How to run hidejournal 0.3. (Slanted towards Windows users)
Make sure you're not using tags.
Because HideJournal was written before the introduction of tags to LiveJournal, it will strip tags from entries. You should expect to have to back them up and restore them by hand if you want to use the current release of HideJournal.
Download java
HideJournal requires java. You will need to download and install it (here is a run-through on how to do that) before you can run HideJournal.
Download hidejournal
At the time of writing this, the latest version is 0.3 - download it from my website. If clicking that link gives you a screenful of random characters, you can either
Make sure you remember where you save it to. Don't do anything with the file yet.
Back up your journal
I can't stress this strongly enough. Any time you run a tool that accesses your journal, you should make a backup first, just in case. Although I'm very confident that HideJournal won't mess up your journal (I've run it several times on mine), it's always better to be safe than sorry.
LiveJournal kindly provide a journal export tool that you can use to back up your comments - if anything does go wrong with hiding your entries, if you have a backup, I'll move heaven and earth to restore your journal. If you don't, then unfortunately there's nothing I can do.
Run hidejournal
Open My Computer, then navigate to where you saved HideJournal. Just double-click on the file and it will pop up a window asking you for your username and password. Enter them, but don't hit Run just yet.
Warning: When you hit Run, the application will not be closeable until it's hidden all your old public entries. This is a minor bug that is a bit complicated to fix, so in the meanwhile I'm just making this clear. Make sure you really want to make your journal friends-only!
Now hit Run. The window will print messages as it hides your public entries one-by-one. When it's done, your whole journal will be friends-only. A common trick is to make a backdated, public post, saying that your journal is friends-only, and inviting people to comment on that if they want to be added.
Thanks for using HideJournal!
Because HideJournal was written before the introduction of tags to LiveJournal, it will strip tags from entries. You should expect to have to back them up and restore them by hand if you want to use the current release of HideJournal.
Download java
HideJournal requires java. You will need to download and install it (here is a run-through on how to do that) before you can run HideJournal.
Download hidejournal
At the time of writing this, the latest version is 0.3 - download it from my website. If clicking that link gives you a screenful of random characters, you can either
- right-click on the link above and hit Save Target As... or
- go to the directory with all the releases and pick the one with the highest release number.
Make sure you remember where you save it to. Don't do anything with the file yet.
Back up your journal
I can't stress this strongly enough. Any time you run a tool that accesses your journal, you should make a backup first, just in case. Although I'm very confident that HideJournal won't mess up your journal (I've run it several times on mine), it's always better to be safe than sorry.
LiveJournal kindly provide a journal export tool that you can use to back up your comments - if anything does go wrong with hiding your entries, if you have a backup, I'll move heaven and earth to restore your journal. If you don't, then unfortunately there's nothing I can do.
Run hidejournal
Open My Computer, then navigate to where you saved HideJournal. Just double-click on the file and it will pop up a window asking you for your username and password. Enter them, but don't hit Run just yet.
Warning: When you hit Run, the application will not be closeable until it's hidden all your old public entries. This is a minor bug that is a bit complicated to fix, so in the meanwhile I'm just making this clear. Make sure you really want to make your journal friends-only!
Now hit Run. The window will print messages as it hides your public entries one-by-one. When it's done, your whole journal will be friends-only. A common trick is to make a backdated, public post, saying that your journal is friends-only, and inviting people to comment on that if they want to be added.
Thanks for using HideJournal!