The Writer Editing Manifest File
The starting point for all Windows Live Writer customization is the Writer editing manifest file.
Editing manifest files are XML documents that are discovered and downloaded in a manner similar to RSD files. Manifest files are always read during account configuration and template detection, and can optionally also be automatically updated every time Writer is run.
All manifests contain the following XML declaration and root element:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <manifest xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wlw/manifest/weblog"> </manifest>
Manifest documents can also contain one or more subelements, depending on the customization features that are supported. The following table describes the valid elements.
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<options> |
An enumeration of blog capabilities. This element can indicate, for example, whether the blog supports file uploads, categories, and pages. |
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<weblog> |
Customizations of the Blog Account ribbon tab Shortcuts gallery, such as custom captions, graphics, and links. |
|
<buttons> |
Custom button definitions. |
|
<views> |
Default editing view. Templates to be used by Writer for the WebLayout and WebPreview views. |
The XML formats of the subelements are defined in the sections below where the features they enable are described.
There are a number of elements within the manifest file which contain URLs. When reading a manifest file and resolving the values of URLs, Writer performs two special transformations:
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Relative paths are converted to absolute paths (where the base path is the location of the manifest file);
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Three special “macros” are processed (this allows the provider to define URLs generically for their entire service and have the correct values for the current blog substituted at runtime):
◦ {blog-homepage-url}
◦ {blog-postapi-url}
◦ {blog-id}
◦ {post-id}
