It’s actually very simple to use, but requires an unusual step to get it working.

First of all, activate the plugin.  Then, after doing this (assuming you already have the Flickr Photo Gallery working) go to write a new page.

Your title is what will show for the link, so Photos is the obvious choice here, but you can be as creative as you like.  Then enter the Page Slug.  This can be anything, but make sure it’s NOT the same as the page you plan to link to.  For example if you want to add a link to photos, don’t call it photos, call it photo.

Now here’s the important bit.  Save the page.  Do not do anything else until it’s saved.

Then, got your Manage > Pages, and edit your photos page.  If you like, set the page order.

Under Custom Fields, enter the key links_to and the value of the page you want to link to.  For example, if your Flickr Gallery is at http://test.themotorcade.com/photos enter that full address.

Then add another Key links_to_type and enter the value as 301.

Publish the page.  That’s it.  All done.

You should now have a Photos page link in your navigation, linking to your Flickr Photo Gallery.

Setup is pretty simple if you’re already a Flickr member and user.   The first stage is to go to your Site Admin and click on the “Plugins” tab.

Next to Flickr Photo Gallery, click the “Activate” button, this will activate the plugin for you.

Now you must click on the main “Options” tab in your site admin menu.  Then the sub-menu tab called “Photo Album”.  This asks for some basic information from you before you can set up your gallery.  To use the Flickr Photo Gallery you require a Flickr API Key, there is a full explanation of how to set this up on the “Photo Album” options page.  Don’t panic, it’s actually very straight forward.

Once you have obtained your API Key from Flickr (if you didn’t have one already), you can then enter your Flickr Photo Gallery options.  Again the instructions are clear, and it takes only a few minutes to set up.  You can chose to hide or reveal albums from Flickr, to keep private photos private and so on.  It’s a cinch, really.

That’s it.  You’re done.  Simply check the URL you entered for your photo gallery, usually a directory called “photos” after your blog address, all should be working.

The setup really is simple, and if you’re a Flickr user and want to include photos in your blog, it’s a great way of doing so.  When enabled, you even have an extra tab on your “Write Post” and “Write Page” sections of your blog which allows you to drag and drop your photos from Flickr straight into your messages at the Motorcade!

I thought it would be a good idea to write a brief guide to some basics in setting up your blog at the Motorcade. Remember your blog is your own site, your place to express yourself, so it pays to take a little time to make it your own.

First things first. The Options Screen.

Once you’ve created your blog and logged in (the easy stuff), a good place to start your fiddling is the options link in your site admin. Here you can set up the very basic aspects of your blog, such as the name of the blog, and the title that appears underneath the main title in most themes.

While in options you will see a list of tabs where you can tweak the finer details of your blog. The Discussion tab is useful, especially as it contains options relating to allowing comments, comment moderation and so on.

Presentation

The Presentation options page is probably the quickest way to make your blog on the Motorcade more your own. By default all new blogs share the main theme used by the Motorcade, but it’s easy to update your blog to look very different at the touch of a button. We will be adding more themes over time to increase diversity and individuality. Of all the themese, one special option is ‘K2′ which allows many sub styles and options in the ‘K2 Options’ tab you will see if you chose this particular theme for your blog.

If you’re familiar at all with the Wordpress software and would like to use a theme we do not have installed at the Motorcade, please put a request in at our support forums.

Many themes also allow the use of “sidebar widgets”, which you can drag and drop into your pages to customise your page.

Manage

In the Manage section there are some important options and settings you may want to tweak and tune. Here can import blogs from other services (if you wish to import a MINI2 Blog, please see the support forums here.

You can do a lot of things here, the best thing to do is play and learn, you can add pages, edit and add categories (so things don’t show as “uncategorized” all the time).

Write

The most important page! Write your entries here. You have options to change the size, colour, font of your text and can also embed items like YouTube videos and photographs into your pages.

Be sure to edit or remove the boring, standard “Hello World” message too, make it your own.  And don’t forget your About page too.

Most of all, have fun, and get creative.

Today is the day when I start this little project in earnest. It’s been an idea rattling around my head for a little while, and since starting my own personal blog “A Plot on the Landscape” I really thought this is something I could and should do!

I couldn’t find a service that quite did what I would like from a blogging host, apart from the “big ones”, and they’re over flowing with all sorts of content that simply is of no interest to myself as a motoring and MINI enthusiast.

If you’re looking for help or advice on any aspect of the Motorcade, please check in at the Support Forums where I will try to assist you in any way possible.

As the Motorcade is very much a fledgling service, any feedback, suggestions and advice are very much welcome, again, please post your thoughts in the forum (or here) for consideration.