Frequently Asked Question
Recently Movable Style has attracted quite a few visitors (current at around 200-300 unique visitors per day), and sorry if I have not updated the site or respond to your comments. I have been busy
- just moved to a new place that needs lots of work, wife expecting a baby in July, lots of demand at work, working with new students at church, etc. I will try to answer some of your questions this entry, and hopefully when I finally have more time on hand (if ever), I would go back to work on more styles.
FAQ Index
- Can I use the stylesheets that I downloaded from Movable Style on my own blog site(s)?
- How do I use the stylesheets on Movable Style?
- How are the stylesheets licensed?
- How do I attribute to Movable Style?
- There is no update for ages! What's the future direction for this site?
- How do I contact you, this "scotty" guy?
- How is the style switcher implemented?
Can I use the stylesheets that I downloaded from Movable Style on my own blog site(s)?
Yes.
The initial intention of developing this site is to share some of the stylesheets I designed with people who have just started blogging, do not want to tinker too much Movable Type templates, and want to have a style that is different from the stock ones. All stylesheets here are created to be shared, so please use them!
How do I use the stylesheets on Movable Style?
The stylesheets are designed for the Movable Type default templates. Here outlines how you can use the styles.
- Go to the index page,
and you should see a side-bar section called "Styles". Use the
selection list to change the current style to the one you desire, and
then click on
Download Style to download the stylesheet and optional image files. - If the file downloaded contains only one single file 'style-site.css', go to the next step. Alternatively, you would download a file called 'style-site.zip' that contains the CSS and other media files (usually images). Upload those image files (.JPG or .PNG) to your blog site, and move them to the same folder as your index page. You can use Movable Type's Uploading File feature to achieve that.
- Now, replace your current 'style-site.css' with the one you have downloaded. In a stock Movable Type installation, you would need to:
- Go to Manage Weblog page, and then click on "Templates" on the left-hand side.
- There should be an item "Stylesheet" under table "Index templates". It defaults to output to file 'style-site.css'. Click on the link.
- Replace the content inside "Template Body" with the content of your new 'style-site.css', and then press "Save" and "Rebuild".
- Try to reload your weblog, and it should now be formatted wit the new style.
How are the stylesheets licensed?
See this article.
Currently stylesheets on Movable Style are dual licensed with Creative Common Attribution and GNU General Public License. Generally, if you want to use it on a blog site, please use CC and attribute this site. If you want to bundle the stylesheets with a software, for example another blog tool with modified styles, then please follow the guideline on GPL.
How do I attribute to Movable Style?
From the license it is required that you provide attribution to Movable Style when you use one or more styles from this site. I am not looking for a permanent spot on your site, but a small blog entry will do. For example,
Hi. I have changed the stylesheet for this site, and I got it from Movable Style! Blah blah blah...
There is no logo, "official" slogan, etc. Just say where you got the blog from and that's it.
There is no update for ages! What's the future direction for this site?
Well. I am busy. Really busy.
I initially designed this site to share my own styles, and then last couple of months I have been receiving emails from people submitting their styles. As I stated before that managing a site with other people's contribution can add quite a bit of burden on myself, but I think it might be something that can better benefit the community so it would the direction that Movable Style would move to.
I need to work out a way to manage the licenses (or force everyone to agree on CC Attribution + GPL), plus some scripts for people to submit their styles. Technically it should be an easy task, but I just need time to sit down and code it.
How do I contact you, this "scotty" guy?
Use the contact page on my own blog site.
How is the style switcher implemented?
The style switcher on Movable Style is implemented using some PHP scripts. More detailed implementation can be found in this blog entry.
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