The installation procedure is for Movable Type XML-RPC 2.3.3 for Joomla! version 1.5.x. It is likely the same for other version combinations, but there is no guarantee.

There is version 2.3.4 of the plugin available as well, however, it requires overwriting one of the core Joomla! files to make it work. Since I have not noticed any problems with version 2.3.3, I see no reason to upgrade.

Click on images for full sized versions.

Installing the Movable Type API allows frontend clients (such as Windows Live Writer) to manage Joomla! articles via a blog interface. The Movable Type API is more widely supported than the Blogger and Joomla API that come with Joomla!

Downloading the Plugin

1) Download the plugin from here (note, IE 7 failed to load the page correctly, Firefox did not have any problems with the page). The download link is the package icon.

1a) Accept the GNU license terms to begin the download:

1b) Click on Save since you will need to upload the package to your Joomla! install rememberwhere you saved it):

Installing the Plugin

2) Log into the Joomla! backend and select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu.

3) Upload the movable type module downloaded in step 1. It should load and install successfully.

• click on Browse, select the file you downloaded in step 1,
• click on Upload File & Install.

4) Select Plugin Manager from the Extensions menu.

5) Locate XML-RPC – Movable Type API. Click on the red icon in the Enabled column. It should change to a green checkmark. Note: The default Joomla! install displays 20 items per page. You may need to increase the number of displayed plugins or navigate to a later page. The controls are located at the bottom of the page.

6) Select Global Configuration from the Site menu.

7) Enable Web Services by selecting Yes.

The Movable Type API is now available for use by external clients.

Note: Every time you update Joomla! to a new version, you need to re-enable Web Services from the control panel.

Information You Need To Provide Client Applications

When connecting a client application (e.g. Windows Live Writer) to your Joomla! site, you will need to provide the following information:

1. Your main site address – what people type to get to your website. Applications vary, some require the full address starting with http://, others will accept just the site name without the http://.
2. The address for the API server.

   • For people using Joomla! to power their website (most installations), this is:

     [your site]/xmlrpc/index.php/

     e.g. http://www.example.com/xmlrpc/index.php/

     Clients differ, some need the full address and path, others are happy with /xmlrpc/index.php/. Modern clients, like Windows Live Writer 11 and Scribefire Next are able to discover the address of your API server, so you would probably never need to enter this.

   • For people using Joomla! on only part of their website, you need to enter (1) the website address, (2) the path to the Joomla! install, (3) the path to the API server:

     [your site][your Joomla! path]/xmlrpc/index.php/

     e.g. http://www.example.com/joomla/xmlrpc/index.php/

     Clients, like Windows Live Writer 11 and ScribeFire Next will not be able to discover the address of your API Server in this case (unless you had entered your site address and Joomla! path in step 1).

3. The user name you use to log into the Joomla! backend.
4. The password you use to log into the Joomla! backend.

Free Clients Supporting the Movable Type API

This is by no means an exhaustive list and only includes those I have been able to try out in Windows. Windows Live Writer used to be my favorite (and it is still probably the best blogging client for most people), but some issues with it (and other blogging clients) made me switch to w.bloggar.

Windows Live Writer (for Windows XP)
Windows Live Writer (for Windows Vista and Windows 7)
Post2Blog (fourth up from bottom of the page)
Zoundry Raven
Scribefire (a Firefox plugin)
BlogDesk
w.bloggar

The post Installing the Movable Type API plugin for Joomla! 1.5 appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

Click on images for full size versions.

Downloading Joomla!

1) Download the full Joomla from here.

2) Choose to either save the ZIP file or to open it over the web. Saving the ZIP file makes it easier to install Joomla again, if you have to.

Extracting Joomla!

3) Open the downloaded file by double-clicking on it. From the File menu, select Extract All. NOTE: this step assumes Windows provides archiving functionality for you. If you have installed a different archiving programming, the specific steps for extraction will be different.

4) Extract the Joomla! files to a subfolder of htdocs in your XAMPP folder. By default, XAMPP would be installed to your C:\ drive, so you would enter C:\xampp\htdocs\joomla as the directory to extract to. (In my case, I installed XAMPP to my D:\ drive).

5) Click Finish when the extraction is complete.

Setting up Joomla!

6) Launch your browser and type http://localhost/joomlainto the address bar. What follows http://localhost/ is the directory you installed Joomla! into.

7) Select your preferred language.

8) Confirm you meet the minimum installation requirements. Then click Next.

9) Read the GNU license and, if you agree with it, click Next.

10) Fill in the database configuration information:

• Database Type: mysql
• Host Name: localhost
• Username: if you created a MySql User, you can enter the name here. Otherwise, use root.
• Password: this is the password associated with the user name entered above. If you used root as your username, then leave the password blank (the default XAMPP install does not assign a password to root).
• Database Name: this is the name of the database you created. Database creation instructions are here.

11) Ensure FTP is set to No, then click Next.

12) Enter a site name (for example, Complete, Concrete, Concise or whatever name you want this site to have). Enter your email address. Enter a password – this is the password you will use to log into the Joomla! backend – your user name will be admin. Choose if you want to install the sample data. I like to install it, since it saves me the trouble of trying to populate the site with test articles.

13) Confirm you have successfully installed. Note that your user name for logging into the Joomla! backend is admin.

Cleaning Up

As a security precaution, Joomla! requires you to remove the installation directory before the site becomes functional.

14) Find the Joomla!  installation directory. It is directly underneath the Joomla! directory you installed to. You will find it under XAMPP –> htdocs –> Joomla! –> installation.

15) Right-click on the folder and select Delete.

16) Confirm that you want to delete the folder.

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