I just started a weblog (or had one started for me) for the course I teach. And I'm suddenly finding myself at sea.

I am looking for help in the simplest things. For instance, I want to insert links in my text. How do I do that? Do I have to type in tags? Or is there a quick, easy, pull-down-menu sort of way to do it?

And how do I edit the list of links in the sidebar? When I click the link to edit links, it just takes me back to the main viewing page.

I guess I'm looking for a real idiot's guide. The manual is clear enough, but it doesn't cover these really simple things.

I have used HTML, but frankly, I'd rather avoid all that.

And I'm supposed to be teaching a class in writing starting in two weeks, for which everyone's supposed to take part in a Movable Type blog.... How do I do this easy stuff?

Or is there a book I can get?

I mean, I guess I need to know how I can get "Guided Mode" on the weblog I have set up? And all these cute code buttons.... and help buttons... That's what I'm looking for... How do I get them onto my own entry screen?

My weblog is at this location.

Excellent template tutorial found here. It was posted awhile back by oaklid.

hope this helps

t&e

If you are using IE for Windows, you should see little bold, italic, and link buttons above your text entry field for easy insert. If you are using Mozilla (for Windows only, I *think*), that option has just been implemented in the browser, so if you are using a newer version of that browser, you can modify the entry edit templates to use them (see the links here).

And finally, it might be easier for you to use a desktop client to post with; many of them have easy formatting buttons and do the same functions as the internal MT entry screen. I personally love Zempt, but a bunch of them are listed on the External Resources page.

Kristine

Thank you both. It made all the difference.

Having a client may be exactly what I need.
(I'm spoiled by Dreamweaver, for instance, and haven't
entered HTML code in years...)

(I'm also thoroughly impatient about this kind of thing. I used to review telecommunications programs for the Whole Earth Software Catalog back in the early 1980s, and I was impatient back then, too... I sort of tend to take it as a personal affront when a tool isn't completely intuitive at first glance... You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I regard it as more of an affront than ever.)

I use Mac OSX, and have downloaded Kung-Log, which looks like it may fill the bill. The only problem I have now is figuring out how to install the reference to my xmlrpc.cgi file, which seems to be required for configuring Kung-Log.

I assume it would be in my local site path. But my Movable Type blog is installed with a relative local site path, and I don't know how to convert that to an absolute local site path. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Sorry I forgot to mention MT Wiki. When you get a little more comfortable with MTCodes and maybe coding , this is an excellent resource for examples/how to's.

t&e