Up to this point, the only user interface covered with Radio has been the desktop Web site, the set of pages on your computer that are viewed with a Web browser and served by the software.

Radio includes a Web server that delivers pages, logs requests and errors, and receives form input. It can do all of this within a single computer or over the Internet.

The software's weblog publishing and news aggregation features are supported primarily through the desktop Web site, the interface that can be used with any Web browser.

The object database, scripting, and other expert features of the software require a second interface: the application that works behind-the-scenes as a Web server, content-management system, and news aggregator.

The Radio application, which is running in support of the desktop Web site, is normally hidden from view on Windows and runs without need of user input on any operating system.

To view the application:

• Windows: Right-click the Radio icon in the System tray and choose Open Radio (see Figure 9.1).

• Mac Classic: Choose the application with the Finder.

• Mac OS X: Click the application in the Dock.

Opening the Radio application in Windows.

The application's user interface consists of a menu bar and an About Radio UserLand dialog box, as shown in Figure 9.2.

If the dialog box is not visible, choose the menu commend Help, About Radio UserLand (Windows), Radio, About Radio UserLand (Mac OS X), or Apple Menu, About Radio UserLand (Mac Classic).

The menu bar contains different menus based on how the software is being used. For example, as an outline is being edited, an Outline menu appears on the bar.

Tip: There's an intermittent problem with Radio in which a menu doesn't appear on Radio at times that it should. To cause the application to display missing menus, choose the menu command Tools, Developers, Fresh Menus or hit Ctrl and the minus key (Windows) or Cmd and the minus key (MacOS).

The About Radio UserLand dialog box displays messages about the status of the software, the resources it is using, and operations it is performing.

Using the Radio application interface. (Enlarge)

A useful feature of this dialog box is the status message, which you can use to ensure the software is doing what you expect as it upstreams files, retrieves RSS newsfeeds, and handles other tasks.

The status message is usually displayed by default. If it isn't being shown, click the Menu arrow in the About Radio UserLand dialog box and choose StatusMessage from the drop-down menu that appears.

On Windows, you can minimize the Radio application by closing the application's window. This doesn't close the application, so the desktop Web site will continue to work.

To fully shut down Radio:

• Windows: Right-click the Radio icon in the System tray and choose Exit and Shut Down Radio from the contextual menu that appears.

• Mac OS X: Choose Radio, Quit Radio.

• Mac OS Classic: Choose File, Quit.

Chapter 9:

1. Introduction
2. Running the Radio Application
3. Backing Up a Weblog
4. Restoring a Weblog from an XML Backup
5. Summary

Radio UserLand Kick Start home page