Intranet LiveJournal quickstart, chapter 2

GETTING STARTED

This chapter is about setting up your LiveJournal account, downloading
the client, and making your first post.

CREATING AN ACCOUNT

Your systems administrator may have already created an account for
you; if so, your login information will be in your email.  If not,
visit the <a href="(=SITEROOT=)/create.bml">user creation page</a> to
make an account.  LiveJournal passwords can be sent unencrypted in
some circumstances, so don't use a security-critical password (like
your LDAP password) for LiveJournal.

The user creation process will ask you for a variety of personal
information which can be displayed to other LiveJournal users.  Email
address is the only required field; all others can be safely left 
blank if you're in a rush or would prefer not to give it.

<!-- XXX: need to make this conditional, some sites don't validate -->
After you've filled out this form, LiveJournal will send email to the
address you gave, ensuring that it's a valid email address that belongs
to you.  This message will give you instructions on how to complete the 
user creation process; you just have to click a link.

<!-- XXX: i want a LINK BML tag that makes foo into <a href="foo">foo</a> -->
If you need to edit your user information or change (or retrieve) your
password later, visit (=LINK (=SITEROOT=)/editinfo.bml LINK=).

DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING THE CLIENT

<!-- XXX: fix the download paths -->
If you're running some variety of Windows, you can download an installer
for the LiveJournal client at the following URL:

	(=SITEROOT=)/files/clients/win32/LiveJournal-full.exe

Run the installer.  On completion, it will put shortcuts to LiveJournal 
in your Start Menu and on your desktop.

<!-- RH6.2 RPMs and debs would be nice -->
If you're running Linux or some other flavor of Unix, source and binary
packages for a graphical LiveJournal client can be downloaded from:

	(=SITEROOT=)/files/clients/gtk/

<!-- XXX - fix me -->
[blah] and [blah] are required for installation.

Clients for other operating systems, and Unix command-line clients,
can be downloaded from (=SITEROOT=)/files/clients/.

LiveJournal functions can also be done without a client, using only
a web browser and the menus on (=SITEROOT=).  It's not as easy or
convenient as using the client, but can be useful when using a
computer where the client isn't (or can't be) installed.

UPDATING YOUR LIVEJOURNAL

To post to your new LiveJournal, first log in: start the client,
type in your username, password, and server ((=_CODE
($server = $LJ::SITEROOT) =~ s,http://,,;
_CODE=)), and click "Login".  (You can bypass this process in the future
by clicking on "Remember Password" and "Auto-Login".)  Then type whatever
you'd like to post into the main text field, and click "Submit Entry".
That's all!  Your LiveJournal will now contain the new entry.  To see the new entry,
click on "Recent Entries" under the "Web" menu in the client.  Alternately,
visit (=SITEROOT=)/users/<em>username</em>, where <em>username</em> is your
LiveJournal username.

<!-- what is custom visibility? should we mention it? -->
<!-- should we use "visibility" or "security"? i prefer the former -->
By default, posts can be viewed by anyone.  If you want to make a
post private, or visible only to people on your friends list
(described in the next section), click on the "Post Options"
button and change the "Security Level" setting before submitting.

If you later want to edit your post - to make corrections, or refer
to updated information, for instance - you can do so.  To edit the 
most recent post, use the "Edit Last Entry" item under the "File" menu.  
To edit older posts, go to the "View History" item, navigate to the post
you want to edit, and double-click.

You can also post to your journal using only a web browser, though
it's not quite as convenient as using the LiveJournal client.  To
do so, visit (=LINK (=SITEROOT=)/update.bml LINK=).