MoinMoin as a plain old CMS

Just a quick summary of the most expedient way to use MoinMoin as a content management sysyem, as I currently used to do for www.ssokolow.com. This is primarily about the parts which are less useful for Wikis, so visit the MoinMoin site for things like non-default themes.

# Set these in wikiconfig.py

sitename = u"Your site's name here"
theme_default = 'rightsidebar'
theme_force = True

page_front_page = u"SiteContents"
language_default = 'en'
language_ignore_browser = True

acl_rights_before = u"YourUserName:read,write,delete,revert,admin"
acl_rights_default = u"All:read"

html_head = ''
logo_string = u'YourSite.com Logo'
page_footer2 = """Google Analytics Code Here"""

page_credits = ["this sets the",
 "credits like 'Valid HTML'", "in the footer"]

navi_bar = [
    u'%(page_front_page)s',
    u'RecentChanges',
    u'FindPage',
    u'ContactMe',
    u'OtherPageYouWant',
    u'AndSoOn',
]

…and then delete pages in the underlay which you don’t need. You can use the WantedPages page to figure out what needs to be edited to no longer refer to them.

To change the name of the sidebar’s top section from “Wiki” to “Site”, copy rightsidebar.py to data/plugin/theme and edit line 23. (Before you edit, it should look as follows)

    u'<h1>%s</h1>' % _("Wiki"),

The Project Wonderful ads are a little more involved, but it looks sort of like this: (again, in rightsidebar.py)

    def header(self, d):
        . . .
        self.userpanel(d),
        """<div class="sidepanel"><h1>Ads</h1>
            <!-- Begin Project Wonderful ad code: -->
            . . .
            <!-- End Project Wonderful ad code. -->
            </div>""",
        u'</div>',

Of course, keep in mind that this is Python code and make a backup if you aren’t familiar with the syntax.

Finally, to embed bits of HTML into pages like I did for the ContactMe page, make sure that only trustworthy people have edit privileges and then install the raw parser.

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Interesting Tech Blogs

I finally got around to switching my main site (www.ssokolow.com) over to a decent web host (the new look still isn’t ready, but I decided to make a little change anyway) and, in the process, I added some ads to pay for it. Nothing annoying and the space wasn’t being used anyway.

However, while I was doing so, I encountered a rather nice bonus. Some of the ads were for really nifty blogs. Here are the links since, last I checked, they’d been outbid by less interesting stuff:

It’s not easy to get someone as prone to procrastination as I am to subscribe to an RSS feed, but I’m considering it for these three.

Update: Possibly in response to StumbleUpon driving a bunch of people to this post, another interesting ad showed up and immediately got outbid: Technically Easy (A blog composed almost entirely of computer-related “how to” articles)

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Cheat Sheet – mod_rewrite

mod_rewrite Cheat Sheet

…because, for voodoo like mod_rewrite, we need every advantage we can get.

I have linked to this before but there have been so many changes to my blog since then that I figured it’d be a good idea to mention it now that people actually read my blog for more than just the fanfiction reviews category.

UPDATE 2017-01-02: If you need something that explains in more detail at the expense of being less printable, this article may be more to your liking.

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Fanfiction – Willow Destine

Willow Destine by Wispr

Length: 24 Chapters (as FanFiction.net counts them. Some contain multiple declared chapters)
Sources: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gargoyles
Rating: 4.5/5

Well, I was feeling too sick to do something that required deep thought, so here’s a review of “Willow Destine” as mentioned in my review of Willow the Gargoyle. Please excuse any reduction in quality. I don’t think well when I’m sick.

Anyway, when I compare these two stories, the main differences I see are that this one takes a more serious tone and has many more grammatical errors. The two stories share quite a few plot points in the beginning, but given the knowledge I have as a beta, I can say that they will diverge soon.

They both feature Willow getting part of her costume from Ethan’s shop, turning into Demona/Dominique, and then keeping the form (with a few changes) when the spell is broken and they also both feature Dominique arranging to adopt Willow. However, the approach to this differs with this story taking a more realistic but less pleasant route.

However, I feel that, in spite of the unpleasant nature of Dominique’s actions in this fic, I have to admit that, both in those actions and in her general character, she feels more realistic in this story. I suppose part of the problem is that you can’t really capture Demona without showing off a few of the skeletons in her closet.

Anyway, the story is a very enjoyable read. Aside from the grammatical errors, my only real complaint is the use of baddies from Stargate: SG-1 (beginning in the most recent chapter) when ones from a more compatible series could have been used just as easily. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth to imply a secondary “gimmick” for the story. (In this case, that BtVS magic and Gargoyles exist in the same verse as Stargate)

Of course, the rarest pleasure to this story is probably that “Willow the Gargoyle” exists. It’s rare for me to find two plots which start from the same basic stuff but then use different presentational tones. 🙂

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Fanfiction – The Good Soldier

The Good Soldier by Babel Matrix

Length: Oneshot
Sources: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Rating: 4/5

Just a nice little Evangelion oneshot which doesn’t let you know what’s really going on until the end. I always love it when I find such stories because so few people try them.

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On Proportions in Cartoons

Dan Shive’s deviantART Journal – Shadows and Cartoons

Just a little realization which should be useful to anyone learning to draw. I know it’s going to help me a lot.

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Humor – Prisoner of Azkaban in 15 Minutes

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 15 Minutes

A little gift for everyone who sees the movies for the butchered junk they are. Thankfully, I was spared this particular one. (I ended up seeing the fourth though. I’d forgotten to bring a book for emergency entertainment and the alternative was sitting around for hours)

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