Choosing the right editor for Community Server
My Favorite CS Editor
Maybe it's just me, but although there are certain things I like about the tinyMCE editor that's now the standard in Community Server 2.1 (such as the ability to set the link to open in a new window), I find that it is a bit slow to load, frequently hogs up the CPU in my browser window (I'm using the Maxthon browser), and occasionally hacks up my formatting on data that was brought in from Outlook or Word.
Lucky for me, George Capnais has provided a wrapper for the old FreeTextBox editor that works with CS v2.1, and allows me to offer both tinyMCE and FTB to each user.
Add-on Woes
On a side note, I was having major issues trying to install the Community-Credit add-on to my CS-based websites at work and at home (various versions, at the time ranging from v2.0 SP1 to and v2.1 RC1). I tried all sorts of things over a 2 or 3 day period, to no avail. After upgrading everything to 2.1 RTM, the add-on simply works all of a sudden. Perhaps I'll do some folder comparisons over the weekend to determine what the issue was. For now, things are looking very good, now.
This will be my first post with the add-on functional, so I'm itching to see it work.
Blog Consolidation
I've been playing with the Blog Mirroring functionality in the new version and I'm grabbing 5 external RSS feeds, one of which (Advice Line with Bob Lewis) I'm aggregating on my home page with my native content. This is one of the features I want to play with some more, because it has all sorts of cool potential. The only drawback I've seen with Blog Mirroring vs the older style Blog Roller functionality, is that the Roller made it very easy to select your aggregate feeds. First you imported an OPML file into the Reader, then you selected any of those feeds for the Roller. With the new functionality, you have much more flexibility with the configuration of each RSS entry, but it is much more tedious to amass a large number of feeds for mirroring, and you don't even see the options for mirroring if you are using the Tree View in the Control Panel.
If only we could import (and export) the settings for blog mirrors...
About Logik!
Andrew S. Baker aka ASB aka Logik!
Andrew S. Baker is a business-savvy, hands-on IT leader with expertise in mentoring people, mitigating risk, and integrating technology to drive innovation and maximize business results. He creates competitive advantage for organizations through effective IT leadership: implementation of processes and controls, and architecture of robust business solutions.
Mr. Baker has successfully led a number of high-performance technology teams in designing, deploying and maintaining secure, cost-effective computing environments for well-known companies, including Warner Music Group, The Princeton Review, Bear Stearns, About.com, and Lewco Securities.
For over a decade, Andrew has exhibited thought leadership on technology and business topics via mailing lists, technical forums, blogs, and professional networking groups, along with contributions to podcasts, webinars, and over 20 technical/business magazine articles. He also serves on several boards and committees for non-profit organizations, and within the Seventh-day Adventist church.
His personal interests include Astronomy, Basketball, Bible Study, Chess, Comics, Computers,
Family Life Ministries, Reading, Strategy/Role Playing games, and Professional Networking...
A summary of Andrew's current résumé is available here, and he can be reached on a variety of social and professional networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.