Just a quick update on how things are going. I have Blogg-X working entirely with XML-RPC and am now at the point where I am adding in features requested by users. Here are the features currently completed:

1. Option of frontpage posting

2. Option of posting in plain text

3. Test connection button tests for valid connection and username and password.

4. Setup now only requires publisher/admin username and password and the website url.

To those unfamiliar with XML-RPC let me try to explain it. First its a web services programming scheme designed for client server application development. With Blogg-X there is now a mambot that is loaded via Joomla! that acts as the server portion and does most of the database updates just as Joomla! itself does. The client portion of Blogg-X is the java application that runs from the desktop and communicates with the server.

What does this mean for users? The greatest advantage is all sites running Joomla! can now use Blogg-X. The second is the simplified setup from the previous version of Blogg-X. Now all that is needed is the username and password of an admin or publisher on the site. Third advantage is that the passwords are sent from the client to server via an MD5 hash, meaning the password is not sent in clear text. This just adds a bit of security. Also I have designed the server to check the sent password from the client against the password stored in the Joomla! database and only allow updates if they match. This should make things a little more secure as well.

I will post another update when I have progressed a little further. I am also going to be sending out my current test version to a couple private beta testers to get some initial feedback.

Thanks...