Notice
The following information is intended for programmers and advanced users only. If you just want to use LiveJournal to keep your journal, great! Normal users do not have to worry about this stuff.

That said, the content below is split up into two sections: information on how to customize the look of LiveJournal pages, and information on writing LiveJournal clients to the LiveJournal server.

LiveJournal code
To get your hands on the code for the LiveJournal server and all of the available clients, go here.

Database Schema
Curious about the database schema? The SQL to create all the tables and populate them is included with the server code.

Customizing the look of LiveJournal
Don't like the way your journal pages look? Never you fear... everything is flexible and if you read the documentation below you'll know all you need to make your pages look any which way you want.

• Style System - general overview of how the LiveJournal style system is setup.
• View Types - a list of the different types of ways you can view your journal, and details on each.
• Variable List - straight alphabetical list of all variables that you can customize

Embedding LiveJournal
Want to embed your journal right into your homepage? There are several ways to do it, depending on what sort of control you have over your server. You only have to worry about this if you don't like having www.livejournal.com in your journal URL.

• Embedding LiveJournal - how to get LiveJournal to look like part of your own site.

Writing LiveJournal Clients
So you want to create or improve a LiveJournal client on your platform? Wonderful! Below are some necessary resources to let you know how LiveJournal works.

• LiveJournal Server<->Client Protocol - learn how the LiveJournal client on your desktop talks to the LiveJournal server and vice versa. Understanding this is the primary thing you need to understand before developing or improving a client for your platform.
• Complete Protocol Docs - all the different protocol modes & methods.