Question

How much does Movable Type cost?

Answer

You can refer to our pricing page to find the cost for the license which is appropriate for your use. There is also a Movable Type license that is available for free for personal, non-commercial use by anyone who does not want technical support and who meets the usage limitations for authors and weblogs.

Purchase of any license of Movable Type is backed by a 30 day money-back guarantee.

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Question

I'm getting messages about syntax errors in one or more files.

Answer

Syntax errors are an indication that there was a problem uploading the specified file to your server: either it was not uploaded in ASCII mode, or the file was truncated during transfer.

Upload the file(s) again, making sure to specifically choose an ASCII or plain text transfer mode; and verify that the file size on the server after the upload matches the original file size.

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Question

When installing Movable Type, I get an error message that says Can't find default template list; where is 'default-templates.pl'?

Answer

First, make sure that a folder named lib exists in the same folder where you installed Movable Type, and that there are several folders and files inside of it. Then, make sure that the specific file lib/MT/default-templates.pl was uploaded there, and in ASCII mode.

The files are also case sensitive, so make sure it is lib/MT/default-templates.pl, not lib/mt/default-templates.pl, or Lib/Mt/Default-templa...

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Question

I upgraded to 3.2 and updated my Individual Entry Archive template to use the latest default; but I'm getting Javascript errors when viewing those pages and/or there is no comment posting form or sign-in link for TypeKey commenters.

Answer

If you're seeing Javascript errors which say individualArchivesOnLoad is not defined and/or writeTypeKeyGreeting is not defined, then this means Movable Type cannot find the mt-site.js file. This is a new file introduced in version 3.2 which contains all of the Javascript used for commenting, and is...

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Question

When trying to install Movable Type on GoDaddy, I get a 500 error.

Answer

The 'sbox' software which GoDaddy uses on their servers rewrites the current working directory for all CGI scripts to its own directory. Because of this, Movable Type can't find its own library modules.

To get around this, you will need to edit the first line of all of the *.cgi scripts to look like this: #!/usr/bin/perl -w -I/path/to/mt_dir/lib

where /path/to/mt_dir/lib is the full path to the lib folder in your Movable Type installation directory....

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Question

When running an upgrade script, I see the message You do not seem to be running the MySQL version. Exiting....

Answer

Note: The information in this article applies only to versions below 3.2.

Certain upgrade scripts only need to be run if you are using the MySQL version of Movable Type. If you see this message, and you are not using MySQL for your database, it is safe to disregard the warning and continue to the next upgrade script.

If you are using MySQL, make sure you've not inadvertently overwritten your original mt.cfg file when updating the Movable Type files on your server. If so, you may need to recreate this file with the correct settings for MySQL....

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Question

When performing various functions in Movable Type, I get errors that include SCALAR reference and/or refer to problems with Serialize.pm.

Answer

These errors are almost certainly an indication of database corruption.

Corruption occurs most often with the Berkeley database. Berkeley is far more susceptible to this, and unfortunately, there are few options for recovery. You will most likely need to reinstall with a fresh database, recreate your weblogs, and import your entries.

When reinstalling, we strongly advise you to choose MySQL as...

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Question

I want to exclude a category from the list of entries on my index page. How do I do that?

Answer

If you only have a few categories, you can specify the ones you want to appear by using the category attribute: <MTEntries category="Apples OR Bananas OR Peaches">

That would exclude any entries in a category called Oranges.

If you have several categories, listing them all with an OR could be tedious. In that case, you should consider using the ExcludeCategories plugin.

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Question

How do I apply a new style from the Style Library?

Answer

Note: Styles from the Style Library are only compatible with the new 3.2 Default Templates.

Applying the Style Manually

• Download the zip file for the style of your choice from the Style Library and unzip it to your local computer. All of the files should be organized into a single folder named after the style and prefixed with theme-. For example, after unzipping the file for the Beckett style, the folder would be named theme-beckett.

• Open your FTP program and navigate to your mt-static...

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Question

I have unchecked the option to Enable Unregistered Comment Moderation. Despite this, I still have to approve every comment before it shows up.

Answer

Are you running an older version of MT Blacklist? If so, it needs to be uninstalled. You should upgrade to the version of the plugin which is compatible with 3.x if you wish to continue using its features.

For more information on the newest version, see MT Blacklist - A Movable Type Anti-spam Plugin.

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Question

What is the maximum number of entries my Movable Type database can store?

Answer

There is no predefined limit to the number of entries a database can hold, but external restrictions on disk space or database size imposed by your server or hosting account can be a factor, and should be taken into consideration.

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Question

How do I use the formatting buttons and keyboard shortcuts when editing my entries on the Create New Entry or Edit Entry screen?

Answer

To use the formatting buttons and keyboard shortcuts, you must first highlight the text you wish to format, and then either click the appropriate button, or press the appropriate keyboard shortcut combination.

Formatting buttons are not available in all browsers. Please see Formatting buttons are missing for more information.

Keyboard shortcuts work in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. • Bold - Ctrl-Shift-b...

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Question

Shouldn't that be spelled "Moveable"?

Answer

Most dictionaries list either spelling as correct, however only the name without the "e" is the correct spelling for our application.

Also, note that there is a space in the name: "Movable Type", not "MovableType".

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Question

After upgrading to 3.2, none of my authors was designated the System Administrator. How do I correct this?

Answer

This can be corrected by forcing the upgrade script to run again.

First, you'll need to remove the database information which tells Movable Type that you've already upgraded: • For MySQL users, drop the mt_config table through phpMyAdmin or the mysql console.

• For BerkeleyDB users, delete the config.* files in your DataSource directory.

Then, log into Movable Type with the user who should be made the System Administrator. At...

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Question

One of my authors can't login, and either didn't set or doesn't remember his password hint.

Answer

Please see the Knowledge Base article on Lost Password.

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Question

When visitors post comments to my site, they see a 500 Internal Server Error; however, the comment does show up within the Movable Type interface.

Answer

This typically means your server does not support the background tasks feature. Try disabling this feature in mt-config.cgi1 by adding the following line to it: LaunchBackgroundTasks 0

Then, save mt-config.cgi and upload it back to your server in ASCII mode.

1 In versions prior to 3.2, the configuration file is named mt.cfg.

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Question

I made some minor changes to my template, but after rebuilding, the changes don't show.

Answer

• Download Digest::MD5 and unpack it with unzipping software.

• Upload the Digest folder inside to your webserver, in ASCII mode, into your extlib directory.

• Rebuild your site.

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Question

How can I list recent comments to my blog on my Main Index page?

Answer

There are two basic variations on this type of display.

Via MTComments tag

You can put the following into your Main Index Template: <MTComments lastn="6" sort_order="descend"> <p><$MTCommentAuthor$> said:<br /> <$MTCommentBody$></p> </MTComments>

This will display the 6 most recent comments made on any of the entries in your weblog, and sort them in reverse chronological order (most recent first).

Via...

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Question

Where did the name "Six Apart" come from?

Answer

The co-founders of the company, Ben and Mena Trott, were born exactly six days apart.

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Question

Dates on my entries are missing elements such as the day of the week or the month, even though I'm using valid date tag formats.

Answer

Note: The information in this article applies only to versions below 3.2.

The default blog_language may not have been set (due to a bug in certain versions). (You may also see certain Use of uninitialized errors during rebuilds as a result of this bug.)

Go to Weblog Configuration > Preferences, and then select a setting for Language for Date Display.

Save this change and then rebuild your site. ...

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