Whatever: Additional 3.2 Notes

August 27, 2005

Additional 3.2 Notes

Having now lived with Movable Type 3.2 for 12 hours, I will note two things about it:

1. It looks prettier than earlier versions (it features color on its little icons, which makes a surprising amount of difference, esthetically speaking).

2. Since I've installed it, I've had no blogspam of any sort, either in comments or in trackbacks, I suspect due to the spam-fighting plugins that come standard in 3.2. That's down from an average of 500 comment spams and 50 trackback spams a day. While this makes me giggle like a happy child, it also makes me worry that some legitimate comments are being vaporized without me knowing.

So if you're curious if your comments will make it through, and you haven't previously commented since I switched over to 3.2 (which would have been on Friday afternoon, around six), leave a comment on this entry. If your comment doesn't make it through, let me know.

Also, the previous moderating plugin (which blocked comments on entries older than a week) is now out, so now you can leave a message on any open entry with impunity. I've changed the comment announcements to reflect this, and to note some additional things.

And, yes, I've changed the background colors again. I think I'll keep these ones for a while.

By and large I'm very pleased with 3.2 so far, although I know at least one person who lost most of her comments in the switchover. This didn't happen to me this time, but it happened to me with an earlier upgrade; this time I downloaded my database to ensure that there would be some record once I inevitably screwed things up. Naturally, if you have Movable Type and are considering an upgrade, I suggest you back up also.

I'll leave this as the top entry through the weekend, so again, if you want to confirm your commentability, this is a fine time to do it.

Posted by john at August 27, 2005 07:19 AM

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That worked. Always back up your templates. Clearly, I have to figure out how to use external template files with MT, because having to recreate new template files every time is very wearying. What the hell, wanna redesign this place... [Read More]

Tracked on August 27, 2005 01:46 PM

Comments

Kevin Q | August 27, 2005 08:15 AM

Test the filters: I went to the casino, and took some viagra. Not necessarily in that order. I hope that 3.2 works well for you.

3³ | August 27, 2005 08:32 AM

That's a good idea to test the filters, although no one has tried to sell me viagra in years. Maybe that's because of the new craze I see in v:agra, v1agra, c1al15 and the like. They're all natural, and I believe it. I mean, would Nigerian royalty lie?

Bruce | August 27, 2005 08:37 AM

Bill Gates owes me MONEY and a BIGGER ... !

Okay, a free iPod, at least :-)

Amanda Miller | August 27, 2005 09:07 AM

Filter testing...
Hello, my family and I are rich from Nigeria and we'd like to offer you viagra, oxycontin and sexy cheerleaders.

Chad Brink | August 27, 2005 10:33 AM

Testing comments. No need for Viagra to get this comment up. Today is a beautiful day. Temps are in the middle seventies and plesant. hammock is hung and waiting. Chores are done. Time to go relax and contemplate life and maybe read a good book. Speaking of good books, tomorrow will mark the sixth month anniversery of when I mailed off a pretty good book to some undetermined fate. It sits, signed or unsigned, on the dusty shelves of the author, who at this very moment is reading this exact comment, happy that his movabletype upgrade is going smooth, and smirking with chagrin that he has again forgot to get a certain package in the mail. Have a good weekend all.

Chad

PS, I also have a gloat. Yesterday, an ultrasound revealed that I'm going to be the parent of a boy! Thus breaking a curse of 3 generations of all daughters on my wifes side. ?pumps fist! (already have a daughter and they are just as good)

Dean | August 27, 2005 10:36 AM

Well, let's see if this works.

I really like the new colours, by the way, and the header image. Very nice.

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 10:41 AM

Congratulations, Chad! Your humble correspondent continues to be abashed at his sloth.

Night Dog | August 27, 2005 10:59 AM

I'll try.

Being of the female persuasion, I have no need for Viagra. I am not Nigerian. I do not need a new mortgage, or an Associate degree from an online university.

I do, however, need breakfast.

Love your column and love the nice soft colors.

RooK | August 27, 2005 12:11 PM

Note to self, John might be colourblind. Eggplant? Yecch.

