Weblog II now supports private channels. These are channels whose access is restricted to particular members or groups.

The access restrictions apply anywhere a channel is 'rendered': the weblog page itself, the channel's rss feed, and anywhere the weblog channel has been inserted into another page via one of the macros. (It also applies to the weblog calendar, though at the moment I don't think that will matter as much.)

Also, the channel editor has been re-designed, somewhat. My intent was for it to take up less room and be a little easier to use.

You set up a secure channel through the Files & Folders area in the Admin Interface. Edit your page's properties, then click on the "Channels" tab on the right. Pick a channel. Click on the Security tab on the form at the bottom of the window.

Just like with restricted-access pages, there are two options for setting your channel's security options. The first is a menu with five choices:

• Inherit Weblog's Security (allow anybody who can get to the default channel to get to this channel)
• Members Only (only members can see that channel)
• Editors Only (oops! This is missing, it says Administrators Only. That's a bug.)
• Group ID (anyone in the group specified in the "Restriction ID" field)
• User ID (any of the users listed in the "Restriction ID" field)

I'll work on that Administrators/Editors mix-up, there might be a fix tonight.

Regardless, everything else should be working now.

Recap:

You can now make a channel private, and you can prevent items from appearing on the default channel.

Please note that these settings do not directly affect the rest of your Conversant site! Message privacy in the "Discussion Group" (forum) area is the same as always, controlled mostly by label. Messages posted to the weblog will still be sent out via email, unless you use the checkbox to prevent it.

Now that this is done I've realized that label-based message privacy would be more useful if they supported the same by-group and by-member restrictions, instead of just the guest/member/admin settings they have now. My time and resources are limited, though, so this will have to wait.

(Does anyone have the #msgPostToEmail popup and/or the #msgLabelPopup macro in their weblog posting forms?)