Jake’s Life

A few folks have e-mailed me lately and asked what tools I use on my blog. Well, on top of the visible ones, being Wordpress and Windows Live Writer (I’ve blogged on how much I like WLW before), I use a lot that may be invisible to my readers. This post will be dedicated to them (and how free they are).

ScribeFire: A great blogging tool I haven’t talked much about is ScribeFire. It’s a Firefox plugin which embeds a blogging app into your browser and makes certain things a lot easier. For example, when a tab is open and you create a new entry, go to insert a link and the URL of that page is automatically there for you. It gives you a WYSIWYG editor as well as a raw HTML code view. Control your previous entries and Wordpress categories from ScribeFire as well.

Paint.NET: Paint.NET is something I’ve used for a while now. I have Photoshop, but if all I need to do is create a thumbnail, modify a screenshot, or crop a photo, Paint.NET is much faster and more streamlined.

WebShot: If all I want is to grab a quick screenshot of a particular web site I usually use WebShot. It’s a very small app that lets you grab a screenshot and output it to a certain size. The great thing about it is that it will grab the entire page, not just one monitor’s worth, but everything from top to bottom.

Nick e-mailed me today and copied me on some PHP errors he got while commenting on my posts today. One had to do with SpamBam, the other was a general database error. I recently upgraded Wordpress to version 2.5, so that ay have something to do with it.

I tried to duplicate the error in Internet Explorer (not that you would use such browser, Nick), Firefox, and Safari for Windows. I also tried on the Blackberry browser and Opera Mini 4.1. Is anyone else experiencing any errors while commenting or browsing my site?

I commented in November how much my blog traffic shot up that month and how my outlook for December was pretty low because of the Holidays. Well, I was right.

It looks like 2008 is off to a good start though, just getting into the last week with about 1300.

I wanted to share a few other things I’ve done to my blog, mainly on your suggestions, to enhance readership and promote more interaction, and in turn more traffic and the opportunity for me to meet more people through my site. I’ve installed a few Wordpress plugins that will help:

• Subscribe to Comments: A very simple plugin that allows those who comment to notify them of follow up comments through e-mail. My blog will send you e-mails of all future comments, and when the post becomes old or you’ve had enough banter, you click the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. Simple! Just check the box in the comment form.
  
• Highlight Author Comments: This plugin is more geared toward me, and basically displays my comments on a post in bold.
  
• Comment Luv: Probably my favorite, and should be yours too. Even though a lot of my readers already read other readers’ blogs (let me know if I lost you there), it creates more traffic for you. When you check this box in the comment form, and you type in your blog’s URL, it grabs the latest post title from your blog and displays it.
  

In the last week you may have noticed that when posting comments it inserts your latest post title in it. I installed CommentLuv, a Wordpress plugin that when you enter your blog’s URL in the comment form it grabs the title of your most recent post and displays it.

While not the most prestigious award ceremony (mostly it consists of me typing, you reading, and me having a beer to celebrate), and superficial at best, here they are. They are mainly from the blogs I read daily or have on my blogroll. If you’re not here and think you should be, send me an e-mail.

Just remember…my blog is the USS Enterprise, and I am Captain Picard. Make it so, bitches.

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Most Insightful Blog

Spo-Reflections

 

Spo-Reflections is a blog that I’ve followed for a long time but only recently added to my blogroll, mainly due to laziness in organizing my Google Reader feeds. From his reasons for choosing the name Ur-Spo as his blogger pen name to the categories he posts in on blog, you can tell he’s a shrink. No, seriously, he is.

Blogger I’d Mind Meld With

jay+gay=me

Jay blogs pretty frequently, and it’s always usually about something that makes you think. He’s originally from the Caribbean, and from what I hear coming out in any way, shape, or form there is really hard to do, and I think his coming out process and inner battle with his sexuality was a big more epic than most’s are. I’d love to take a peek inside his head and see what’s in there.

Favorite Windows Mobile Blog

The Boy Genius Report

 

Anyone who reads my blog knows I’m a big fan of Windows Mobile and other mobile technologies. While I subscribe to several blogs that cover that topic, if I had to choose one it would be The Boy Genius Report. Besides the news stories, reviews, and un-boxings, there are also several photo galleries of different devices.

Wordpress Jedi

Lorelle On Wordpress

If you are just starting with Wordpress, or you’ve been using it since the beginning, you can learn from Master Lorelle. This blog provides so much information on the Wordpress blogging platform it’s sickening. From the small tweaks to fix something only you are bothered by to the good ol’ overhaul you’ve been planning, and everything in between. Bookmark, subscribe, however you do it, but read it. Cheesy as it may sound, the Force is strong in this one, hrmm, yes.

Biggest Fan Award

Path to Enlightened Insanity via Defacted Musings

Here’s one blogger that likes me! Seriously though, during my Coming Out posts he said some nice things about me, and between our IM chats and talks on the phone he has always been there when and if I needed him.

Gayest Blogger

A Boy’s Life…in Utah

Maybe I’m alone in this one, but of all of the blogs I read daily, this one seems like the blogger is sipping a diet cola, legs crossed, E! on the TV in the background, and Christina Aguilera as the ringtone for the celly.

