Ridz's Pit

Okay, this blog system has been up for more than a month already and still working on other interesting features like:

• Mobile blogging - post blog using mobile. cool ha?
• Email blogging - post blog using email
• Podcasting - the option of posting podcast entries
• Templates - need to add more templates, more rakista blogtemplates.
• Categories - to categorize blog entries
• Multi-author - contribution based blogs. To allow other members to contribute on other member's blogs.
• Blog portal page - home page for the rakista blogs ( top blogs, newest blogs, etc)

Some features we have for the blog system are:

1. Instant publishing
   When users write entries, they are published to their blogs immediately. Some blog hosting services force users to wait for their blogs to be published, which can take up to several minutes for large blogs. With Rakista Blogs, users can see their entries right away.
2. Over 25 default templates
   Users can pick a visual template to use on their blog. Over 25 blog templates are alread included done. Templates are customizable, they are composed of simple HTML and CSS, along with special variables used by Rakista blogs to determine where the content is displayed, etc.
3. WYSIWYG entry composer
   Since many blog authors are not familiar with HTML, we have included a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor on the users' add/edit entry pages. This makes adding different fonts, colors, styles, and images easy for users when they write their entries. The WYSIWYG editor is viewable in most modern browsers.
4. Subdirectory URLs
   The subdirectory URLs feature allows you to provide your users' with blog URLs in the form of: http://blogs.rakista.com/blogname.
5. Commenting
   When commenting is on, users can post comments for each other's blog entries. Comments may only be posted if the author has chosen to allow them on his or her entries. Comments include a link to the commenter's profile, and can also include the commenter's avatar (if included in the template).
6. "Friends only" entries
   If the friends feature is turned on, blog authors can post "friends only" entries. These entries are only visible by users who have been added to the authors' friend lists.
7. RSS feeds
   Many blog authors publish their writing with RSS (Really Simple Syndication). This consists of a single file which can be loaded by various news reader software. If you have turned the RSS feature on, users will be able to link to their RSS file from their blog. This lets their readers receive notifications of your users' new entries.
8. Mailing lists
   If your users have entered one or more email addresses into their mailing list, those email addresses will be sent a notification message every time your users write new entries.
9. Avatars
   Uusers can upload small icons to personalize their user profiles and blogs. Avatars are also displayed within your users' message inbox and the user search results.
10. Preview comments/entries
    When writing comments and entries, users can click a preview button which shows them how their comment or entry will look when it is posted.
11. Customizable templates
    If you have enabled template customization, your users can edit the actual template code, allowing them to personalize their templates or create their own.
12. Permanent links
    Every blog entry is given its own unique permanent link, which is helpful for search engine indexing and will encourage readers to link to your users' entries.
13. Customizable entry date/time
    Your users have the option of customizing the date and time of their entries. The date and time format is adjustable by the admin.
14. Draft entries
    Your users can write draft entries, which are not published to their blogs but are saved within their accounts for later use.
15. Interests keywords
    If you have enabled the interests profile field, your users can add a list of their interests to their profiles. These interests are linked on their profiles - clicking an interest displays a list of all other users that share the same interest.
16. File uploads
17. Personal Photo Galleries

Im still thinking if members are going to have separate accounts for blogs or integrate it to their existing rakista accounts. Shit!, I still don't know how. I wish I have the time to work on all of these, there are so little time but so much work to do.

I'm going to open this service soon to our members so watch out for it.