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 12:20 PM

This is not eggplant. It's slate blue. Yeeesh.

Bill Peschel | August 27, 2005 12:42 PM

Not everyone is as enamored with MT as you are:

Movable Hype 3.2 Released

SAN FRANCISCO (AP): This morning, Sick Apart managed to stop the earth’s rotation as they released Movable Hype 3.2, the latest version of their overpriced software. Geeks, needing a new fix and locked into high anxiety (with a steady upsurge in cardiac arrest) after learning earlier this year that Apple would be using Intel microprocessors, worked themselves into a frothy lather the very minute the latest version of Movable Hype was released. They pledged their firstborn children to Sick Apart, hoping to support the college fund for Anal Dash’s children. They downloaded pictures of Vern and Myrna Glottal Stop, replacing their Norman Rockwell paintings with these safe and delightful images, and remarked upon how cute these people were. (Every company needs a few icons!) They offered credit card numbers and sent Paypal funds with unfettered brio. This was indeed a cash bonanza ....

Bill Peschel | August 27, 2005 12:43 PM

Now, if MT would only show the line breaks correctly in Preview ...

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 12:46 PM

Eh. I like it just fine.

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 01:00 PM

And do I not say that preview doesn't show paragraph breaks?!? Right above the comment box?!? Razzem Frazzem!

Terry Karney | August 27, 2005 01:12 PM

Just a test.

I see a lot of people have been sending you sincere offers for many things but I have 25 Millions of Dollars US and can't get at it my country, so I am certain that you will be willing to help me.

Harry Connolly | August 27, 2005 01:16 PM

I have nothing to say.

Harry Connolly | August 27, 2005 01:17 PM

Weird. It doesn't show my name as an email link.

Joe Rybicki | August 27, 2005 01:46 PM

John, you did this upgrade yourself, you say? How long did it take?

Getting SO sick of doing the MT-blacklist dance every morning...

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 01:51 PM

Well, Joe, I screwed it up early on but someone doing it competently could probably have done it in less than an hour (I learned that you don't actually have to replace every individual folder in an old MT set up with a new one -- you could just upload the upgrade in its own folder and run the install from there. Silly me).

Incidentally, Joe -- got the e-mails and you'll have the stuff monday. For everyone else, this is me and Joe talking about work and not, say, drug smuggling.

Burns! | August 27, 2005 02:20 PM

Well, clearly the words viagra, nigerian and casino get through, so there's no need for me to put them in my test note.

I just hope the filters are working properly and MY notes post because, of course, everything I have to say is terribly important.

Alice | August 27, 2005 03:31 PM

I dunno John, the background does look kinda purpleish to me. Not that it matters really, *I* still like it.

Jack | August 27, 2005 05:20 PM

I commented a couple of times and the comments appeared, but then I ceased to be able to comment. Let's see if I can do it now . . .

Diane | August 27, 2005 05:59 PM

I learned that you don't actually have to replace every individual folder in an old MT set up with a new one -- you could just upload the upgrade in its own folder and run the install from there. Silly me.

Reading this makes me very, very depressed. Sigh. Couldn't MT have just, you know, SAID THAT?

Although it will be good to tell friends, should any of them want to brave the update despite my posts on the matter.

Brad Choate | August 27, 2005 06:12 PM

Looks like your legitimate comments are going through okay.

MT 3.2 doesn't really predefine your junk filters for keywords to block. Making that a default would just have the spammers choose alternative words to use. No, we made it easy to configure your own keywords for junking/moderating so the spammers wouldn't know what they're up against.

To tweak your junk controls, go to the plugin listing and show the settings for the spamlookup filters listed there. Also, none of the feedback is vaporized-- there's a junk folder where it all goes. And you can opt to clear it out automatically after a configurable period of time.

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 06:31 PM

Groovy. Thanks, Brad.

