API support that "will provide the ability to publishing content to your DotNetNuke website through an easy desktop tool such as Windows Live Writer."

The module is sold commercially by Engage Software, a provider of DotNetNuke services ranging from custom module development to enhancements and custom implementations.

Edit Confluence Wikis with the MetaWeblog API

A new plugin has been released for the Confluence enterprise wiki software that enables news pages to be created and edited using the MetaWeblog API and Blogger API.

Versions of the plugin support every release of Confluence from version 1.2.2 to 1.2.4. After the plugin has been installed, a weblogging client can be configured to work with Confluence using the following commands:

1. Point the blogging client to the Confluence rpc url http://<yourhost>:<port>/rpc/xmlrpc
   
    
2. Select either the Blogger API or the MetaWeblog API option as the blogging tool, which may require a custom configuration rather than selecting a popular tool from a list -- since Confluence won't be one of the available options.

After you've set up your client and been authenticated, you will see every space on which you have permission to edit news items as a list of blogs for Confluence.

The plugin supports all methods of the MetaWeblog API except for metaWeblog.newMediaObject. You must continue to use Confluence's web interface to add file attachments to pages.

Posting to Graffiti CMS with the MetaWeblog API

Nino Benvenuti offers advice for how to use the Windows Mobile blogging client Diarist to post to Graffiti CMS and other weblog software that supports the MetaWeblog API:

... click the Menu soft key, then Weblog > Add > Generic MetaWeblog as in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Once on the screen for entering blog information, enter in the API URL, username, password, and blog URL (see Figure 2).  For Graffiti CMS, the MetaWeblog endpoint is at /api/MetaBlog.ashx.  If your site is at http://yoursite.com, the URL for the MetaWeblog endpoint (i.e. API URL) would be http://yoursite.com/api/MetaBlog.ashx. After entering this information, click the Confirm soft key and you are ready to post to your blog!

Blogmailr Email-to-Blog Service Uses MetaWeblog API

Blogmailr, a service that can be used to post blog entries with any email client, is powered by the MetaWeblog API, Antonio Chagoury explains on the CTO 2.0 blog:

Setting this service up is free and quick. Simply create an account at www.blogmailr.com. Once completed, log in and visit the “My blogmailr” section. Once there, click on “Add New Blog”. You’ll be asked for your blog URL, your username, and password. Simply copy and paste the URL for your new DNN blog in the URL field and use your DNN blog account credentials. Click “Find my Blog”. Blogmailr then autodiscovers everything you need (similar to setting up Windows Live Writer) via the metaweblog API.   

Once it finds everything it needs, you’ll be provided with your @blogmailr.com email address. This is the unique alias to which you’ll send email that is then in turn posted to your blog.

For security reasons, you should make use of Blogmailr's Valid Senders feature to limit the email address that can be used to submit entries to your weblog.

MetaWebLog API NewPost XML Example

A reader of the MetaWeblog API blog needs an example of the XML formatting for a metaWeblog.newPost request. Using an excellent XML-RPC debugger, I was able to create this example request:

<param>
<value><int>1494720</int></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><string>dsmith</string></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><string>fuzzydog</string></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><struct>
<element><name>title</name>
<value><string>Palindrome</string></value>
</element>
<element><name>description</name>
<value><string>Able was I ere I saw Elba</string></value>
</element>
<element><name>categories</name>
<value><array>
<data>
<value><string>Words</string></value>
<value><string>Fun</string></value>
</data>
</array></value>
</element>
</struct></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><boolean>1</boolean></value>
</param>

Ordinarily, you wouldn't need to deal with XML data directly when using XML-RPC. But as you're debugging software, it can be useful to see what's being sent out in a method request and received in response. The MetaWeblog API specification includes more details on the metaWeblog.newPost method.

MetaWeblog Library Offered in LISP

Ashish Shukla has created metaweblog.el, an Emacs library to update weblogs using the MetaWeblog API, and blog.el, client code for posting blog entries to a Wordpress site.

Both programs are implemented in LISP and made available under the open source GPL license. 

Use Flock to Publish Blogs with the MetaWeblog API

Technomedico, a doctor in New Delhi, India, has written a review of Flock, Flock a social web browser that can be used to create blog entries using the MetaWeblog API:

Flock is an excellent client when it comes to posting to blogs hosted at blogspot.com, wordpress.com, livejournal.com and typepad.com. Besides these, it can also post to blogs based on the Movable Type, Drupal, Blogger, Atom and Metaweblog platforms. This is another reason to stick to the popular blogging platforms. Flock can post to more than one blog, though not at the same time. ...

The beauty of flock lies in the right click. Any text, image, webpage can be posted to the blog, with or without your comments with a right click.

Habari Blogging Platform Supports MetaWeblog API

Blog in Isolation reviews Habari, an open source blogging platform implemented with PHP and PHP Data Objects that supports the MetaWeblog API:

Habari is a blogging platform, created back in January 2007 and in the subsequent 18 months, the software has matured and version 0.5.1 was recently released.

Originally, I downloaded and experimented with Habari late in 2007 but it wasn't until February 2008 that I finally took the plunge and migrated my blog from WordPress. ...

However, the key functionality that most bloggers want and need are all supported. Hardly surprisingly, as all the Habari developers eat their own dog food and maintain Habari powered blogs [including] metaWeblog - enable blogging clients like ScribeFire

Although I'm not a expert Web developer - I can't spell PHP or OO - I must say, that everyone has been very helpful. There is no elitist developer clique - Habari is very transparent and open and everyone's contribution (no matter how seemingly small) is welcomed.