The developer journals section of the community can be used to read other members' journals , and to create a journal yourself. To access it, click the "Developer Journals" link in the "Community" menu

Journals Home Page

When you first go into the journals, you will see a list of journals. Important journals and your favorite journals will be shown at the top, followed by all other journals. You may also see featured journal entries at the top of the list.

Journals may be local journals, meaning that they are stored within the community, or they may be external journals, which are links to journals hosted elsewhere on the internet.

Journal List
For local journals, you will see the title of the most recent entry along with a short excerpt from it, and details of the journal such as the title of the journal, to whom it belongs and the total number of comments, entries and views the journal has had. For external journals, you will just see the title of the journal, to whom it belongs and the total number of views. To view any journal, you can click on the title of the journal. For hosted journals, you may also click on the title of the most recent entry.

Changing the View
There are two ways the journal can be displayed. You can change the display using the icons at the top of the journal list:
- The default layout, showing journals in a list view.
- A table view, which is similar to how topics are shown on the forums.

Following a journal
You are able to follow a journal and subscribe to be notified of updates to it by clicking on the follow journal button.

Statistics
Below the journal list, you can see statistics of the journals, such as who is currently reading the journals, the total number of journals, the newest journal , etc.

There are also links to see the top 10 viewed journals, top 10 commented journals, and 10 journals with the most entries.

Viewing Journals

This only applies to local journals. For external journals, you will be taken to the journal when clicking on the journal name.

Entry List
In the center of the journal page, you will see a list of recent entries. You will see the title of the entry, who posted it and when, the entry itself and how many comments and trackbacks it has had.

You can click the entry title to see the full entry, along with trackbacks and comments, or press "comments" or "trackbacks" to be taken straight to those areas.

Content Blocks
In the left or right columns of the journal, you will see blocks containing various content. Which blocks are shown and their positions will vary based on the journal owner's configuration. The most common content blocks are:

• Mini Calendar - This will show a small calendar, highlighting days for which entries are available.
  
• Last entries - This will show a list of the most recent entries to the journal. You can click on any entry title to be taken to it.
  
• My journal Links - This contains useful links, including:
  
  
  
  • Track this journal - Clicking this link will add the journal to your tracked journals which you can view and manage in your settings panel.
    
  • Add journal to favorites - Clicking this link will add the journal to your list of favorite journals
    
  • Syndicate my journal (RSS) - Clicking this link will take you to an RSS feed of the journal which you can subscribe to using an RSS program.
    
  • Archive - Clicking this link will take you to an archive of all entries to the journal.
    

Last Comments - This will show who most recently commented on the journal and which entry was commented on. You can click on the entry title to be taken to it.

My Picture - This will show the profile picture of the journal owner.

Active Users - This shows how many and which users are viewing the journal.

Categories - This shows the different journal entry categories. You can click on any category to see a list of entries in that category.

Search My journal - You can use this to search all entries in the journal. Simply enter your keywords into the box and press "Go".

Sharing
You can share journal stories with sites such as Twitter or Facebook, or share them via Email, by using the "Share" buttons found below each entry.

To email an entry to a friend, press the icon then follow the on-screen instructions.

Trackbacks
When viewing an entry you may see any trackbacks stored for the entry, if the journal has trackbacks enabled. You can access the trackback URL by pressing the "Trackback URL" link.

Comments
At the bottom of an entry's page, you will see any existing comments on the entry. Below the comments will be a textbox you can use to leave your own comment.

Creating and Managing Your journal

Creating a journal
You are able to create your own journal within the community. To do so, visit the "journals" tab in your settings panel. Under "Your journal Settings" you will see your current journal if you have one. If you can create a journal, you will also see a section titled "Create a journal" - you must read and accept the terms by checking the box, and pressing Next >.

You can then give your journal a name and description and choose if it will be a local or external journal. When you are ready, press Finish.

You will now be taken back to the "Your journal Settings". Make sure if you are setting up an external journal that you now go into your journal settings and enter your journal URL.

You may be able to create more than one journal, and you may not have all settings mentioned above available to you.

Your journal Settings
From the "Your journal Settings" area of your settings panel, you can click on your journal name to manage its settings, including:

• Your journal - This is general settings for your journal such as the name, description and whether it is local or external. You may also be able to change the view permissions. "Public" means all members that can see the journals can see your journal, "Private Club" means that only members you allow can see your journal, and "Private" means only you can see your journal. Some of these options may not be available.
  
• Your local journal settings - If you have a local journal, you can configure here various settings such as guest access, comments and trackbacks.
  
• RSS Settings - You may be able to disable RSS, or enable an alternate RSS service here.
  
• Customize the look of your journal - You may be able to change the way your journal is displayed here such as the style it uses, and the number of entries shown per page.
  
• Private Club - If your journal is in "Private Club" mode, you can enter who has access to your journal here.
  
• Editors - You may be able to assign additional people permission to add entries to your journal. Enter the names of members who should have this permission here.
  
• Your external journal settings - If you have an external journal, you can enter the URL to it here.
  

[color=#ff0000]IMPORTANT[/color]: if you have a local journal is it required that all comments be automatically approved. We do not allow journal authors to moderate their comments, those that do so will be warned once and then banned from posting journal updates if the behavior continues

Adding Entries
To add an entry, you can either click "Post new entry" beside your journal from "Your journal Settings", or press the " Add Entry" button from your journal.

You will need to enter a title for your entry. You can enter "tags" for your entry, which can be used to separate entries into categories if you frequently talk about multiple subjects.

You may be able to choose the date that the entry is posted on, and if you have more than one journal, you can choose the journal it should be saved to.

You may be able to add a poll to your entry just like you would on the forums.

You should the type your entry like any message. You may be able to add attachments to your entry.

At the very bottom of the page you can choose to submit your entry as a "Draft", meaning it will not be published right away, or, as "Published", which will mean it is immediately available for others to view.

When you are ready, press Post New Entry.

Changing your post time
You can click on the clock link above the Draft and Publish buttons to change the time and date your journal entry will appear. Journals saved as a draft and then published days later will retain the date they were created, not the date they are published so this will have to be updated. You can also use this feature to schedule a journal post to appear at a specific date and time in the future.

Changing Your journal Theme
You may be able to change your journal's theme to a different style by pressing the " Change Theme" button from your journal. This will bring up a pop-up displaying the styles you can choose from. Click on a style to change your journal.

You may be able to create your own theme by pressing the " Create a custom theme" option. This will bring up a box that will allow you to change the theme of your journal by entering custom CSS code, or using the color picker. Once you have saved your theme, it may have to be approved by an administrator before it becomes active.

Content Blocks
You can add content blocks by pressing the " Add Blocks" button from your journal.

The functions of the default blocks are explained earlier in this help file, or you may be able to add your own blocks by pressing the " Add Custom Content Block" option. There may be additional content block options available.

You can move your content blocks by clicking and holding on the title bar and then moving them to the new location, which can be in the left or right columns.

To remove a content block, press the icon.