The starting point for all 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 auto-updated every time Writer is run.
Manifest Format
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 sub-elements, depending upon the customization features supported. Valid elements include:
|
<options>
| Enumeration of weblog capabilities (e.g. whether they support file upload, categories, pages. etc.) |
|
<weblog>
| Customizations of the Weblog Sidebar panel (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 sub-elements 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:
-
Relative paths are converted to absolute paths (where the base path is the location of the manifest file);
-
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 weblog substituted at runtime):
◦ {blog-homepage-url}
◦ {blog-postapi-url}
◦ {blog-id}
◦ {post-id}