So here's how it is.

My weblog just updated from Movable Type 3.5 to Movable Type 4.0. If you check out the webpage, you will understand that the new version of Movable Type is... well... very new, and very different from the old ones.

To start with, its installation process was remarkably simplified from the previous versions, requiring only a few screens, a little input, and you are done. No more having to edit the config file yourself, no more worrying about *.cgi code, no more craziness like that. I understand its upgrade process was equally simplified, but due to some quirks in my server, oddities in my previous installations of Movable Type, or idiocies of my own customizations, the upgrade process for me was a pain in the gorramed ass. However, once it was installed, the improvements of the 4.0 engine were readily apparent. First off, the entire dashboard concept was completely redesigned and restyled, making accessing all of the various aspects of your weblog a little easier than before, while also providing you some basic statistics as to what is going on in your little corner of the universe. Once you move on from there, editing your weblog's appearance is made a little easier by a template-text editor which not only highlights code appropriately, but also includes line numbers. And once you get to the real point of a weblog, and start writing your posts again, you can choose from a number of make-your-post-editing-easier plugins (such as Markdown, SmartyPants, and Textile 2), already installed, or you can go straight at it, old-skool style. Finally, it includes such interesting things as standalone webpages that inheret your weblog styles, but are not actually posts; more comprehensive user management, including internalized/onboard commenter registration; a host of preinstalled plugins that only serve to make your life easier; and even more tools and such.

The downside (and there always is a downside)? I do not know what the backend of this new version is (I mean, the filetypes are still *.cgi, but I have no idea what is behind that), but it can be accursedly slow sometimes. When loading my main page template code, it can take upwards of a minute for that particular browser window to respond again... it probably has something to do with the automatic colorations and formatting the system applies. And the new interface is rather pretty and all, but I can only imagine that lends to the general-purpose slowness as well. Oh, and rebuilding (now referred to as "Publishing") takes bloody forever.

So now that the install is completed, I took the time to implement the NoHarvester and AutoBan plugins to try and suppress the endless amounts of spam I have been receiving, as well as the Comment Subscribe to make keeping up with comment conversations that much easier for you all. In conjunction with the new 4.0 version of CCode and TCode, hopefully the first two new plugins will keep the morons off my back. However, there is a downside to them as well... anti-spam software can sometimes stop honest people from commenting or trackbacking as well.

So, I would like to ask a favor of you, my readers: Please try commenting and/or trackbacking to this post, or any of the previous posts on this weblog. I would like to ensure all of my new shiny toys are working properly, and that is about the only way for me to do so. If, for some reason, you cannot comment or trackback, please drop me a line to let me know. I am still not entirely sure CCode and TCode are playing well with others... Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Now, time to see what all this 4.0 thing can do...

Update: After due consideration (and repeated bangings of my head on my keyboard... oh, and actually reading the instructions), NoHarvester has been disabled. It turns out that particular program will not work on static *.html files, but instead will only operate on *.php files. Due to its rather sizeable usefulness, I will probably, eventually, get around to swapping over all of my archive files... but I am just too lazy right now. Sorry for any commenting inconvenience you may have experienced.