I am trying to learn the functionality of the blog module.  As Root Admin, I created a new blog.  Then to see how it worked with 2 blogs, I tried to create another, but was told I could not.

Aside from the [[CPARENT]] display which I asked about in another post, I wanted to understand what the message means.  I assumed that it had something to do with the Permission Mask settings for Blog for the usergroup I was in, thinking that with that setting at No, I would only be limited to creating one Parent, but that setting was set to Yes, so I am lost.  Why would I not be able to create a second blog?  Is it only set so each user can create only one blog?  

Thanks

Our CMS core currently supports a five tier content hierarchy:

Parent > Category > Thread > Post > Comment

Then, a parent contains categories, categories contain threads, threads contain posts and posts contain comments. (Most modules omit one or several of these possibilities.)

These are labeled differently across modules; in Gallery, it's Gallery > Album > Photo > Comment. In Groups, it's Category > Group > Thread > Post. In Video, it's Publisher > Channel > Video > Comment. In Store, it's Department > Category > Item > Review. And so on. (You can look these up and modify them in the modules' language files.)

The way the modules behave with parents, categories and posts can be configured in the config files for each module. For example:

$core['module']['single_parent'] = TRUE;

Will result in the complaint you see, as customarily one member should have one blog, where he has his own categories and posts. Setting the above to FALSE lets everyone create as many blogs as they want.

Another related example:

$core['module']['req_owned_parent_for_post'] = FALSE;

In the above, TRUE won't let you post if you don't have your own parent ("blog", "gallery" etc.), and FALSE would let everyone post into all parents (such as in Forums and Articles), regardless of who created them.

There are a number of switches that control the relationships between parents, categories and so on. An example:

$core['module']['require_parent_for_cat'] = TRUE;

With this at TRUE, you cannot create categories directly, but only under parents. (Such as in Blogs.) With FALSE, you can omit the parent tier and just have Categories > Posts. (Such as in Articles.)

You can find the "master list" or the default settings for all modules in /core/variables.php. If a module's config file doesn't have the switch you want to change, simply copy it over from the master list and paste it into your module's configuration file.

I hope the replies so far are enough to keep you busy for the next twelve hours. =)

Note to self: Need to collect and refine all this information into clear Tutorials.

very helpful

Understanding the content hierarchy is central to understanding the logic driving our CMSes. Once you get a sound grip of the general architecture, many more possibilities will begin emerging for you.

If you have further questions on this, please let me know.