In Part 1 of our BlogDesk tutorial, I showed you how to setup BlogDesk and connect to WordPress and publish/edit posts.

This week in Part 2, I’ll show you the basics of connecting to ExpressionEngine (version 1.6.6) from BlogDesk and how to publish simple blog-style entries.

To get the most out of this tutorial, you should:

  • Know the basics of ExpressionEngine (EE) and have it setup (either the core or commercial version will work)
  • You should also look over Part 1 of this series because we’ll be skimming over some of the basics of using BlogDesk in this tutorial

Note: Although you can add/edit EE entries in BlogDesk, I found it to be very limited. BlogDesk might be a decent option for those who are using EE strictly for blog posts or posting news items. For those using EE’s more advanced abilities (field groups, etc), BlogDesk may not be the answer for you.

I also found uploading images and editing entries that have already been posted to EE to be problematic.

That said, let’s begin.

Install the Metaweblog Module in ExpressionEngine

The first step that we need to take is to make sure that the Metaweblog API module is installed in ExpressionEngine. This module lets BlogDesk and EE communication with each other.

  1. Log into your EE control panel
  2. Click on the Modules tab at the top
  3. Find the module named Metaweblog API and make sure it’s installed. If it isn’t, click Install and let EE install the module.
    Install Metaweblog API in ExpressionEngine admin section
  4. Note the Metaweblog API URL—it will be used later in the Blog Wizard
    EE Metaweblog API configuration - URL

Connecting to ExpressionEngine

Now you’re ready to configure the connection to your ExpressionEngine site from within BlogDesk.

Basically, setting up the connection between BlogDesk and ExpressionEngine is the same process as setting up the connection from BlogDesk to WordPress.

  1. Go to File>Manage Blogs
    Manage Blogs option
  2. Click New to start the Blog Wizard. The Wizard will guide you through setting up the connection between BlogDesk and ExpressionEngine.
  3. Enter the name of your blog on the next screen. It’s just to help you identify your site within BlogDesk, so any name will do.
  4. Next, you’ll enter the address of your blog. You don’t have to put http:// or a trailing /—BlogDesk adds them when you click Next.
    Blog address
  5. Next, choose ExpressionEngine as your weblog system
    Weblog system
  6. BlogDesk will try to guess the location (URL) of your Metaweblog API in EE. The default that BlogDesk comes up with should be okay, but double-check in EE to make sure it’s correct (see step 4 under the section above Install the Metaweblog Module in ExpressionEngine).
  7. Click the Next button and enter your EE login information
    EE login details
  8. The next screen is for your Blog-ID. Click Get Blog-ID. You should get a success message. Click OK and go to the next screen.
  9. If you have categories set up in EE already, the Get Categories button will import the list into BlogDesk. EE comes with 3 categories by default (Blogging, News, Personal), but you can always import your categories later if you haven’t set any up yet from Blog Manager>Properties.
    EE categories imported
  10. The next screen tests to make sure you can upload images through EE (as opposed to using FTP). Test Upload will upload a small badge image.
    Test image uploading in EE
    If this doesn’t work, you may have to set up an FTP connection instead later. Personally, I could not get this to work. You may need to check your permissions for your uploads folder.
  11. Click Next and then Finish to finish and exit the wizard

Now you will return to the Blog Manager window. Clicking the Properties button will let you review your settings. This is a good idea just to make sure everything is set up the way you want.
Manage Blogs window

This is also where you can add your FTP settings if you had problems getting your image uploading working in the Blog Wizard.

Publishing EE Entries

See Part 1 of this series for details on publishing using BlogDesk. The same details apply to publishing entries to ExpressionEngine.

The Verdict

BlogDesk can be used to post simple EE entries, but I found it to be very limited in its abilities. It would be best suited for EE sites that are mostly standard blogs or for making news-type posts. Beyond that, I found BlogDesk to be very temperamental with EE. BlogDesk is no match for ExpressionEngine’s flexibility.

News entry posted on EE site

Editing Previous Entries

I had issues editing previously posted entries. Editing the entries made them disappear from the site for some reason.

Image Uploading

I also had issues getting images to upload properly or at all.

Granted, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time trying to make it work, but compared to WordPress, getting BlogDesk to work with EE was much more of a hassle.

Has anyone else tried BlogDesk with ExpressionEngine? What were your experiences? Anything I missed? Tell us about it in the comments.

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