Brian | August 27, 2005 07:51 PM

For those who are irritated by the lack of line breaks in the previews:

If you surround each paragraph with the ‘|’ HTML tag pair, line breaks will show up just fine. In addition, the previewed comment will show in the same font and font size as it will in the final comment. I'm pretty sure this has to do with the way MT uses CSS in its templates—i.e., when it shows previews, it doesn't automatically insert the tag pairs around paragraphs, whereas when it stores the comment in its final form, it does insert them. To CSS, a non--marked paragraph is a different animal than a marked one.

For those who are unfamiliar with HTML, when I say "enclose paragraphs with the tags," I mean to use the following structure when typing your comments:

This is my first paragraph. It really doesn't say anything important, since it's just for demonstration.

This is yet another paragraph, with just as little meaning as the first. I suppose I should apologize to John for posting such meaningless tripe to his thread.

Yes it's a bit awkward, and yes it's more to type than just what you want to say, but it works... trust me!! :-)

(Also, for any who may be curious, the indented text above was formatted by using the <blockquote>|</blockquote> tag pair... use in the same way as the | pair.)

Bill Blum | August 27, 2005 07:52 PM

I drove by your house while eating White Castles.

Just so you know.

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 10:20 PM

God may forgive you, Bill. But I cannot.

Justine Larbalestier | August 27, 2005 10:44 PM

Can't you have vampire Athena as the background or something? This one's boring.

Joe Rybicki | August 27, 2005 10:51 PM

People keep talking about the colors...I just see black on white. WHAT AM I MISSING?!?!

John Scalzi | August 27, 2005 10:59 PM

I think the vampire Athena might be a bit distracting on a daily basis, don't you?

RooK | August 28, 2005 12:58 AM

For those of you that are suitably lazy, most browsers are clever enough to realize that each new paragraph mark designates a new paragraph, and that the /end tags aren't actually necessary.

Oh, and "slate blue" is just to make you feel better about the fact that you've picked a wussy colour, John.

Gary Williams | August 28, 2005 01:02 AM

The intervening dark blue background when you switch to comments is a little disturbing...but it goes away.

Good work John,

John Scalzi | August 28, 2005 01:03 AM

Nonsense. My security in my own masculinity is such that I could give the site a pink unicorn theme and I would still be whiff in my testoseroness. Whiff, I tell you!

RooK | August 28, 2005 03:44 AM

Consider this an official double-dog dare to do the pink unicorn thing. Nyah.

Therese Norén | August 28, 2005 07:08 AM

So, I guess a first time comment may be good for testing the filters.

The slate blue looks really good.

Dean | August 28, 2005 11:23 AM

Oh, no. Not an official double-dog dare!

John Scalzi | August 28, 2005 11:38 AM

I acknowledge the double dog dare, although I won't do anything about it at the moment, because, dude, I just redecorated. However, just you wait. You'll see. You'll all see.

Justine Larbalestier | August 28, 2005 04:37 PM

Could we have a pink unicorn vampire Athena background?

Please!

Brian Greenberg | August 29, 2005 12:28 AM

Testing 1.2.3... This is what I get for being away all weekend. 40th on the comment test list, sheesh!

dave schaefer | August 29, 2005 01:09 AM

Testing comments from Firefox on my brand-new intstall of Ubuntu linux. spiffy! :)

That background reminds me of panic software or some desktop themes i used to use on my mac...

Cool stuff John!

John H | August 29, 2005 10:00 AM

The first rule of upgrades is to backup the existing data. The second rule is if you follow the first rule you won't need the backup.

Of course, the moment you decide to do without said backup all your data gets sacrificed to the binary gods (or Bill Gates, not sure which)...

Carol Elaine | August 29, 2005 01:24 PM

Nothing much to say, except that I'm testing the comments (V;agr@, millions of dollars from Nigeria, etc.).

But I did want to mention that I finally got around to buying OMW and read it in two days. As someone who likes science fiction but isn't a hard SF geek, I have to say, "Nice job, John."

M.A. | August 29, 2005 01:44 PM

Ok -- I've come here, I've seen it, and I've blathered a tad...

John Scalzi | August 29, 2005 02:00 PM

Thanks, Carol!

MWT | March 20, 2007 07:03 PM

Heh, ironic that a spammer got through on a spam-filter test entry.

Also, was there ever a pink unicorn theme?