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mke1963



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 6:35 am    Post subject: Private Blog Reply with quote

I want to create a private blog for my friends and family.
I am aware that I can make the main page readable by permissions, but is there a way to make the other two columns (or other column) completely inaccessible, except by permission, as well?

Thanks, Mark
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mke1963



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 9:29 pm    Post subject: A bit more information.... Reply with quote

I have been experimtenting a little, and notice now that not all the Components show up when the Main Page is restricted.
However, the 'My Favorite Web Logs' does (even if it is moved to the left hand column).
I specifically wish to restrict access to the Components. Is this possible?

Also, what is the situation wrt to RSS syndication and restricted access. I am assuming that:
a) if a person does not have access permissions then the RSS feed will not provide any information on posts (I'm concerned about this because the 'Syndicate' feed is still up on the banner header)
b) if a person is *removed* from the permissions list they will not be able to receive any more RSS feeds.

Finally, is there a way to prevent bots from recording the links on the 'My Favorite Web Logs' Component. For example, if it is accessible to anyone then using Link: www.SomeonesURL.com should show my blog. I don't want this.

Kind regards,
Mark
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 11:06 pm    Post subject: Re: A bit more information.... Reply with quote

Mark - Thanks for the good questions.

mke1963 wrote:
I have been experimtenting a little, and notice now that not all the Components show up when the Main Page is restricted. However, the 'My Favorite Web Logs' does (even if it is moved to the left hand column). I specifically wish to restrict access to the Components. Is this possible?


It is not currently possible to have the Favorites component restricted based on a users access level.

mke1963 wrote:
Also, what is the situation wrt to RSS syndication and restricted access. I am assuming that:
a) if a person does not have access permissions then the RSS feed will not provide any information on posts (I'm concerned about this because the 'Syndicate' feed is still up on the banner header)
b) if a person is *removed* from the permissions list they will not be able to receive any more RSS feeds.


I may be a little biased, but I think we have the most sophisticated RSS feed generation system in the industry. We generate RSS newsfeeds dynamically based on the users access level. RSS feeds respect the security and permission levels of the user and the category, so what one user sees for an RSS feed (and for the Syndicate link) is not the same as what another user sees.

So the answer to Question A is, yes, the Syndicate link will always be there, but the content will reflect your access level.

And the answer to Question B would be yes, if a user is removed from being able to access a restricted category their ability to see the contents of that category in the RSS feed will also be removed.

mke1963 wrote:
Finally, is there a way to prevent bots from recording the links on the 'My Favorite Web Logs' Component. For example, if it is accessible to anyone then using Link: www.SomeonesURL.com should show my blog. I don't want this.


I do not think there is any way of preventing automated systems from reading links from your weblog or website.

Hope this helps answer your questions!
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mke1963



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 2:13 am    Post subject: Thanks John... Reply with quote

John,
Thanks for the prompt response.
I had already begun to suspect that I can't create a truly private blog with Blogharbor, which is a pity. I wouldn't have thought it particularly difficult to do this.
I am actually a Typepad user (where private blogs can be created at the click of a button), but live in China, where Typepad remains blocked by the authorities, so I am looking for alternatives. Blogharbor 'almost' makes it...but not quite.

Thanks again. - Mark
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:28 am    Post subject: Re: Thanks John... Reply with quote

Thank you for your feedback. Our service does offer a security model which I think is much more sophisticated than Typepad's and offers more flexibility using categories, users and groups to manage security levels. Unfortunately, it is not possible to restrict all of the sidebar components at this time, though some components as you point out do hide information dynamically depending on the permission level.
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pembeci



Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Finally, is there a way to prevent bots from recording the links on the 'My Favorite Web Logs' Component.


Check these:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html
http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/robots.html

You can add a robots.txt file or a meta tag to restrict access of bots. I think restricting access only to a component will be tricky but if you prefer, you can always make your whole blog non-indexable by bots.

You can ftp robots.txt to your blog from "File Manager" on Control Panel or add a meta tag to the "Additional <HEAD> Content" which is located at:
Settings & Security -> Publishing Defaults -> General Settings.

May be BlogHarbor 'makes it' with some extra effort. You can create a custom 'my favorite web logs' component where access is restricted by checking if the user is logged in:
Code:
<div class="component">
<div class="componentHead">
My Favourite Blogs
</div>
<div class="componentContent">
{{if user.username}}
<a href="http://www.blog1.com">Favourite Blog1</a>
<a href="http://www.blog2.com">Favourite Blog2</a>
{{else}}
<a href="http://www.someblog.com">A Blog</a>
{{/if}}
</div>
</div>

In the else part you can list fake favourite blogs or a message like "Sorry restricted". Or you can simply have:
Code:
{{if user.username}}
<div class="component">
<div class="componentHead">
My Favourite Blogs
</div>
<div class="componentContent">
<a href="http://www.blog1.com">Favourite Blog1</a>
<a href="http://www.blog2.com">Favourite Blog2</a>
</div>
</div>
{{/if}}

You should remove the "login form" component from the columns and add users from:
Settings & Security -> Content Access Controls -> Add User
They can login from BlogHarbor's login page and then load your blog.

Not a perfect solution, someone who knows where your blog is and already with a BlogHarbor reader account can still see the actual list. But I doubt someone will attemp this considering also that the categories are already restricted (as an extra caution you can have a blog URL which does not contain blogharbor). Of course, if you are spying in China, forget all these. Wink
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pembeci



Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I have been experimtenting a little, and notice now that not all the Components show up when the Main Page is restricted.


Or you can modify such a component by adding your custom "my favorites" component code to the end of its code.
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pembeci - Great stuff, thanks for the excellent post.

I had not mentioned using the type of {{if user.username}} code you referred to, since it does not solve the problem of creating components which respect category security, but you are right, it is a step in the right direction.

As an alternative, I would suggest wrapping your content in something like this:

Code:
{{if authenticated}}
  <-- content here -->
{{/if}}


Your content will display only for users who have logged in, users who have entered their username and password on your site and authenticated themselves.

The user might not have any permission to see your content, but at least you have protected the sidebars from any search engine robots...

So let's take a Favorites component for example. What you go to the Favorites manager, you see something called a Tag Name, maybe it looks like this {{favorites.test}} . You can use this tag in a custom component... Combine it with the authenticated checking code above and you get something like this:

Code:
{{if authenticated}}
{{favorites.test}}
{{/if}}


Use this code in your own custom component and visitors who have not logged in will not be able to see your favorites list.

A partial solution to the issue...

Quote:
You should remove the "login form" component from the columns and add users from: Settings & Security -> Content Access Controls -> Add User
They can login from BlogHarbor's login page and then load your blog.


This does not always work (due to the way browsers restrict cookies), the Reader Login from our page is primarily for managing your reader account, it is better to authenticate through the blog you are reading.
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mke1963



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes..great reply, pembeci...thanks. I will try these out.
- Mark
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