Blog Editors

How To Make a Blog

I am a blog editor convert. If you aren't sure what a blog editor is, it's a graphical editor that makes it easy for you to write, save drafts and post blog entries. Have you ever been typing a blog entry and had the browser crash? Argh! Many of the blog editors have autosave so that you don't have to worry about that.

They also make including links, adding graphics, block quotes, etc very easy with a visual preview. Have you ever hand coded an HTML table for tabular data display? I hate doing that. With a blog editor, it's a couple of button clicks and then you just enter your data.

I've used several to see how they perform. I narrowed it down to two editors: Windows Live Writer and Zoundry Raven.

Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Writer (WLW) is a free offering from Microsoft. I'm not an MS basher. I think MS tends to write very usable software. WLW is a very good looking, very functional tool.

WLW has a graphical UI and follows along with most other MS GUI tools. It has plenty of features

Zoundry Raven

Even though WLW is a good tool, I have settled on Zoundry Raven. I've used the support forums and I have to say I am very happy with them. The tool itself fits the way I work. It's easy to configure and run.

Some of the better features are:

• A true WYSIWYG editor. When I post a blog entry, it looks on my blog exactly like it does on the editor.


• Multiple blog support. I write about 15 blogs now. I can easily select the blog I am working on, post to multiple blogs at once and view previously published blog entries at any time.


• Great trackback, ping and tag support. Global and blog configurations make these painless.


• It can run from a USB drive. Go on the road and take your blog editors (and your blog posts) on the road with you.

Depending on how you write and what you're looking for in an editor, I would recommend either of these editors. Both are free so you won't lose anything more than a little time by trying either (or both).

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ScrnShots - Free Screen Shot Hosting

LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology

This ain't no Flickr! Every blogger needs a place to host screen shots. Flickr is the best place for photos (IMHO) but they ask that all the images you post be photos (not that they're rabid about that). But now there's SCRNSHOTS.com. Unlimited screen shot uploads. You can tag them for easy searching. The photo below is a screen shot of scrnshots.com and it is hosted on scrnshots.com. How recursive is that!

It works pretty much like flickr. Take a screen shot and save it on your computer. Upload it, add a description and tags. Embed it using the provided html. They do ask that you link back to them which is the same thing flickr asks.

On the social side, I've found that people frequently comment on shots. It's fun to browse around and look at the shots other people are taking. I'm going to try to post at least one interesting shot per day and I'll try to comment on any interesting ones that I find.

I am very happy to have this available. I'm not sure what the financial model is for this. I'm hoping they don't disappear anytime soon. Flickr seems to be going strong, especially now that they got bought. Maybe google will buy this one.

LewisC

Blog Directories

What is a blog directory? A blog directory is basically a catalog of blogs. Some give you a direct link and most will allow you to enter some kind of descriptive text and a category for the blog. Many directories will also track statistics and may even offer ranking based on visitors. Of course, many directories offer a community where you can join groups and leave comments.




I don't spend a lot of time registering for directories. 1) it takes a lot of time that I could be writing, 2) different directories have various rules for inclusion, 3) I think the search engines are aware that directories are a type of link exchange and discount them, 4) I have participated in several directories on various blogs and none of them ever sent me much in the way of visitors.




There are a few directories that I have registered with that have sent me some traffic. A few of those are blogrush (which is more of a widget thingie than a directory), blogflux, blogcatalog and blogarama. Most of these I registered for a long time ago. I know some people who swear by directories and spend a small part of each day registering with them.




Regardless of that, I found a list of directories that seems to include most of the main sites. That would be RSS - Blog Directories.




Do you use directories? If you do, which ones have been successful for you?




LewisC

blog blogging

What if someone already wrote it?

A question I have been asked, and a concern I have thought of myself, is the question, "What if it's already been said?" Have you wanted to post on a blog topic and then thought about how many people may have blogged in that topic before you? How many people may have been more original on the topic? Did that make you stop and walk away from the keyboard?




To digress for a second, I get quite a few writer newsletters. I usually let them accumulate in my inbox and then read a bunch all at one time. One of the newsletters that I really like is WrteSuccess. Maybe one day I will write up a list of newsletters that I like but that's not the topic today.




Today's WriteSuccess had a very good quote from a master writer, CS Lewis.




"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." --C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)




Add blogging to literature and art and that answers the question. What if someone already wrote it? So what, give it your spin. Be honest. Write.

blog blogging

Should I Move to my own Domain?

I am writing quite a few different blogs now, on very different topics. I've had several people tell me that should move to my own domains and dump blogger.com.




When I ask why, no one has any really good reasons. "You'll make more money!" Really, where are the statistics for that? "People don't trust blogspot.com blogs!" Really, who doesn't? I read plenty of blogspot blogs. I know a lot of people who read blogspot blogs.




The only argument that I can give some credence to is that if blogger shuts down for some reason, I would be in trouble. That part is true. I don't think google is going to shut down blogger in the near future and I am not sure that blogging is what I plan to do in the long term.




What do you think? Are you afraid to use blogger as a blog platform? Why? If you are using blogger, are you nervous about it at all?

blog blogging

Getting hits on your blog

Everyone wants to get more hits on their blog. I am trying a new service as an experiment. You may have heard of it, Blogrush.




With Blogrush, you sign up and add your blog. They give you some javascript to add to your blog. The widget will display 5 links related to the subject of your blog. Each time someone views your blog, you get a "credit". That means that for each page view, your blog will show up in someone else's widget.




I've already gotten a few hits from the service. I plan to give it some time and see if it's worth the real estate it takes up.




If you want to sign up, do me a favor and please use my referral link. You will still get your credits but I will get additional credits each time your page is loaded. My referral link is http://www.blogrush.com/r32050784




Thanks,




LewisC

blog blogging

AnswerTips Are Enabled

I'm trying an experiment. I have enabled Answers.com's AnswerTips. Do you have a question about a word on this blog? Just double click the word and see what happens.




You should get a pop up like the image to the left. You can click on any word on the blog (any word at all) and get a definition and some information about that word.




Is this something you find useful? The goal of something like this is to keep your readers on your site as long as possible. If someone can get information without ever leaving the site, you meet your goal.




The downside to a tool like this, and it's not really a downside per se, is that if people don't know it's available, they aren't likely to try double clicking on random blogs.




But, if it does become popular, you'll be supporting a neat feature. I call this an experiment because I am seeing if it slows my page down at all. If it doesn't, I would have to call it a winner.

blog blogging