Joomla 1.7.x Remote Blogging with XML-RPC

Using Joomla 1.7.x, XML-RPC, MetaWeblog and ScribeFire - Part 2

Introduction

As I've mentioned in a previous post remote blogging via XML-RPC and Joomla can be a real time saver as well as eliminate the need to remember how to use all those quirky online editors. But with the advent of the Joomla 1.6.x and now the 1.7.x/2.5.x release the previous method for setting up remote blogging needs some updating.

Gather the Troops

For this to work in Joomla you'll want to download one key package for Joomla:

• Joomla XML-RPC Package - Allows posting to Joomla! remotely using blog editors like ScribeFire. Save the zip somewhere on your disk so we can install it later in the Joomla Extension Manager.

I had been using FireFox and ScribeFire for blogging but the author has changed the ScribeFire product so much with the new release, loosing many of the features I loved, that I've gone to Windows Live Writer. You can use any Movable Type API compatible blogging editor including ScribeFire with this component. I'll step you through the connection to Joomla after we install the component.

Joomla 1.6.x introduced a completely new way of adding a XML-RPC connections to a component. In doing so they eliminated the plugin group xmlrpc so the previous method used to connect, in my earlier post, doesn't work anymore. To do this in Joomla 1.6.x/1.7.x/2.5.x just follow the steps below.

Install and Configure the XML-RPC package

• Login to the Joomla administration area
• Go to the Extension Manager under the Extensions menu
• Click the "Browse" button and select the zip you downloaded from the Joomler.net website.
• With the previous method you have to install several related plugins but with this new one it's one simple package that installs the component, and the plugins. Just click the "Upload and Install" button.
• Once the installation completes, check the settings by going to Components/XMLRPC. There should be two listings one for the Joomla XMLRPC plugin and the other for the RSD (Real Simple Discovery) plugin. Both of them should be disabled at this point. Also check the component settings by click the "Options" button on the right and ensure that the Plugin setting is set to Joomla and the Show RSD and Show Manifest settings are set to Yes.
• Go to the Plugin Manager and find the XMLRPC Joomla plugin by selecting "xmlrpc" as the type. Enable the plugin. There are other settings you can tinker with like setting "User Folder" to Yes which will use the username for creating a storage path for uploaded files. This is useful to if you have multiple users who are using XMLRPC to submit article. This way they don't have upload conflicts that over-write each others files.
• Now you need to enable the RSD system plugin by setting the type to "system" and typing in rsd in the filter field. Enable this plugin as well. There's no extra settings for this one.

Next we'll connect Live Writer to the blog

Connecting Live Writer to an XMLRPC enabled Joomla site

As I said before I dropped ScribeFire since they've changed the interface so drastically in the latest release and I've gone to Windows Live Writer. The previous procedure may or may not work with the new ScribeFire, I could never get the category listings but your mileage may vary.

Submitting via XML-RPC involves setting up your remote client to access the Joomla submission URL at http://YourDomainHere.tld/. Real Simple Discovery connects Joomla with your external editor with the Moveable Type API for submission. Any editor that uses this protocol should be able to connect to a Joomla site with these plugins setup correctly.

I'll use Windows Live Writer which is a blogging tool from Microsoft as I've mentioned. The steps for your editor may be different but the API settings should be the same/similar. Once you've opened Live Writer open the Options dialog. Selec Accounts. If you already have blogs setup then just click the Add button and do the following:

• In the What blog Service Do You Use dialog select "Other services" down at the bottom.
• Click the "Next" button.
• Enter http://YourDomainHere.tld/ in the "Web address of your blog" field, replacing "YourDomainHere.tld" with the appropriate domain name for your Joomla site.
• Type in your Username and Password in the appropriate fields. Check the remember password box if you're on your own computer.
• Click the "Next" button.
• At this point Live Write might not be able to auto configure your Blog Type so just wait till it is done analyzing and eventually gives up so you can configure it manually.
• In the Select blog type dialog, Select "Movable Type API" for type of blog system. I've been told you can also select Wordpress in this case but really on a Joomla site. C'mon Man!!!.
• If your site has Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URL's enabled, enter "http://YourDomainHere.tld/component/xmlrpc/" in the "Remote posting address" field, replacing "YourDomainHere.tld" with the appropriate domain name for your Joomla site.
• If your site doesn't use SEF, enter "http://YourDomainHere.tld/index.php?option=com_xmlrpc" in the "Remote posting address" field, replacing "YourDomainHere.tld" with the appropriate domain name for your Joomla site.
• Click the "Next" button.
• If you successfully completed the steps above then you should be presented with a dialog that has your name and the Joomla URL listed as the Blog Nickname. Click the button labeled "Finish" and then the button labeled "Ok". You'll be ready to go.

Just create articles as you normally would. When you submit the blog entry be sure to select the an appropriate category from the Categories tab. When you're done editing click the "Publish" button. Your entry might not be immediately visible if you don't have the appropriate access level in Joomla. An Administrator will need to approve the post and make sure all the settings are correct.

As a side note, the Classic version of ScribeFire is still available and it works with the new XMLRPC provided by Joomla. The only difference from the previous remote blogging procedure is selecting Moveable Type instead of MetaWeblog for the API.