0. wtf?

  zblog is a z-shell script, that gathers information and creates static
  htmlpages from that input. Its primary use is my weblog, hence the name.

1. is zblog for you?

  Hard to say, really.
  If you you want to blog from the commandline, without PHP, databases and all
  that cruft, then yes, _maybe_ zblog is for you.

  Someone hinted me at nanoblogger, a blogging engine written in bash, that
  exists since 2003. I did not check it out myself, but I know people who use
  it.  It seems quite usable (and AFAIK, it uses static html pages as well).

  If you still think you want zblog (because you want to blog via email/don't
  have bash installed/just want to try it), you are welcome do so. If you use
  it, please feel free to tell me about it. Reporting bugs would be greatly
  appreciated.

  zblog's documentation improved a little, but it is still missing quite a lot
  of information that's needed to fully use the script. So, if you don't like
  wading through the zblog script-code, you will run into problems sooner or
  later. Please consider this when choosing zblog as your engine.

2. why?

  Um, I thought a blogging system written in zsh, controllable by Email would be
  nice to have. The email-part of the idea was the most important point for
  starting zblog.

3. installation

  + Read the Makefile
      - alter the settings at its start

    [ The default settings _might_ be okay, if you want to install zblog  ]
    [ to ~/bin and you want to keep your configuration either in          ]
    [ ~/.zblogrc, ~/.zblog/rc or ~/etc/zblog/rc. In any other case do     ]
    [ check the Makefile. Doing so useful anyway it's short and it does   ]
    [ not hurt. ;-)                                                       ]

  + check out etc/rc.example
      - copy it to a valid location
      - alter it, to fit your needs

    [ This step is _required_ zblog doesn't work without an rc file.      ]
    [ Furthermore, zblog does not provide default values in the core      ]
    [ code. The defaults in the example rc file _will_ _not_ _work_!      ]

  + create pathnames you used in your zblog rc file

    [ This is _required_ as well! zblog does not create any of the pathes ]
    [ you use in the rc file. Make sure you've done it _before_ running   ]
    [ zblog for the first time, or zblog will fail!                       ]

  + install a template (zblog0 if you don't have another)

    [ Using zblog0 is okay and works. It even has fully working atom1.0   ]
    [ feed template parts coming with it. You may use                     ]
    [ ./bin/template_zblog0.zsh to semi-automatically copy the            ]
    [ templatefiles right location.                                       ]

  + zblog plain < lib/first_com.mail

    [ This file submits initial commands to zblog to create the index     ]
    [ page. This file will be kept up to date if zblog changes its needs. ]

  + zblog plain < lib/first_post.mail

    [ This file submits an initial posting, this will work if you used    ]
    [ 'zblog plain < lib/first_com.mail' before to do the initial setup.  ]

          << Note that the two 'zblog plain' steps can be done by hand, >>
          << if you know how zblog works. The commands are fairly       >>
          << and nobody stops you from using your own commands instead. >>
          << These examples are just there to make installation easier. >>

  + zblog fupdate

    [ At the time of writing 'fupdate' and 'update' at this point will    ]
    [ *not* differ. Just use 'fupdate' here and things will work...       ]
    [ ...hopefully. :-)                                                   ]

  If you are using 'zsh' as your interactive shell: in the 'contrib' subdir,
  you can find a compsys widget that helps using zblog.

4. Setup

  + rc
  + template
  + css style

7. What now?

  Check the 'contrib/' subdir. Its content might be helpful.

6. TODO

    See "What's left?" in the zblog script.