What's This All About? // Introduction

Making your Movable Type template tag search easier.

Six Apart used to publish the entire Movable Type template tag reference on one page. This, of course, made for a really long page, especially as the list of template tags grew (grows). So they broke it up into sections across several pages.

The only problem with that is that you don't always know what you're looking for or what section it appears in. And searching on one page is much faster than searching through several pages (especially with Firefox).

But we all work differently, and that's the point of this site. You can search several different ways:

  • Use your browser to search through the entire reference (front page).
  • Narrow down your search with the tag "sections" on the main menu. (Note: these are purposely more broad than Six Apart's divisions)
  • Use the "Search Tags" bar. Your search terms are highlighted in all related tags/examples.

And if this doesn't seem to suit you, be sure to check out Arvind's snazzy Template Tag Bookmarklet.

Todo List // as of 6-11-07

Fix the search string highlighter.

Right now, the search string highlighter wraps the results in a style font tag. Not the end of the world, but it really should be a span styled via the overall CSS.

Add miscellaneous tag related help.

Global tag attribute filters and date formats. Prominent links back to the official MT User Manual.

Downloadable/printable .PDF tag reference.

An at-a-glance tag reference card so you don't have to keep switching screens to look up your MT tags.

More Code Samples.

The real purpose of this site is to have real-life examples of these tags in action, much like the O'Reilley cookbooks. Ideally this process of posting/sharing examples will be automated.

Tag Versions.

With the release of MT4, some older tags are deprecated, some newer tags are introduced. Look for markers soon to help make this reference version-specific.

Tag Order.

Perhaps place the most important tags first? (i.e. MTEntries instead of MTDateFooter)

Heavy Javascript.

It feels like prototype and scriptaculous are bringing in tons of overhead. It would be nice to cut that back and still keep the nifty fades.

Glossary.

Might be a good idea to create a page the defines some Movable Type jargon.

Something Strange? // Contact

This is still a work in progress.

So if you come across something that shouldn't be there or that doesn't work right, please let me know.