Stefano Demiliani WeBlog

Community Server::Blogs - suggestions

I was reading (quickly) the Community Server::Blogs Feature Suggestions & Request Forum section and I've see something interesting that I want to put in evidence here.

Some features that I'd like to see on a next release of Community Server::Blogs (or .Text) (some of them are also mentioned by other people on the forum) are:

• Possibility to post on the blog by Email. This is the number 1 feature requested for me. It's really useful, expecially if you're out and you've only a mobile device with you (for example a cell phone).
• A great search functionality (necessary to search old posts on your blog)
• Replacement of the HTML Editor control on the Post section of the Blog Engine (/admin/EditPosts.aspx page). It's a great control if used with Internet Explorer, but has lots of problems if used on other browsers.
• Feature for a Blog Migration (maybe under the Admin section). I think this possibility is really useful, expecially if you have a blog and a day you want to do a complete blog migration under an other server. There are some projects involved about this, but a built-in migration feature could be great.

I've also read a post that alert me a lot..."Use the Forum to comment Blog entries".

A people is asking to have this feature: "Why not include an easy option to use the CommunityServer Forum to comment blog entries?"

Ok, an option like this could be interesting, but the alert comes from the response given by an admin:

"This is a model we're considering moving to - a blog is nothing more than a forum that only allows the owner to post new threads. Any authenticated user can reply, though. Much more robust than the comment solutions out there today."

I know that today spamming on Blogs is a problem, but I don't believe that a Blog is totally like a Forum. This feature must be a choice, an option, not the only choice, the only way to leave a comment. Blogging must (for their nature) free on the contents and free on the comments. Only the Blog administrator can choice if, on his blog, people that want to leave a comment must be authorized or not.

I hope that this new "more robust comment solution" could be optional on activation. I love the standard way of leaving comments.