Running Weblogs with Slash

Chapter 4. Editing and Updating Stories

No matter what Topics a weblog covers, it will always require fresh content. In Slash terms, these are Stories. Consequently, most Authors will spend their time in the Stories list. It is always available from Stories or the relative URI /admin.pl. Authors can review submissions, edit published Stories, and even create new Stories (see the New link in the Admin menu).

The Stories List

The Stories list (Figure 4-1) is the default page of the Admin menu. It’s like a big map in the war room, used to review and coordinate the current site activity. As you’d expect, it is full of data. Most of the activity is centered around reading or editing Stories; an Author may decide to fix a typo in a Story title or introduction, or the administrator might decide to browse a Story that’s attracted an unusual number of comments or page reads.

Figure 4-1. The Stories list (Stories set to Never Display are highlighted)

Stories appear on the list in reverse chronological order--newest first, grouped by day of publication. The horizontal columns on the page are unlabeled, but they are relatively straightforward. The leftmost column holds the Story number, with no special meaning outside of the Stories list. The number is a link to the Edit Story page, used to update a Story. The Story title is a link to the normal Story display page, as seen by users. The ...