Getting Started

This page aims to provide you with a thorough but quick guide to setting up BlogIt for the first time, but it also guides you on how to customize the app and how to setup Push Notifications.

Requirements

The following requirements must be met in order to use the application template to it's fullest:

You must install the JSON REST API Plugin to your WordPress installation in order to use any of the functionality provided by this application. Don't forget to also activate the plugin! No further WordPress configuration is necessary.

IMPORTANT: The project provided uses a popular dependency manager called CocoaPods, which is used a lot throughout the iOS and OS X industry.

You do not have to install CocoaPods by hand, as we have provided an automated solution. More about our solution is available in the next section.

Pre-Setup

It's time to get the project rolling, are you excited? We know we are!

Browse to where you have downloaded BlogIt, then open the Code folder.

Once you've found the folder, look for a file named Update Pods.command and double-click it.

Note: You will most likely be asked for your password, which is necessary for installing or updating CocoaPods, so type it in and press Enter.

This will install all the required dependencies, make sure they're up to date and finally create and open the BlogIt XCode workspace.

Now, here's an extremely important bit: when working with CocoaPods projects (such as BlogIt), you ALWAYS need to open the file ending with .xcworkspace, not .xcproject. This is extremely important, because CocoaPods will automatically configure everything in XCode, and the only way to do so is if you use the .xcworkspace file to work with the project.

Setup

Now that that's out of the way, you're one step away from running the application using your very own blog!

In XCode, find the file called BITConfig.h and open it up. Read through it (there's not much to read, after all) and make sure to notice that part with kBIT_BLOG_URL, as that it the only actual configuration necessary to get the application running.

Inside the double quotes (" "), prefixed with the at symbol (@), enter your own blog address, so that it reads something like @"http://my-blog.com", and double check that both double quotes and that at symbol are there. Looking good? Good!

If you wish, you can exclude specific post categories from automatically getting added to the sidebar, by simply adding them to the line that says kBIT_CATEGORY_EXCLUDE, and following the instructions provided in the configuration file.

Similarly, you can exclude specific pages using the kBIT_PAGE_EXCLUDE field.

You are now ready to build the application, and if all goes well, the next thing you will see is a beautiful representation of your very own WordPress blog, congratulations!

Post-Setup

There are two targets in the XCode projet for BlogIt, one called BlogIt and the other called BlogIt_No_ads (or Blogit (No Ads)). While the names should be self-explanatory, the first one has built-in support for both iAd and Google AdMob, which can be configured in BITConfig.h, the second one is stripped from all ad-functionality, and should be used in case you don't want to use ads in your app.

NOTE: When working with the ad or ad free version of BlogIt, take care to select the correct Storyboard when editing the user interface, as they have separate, but very similar files.

Additional configuration, including disabling the launch animation and setting up the Map-page, can be found in BITConfig.h.

That's all that there is to configuration, but be sure to read on if you're interested in customization or Push Notifications.

Customization

One of the more common issues that users face with WordPress blog applications is that the application can only retrieve a certain amount of blog posts.

This can be remedied by opening up the WordPress admin page, navigating to Settings -> Reading and changing "Blog pages show at most X posts" to a bigger (or smaller) number.

The optimal value for BlogIt is currently 10, so make sure you've got it at 10.

If you wish to customize any of the user interface elements of BlogIt, be sure to replace the images in the Asset Catalog and by tweaking the Storyboard. Just remember that BlogIt uses Auto Layout and even if you don't think it's worth it, it always pays off to make sure your changes work with Auto Layout.

Push Notifications

First thing you need to do to enable Push Notifications, is to open up BITConfig.h again, look for kBIT_PARSE_PUSH_ENABLED and change it from NO to YES.

This essentially enables Push Notifications on the application's side, as well as loads Parse-specific services.

Next, install a WordPress plugin called Simple Parse Push Service. Configure it after you've read the next step and setup Push Notifications on both Parse.com and iTunes Connect.

Now you need to follow Parse's own tutorial on setting up the rest of the Push Notification service. You will also need to fill kBIT_PARSE_APPLICATION_ID and kBIT_PARSE_CLIENT_KEY from Parse, available under the application Settings -> Keys.

Please note that you should be able to skip step 5 (titled Adding Code for a Push Enabled iOS Application), as when you turned the previous flag from NO to YES, you actually enabled the code in step 5 to be automatically added to your project.

That should be it, as once you've filled in the keys/id's on both BlogIt and in the WP plugin options, Push Notifications should start working once you publish new posts!

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding this step!

Support

If there's anything troubling you, or you've noticed a bug or an issue, maybe you've even thought of an improvement to the app, do not hesitate to contact us either directly on CodeCanyon, at http://support.didstopia.com or by emailing us at [email protected].

We try our best to get back to you within 24 hours of your message.

Thank you again for being an amazing customer!