Heartthrob Blogger

Troystopher

Seriously though, you’ve seen pictures, right? One of the first I ever saw of him was one holding a baby girl, and my heart melted. His blog is private now but if you’re lucky enough he’ll give you access.

Solitary Blog Award

Our View on Superior

I’ll be honest here, this is what love should be. While the blogger is monogamously partnered and technically isn’t living in solitude, I get the feeling through his wording and the overall feel of his blog that if he were to live alone in the entire world, not another soul in sight or in mind, save for his partner, he’d be alright with that.

Blogger I’d Stalk

Paint The Blog Orange

Well seriously, V. Jay, what do you expect? You dangle carrots in front of my face, giving me tiny bites of your blogging goodness, then disappear for a week at a time. How else am I supposed to get my fix unless I follow you around, take photos, set up video surveillance in your bedroom, and put a tail on you?

Blog I Look Forward To

Frozen Underwear

Frozen Underwear. Yes, it’s cold where he comes from, but that does little to detract from his blogging. It’s always great when I open Google Reader and see he’s posted something new!

Easy Sleazy Blog Award

The Neighbors Will Hear

Would you really give this shining medal of valor(-ian disease) to any other blog other than the defunct Note For Rent? Four craigslist hookups in one day and enough time to clean up the house for Thanksgiving. I’m no angel, but that’s outright ho-ish. But, we all have our vices and addictions in one form or another.

Favorite Dirty Blog

Dudetube

We all have one, and boy, this is mine!

Blogger I’d Love to Photograph

Closet Frat Boy

I’ve been keeping up on the Frat Boy’s posts lately and would love to see who actually writes the blog. Because he’s in a frat he doesn’t feel comfortable posting his picture, but come on, he’s a frat guy! Who wouldn’t want to see a picture of him?!

Please Post More Award

Already Bruised

A very close runner up to my favorite blog, Already Bruised missed it by the lack of posting. Who am I to criticize his blogging ferocity though, as I have been through many weeks where I’m busy or just don’t want to post. His blog was the first place that really inspired me to post photo blogs of my day, and so far I still like his the best. Definitely a cutie too!

I am not sure what, but something happened to the last week of posts and comments. I just re-posted the entries.

The comment form now gives you the option to subscribe to comments on that post by e-mail. I’m still working on ways to give readers the option to subscribe to individual post comments through a customized feed instead of Wordpress’ default subscription to all comments.

 

I’ve been looking for a way to manage my Wordpress blog while away from my computer. Pocket Internet Explorer can only do so much and while Opera Mobile renders the Admin back end well, it’s too slow for my taste (and T-Mobile’s EDGE network). The WPhone plugin for Wordpress formats the admin interface of your blog originally for an iPhone, but works with most mobile browsers.

You can do everything from the mobile interface that you can from the original one, save for uploading files and a few other things.

[WPhone plugin for Wordpress 2.1 and up] via [Wordpress.org]

Let me preface this post by saying that both of these blog tools have served me well in the past. When I first began using Wordpress on my hosted server I found w. Bloggar to be the best tool available for me to use: It was fast as hell, advanced, and did a great job. Then came Windows Live Writer (which I have previously posted about) and I switched to this. Lately I have been going back and forth using both since w. Bloggar had an update last month, but it’s time to choose. Hopefully my fellow bloggers can learn a few things as to maybe which blog tool would serve them best.

I won’t be covering installation and setup as they are both equally simple. I’ll be covering options and tools which I use most often (and I see others using most often), such as general formatting of posts, editing of previous posts, drafts for later publishing, inserting media such as screenshots, images, videos, and photos, and using features such as categories, tagging, etc. I’ll also be covering some annoyances I find in blogging tools and how both of these apps stand up.

Layout

As said above, w. Bloggar is fast as hell. Its layout is simple (but then again I’m using Windows Vista, so anything can seem simple if it’s not transparent and shiny). It’s layout is also pretty advanced in terms of functionality, putting many options at your fingertips. Any text formatting (bold, italic, strike), inserting (links, photo links, uploads) and coding needs (Javascript, code commenting, HTML code insertion) is all immediately available for your mouse to click on it.

Windows Live Writer’s layout is very simple and direct, with everything you need right up front as well. The sidebar holds information on your blog (in my case Wordpress) and links to the Dashboard and main site. Underneath it are sections containing your drafts, previous posts, and commands to insert items into the post you’re working on. The user interface blends well with Vista (it matches the rest of the Live family), and you can even change the colors of the menu interface to match your specific desktop theme.

Composing a Post

Composing your post in w. Bloggar is fairly simple, but I will say that you have to know at least some basic HTML to be on top of what’s going on. Any formatting that is controlled by HTML on your blog shows its code in the main window of w. Bloggar. For example, a link in your post will not appear as linked text, it will show all of the code.

All commands are executed with a button on the menu bar (or you can enter the code yourself), but either way the code is displayed. This is not to say that you only have to look at your post littered with HTML code. There is also a Preview tab in the main window that you can use to view it as it looks without the code. It’s important to note that this is not true WYSIWYG due to not being able to edit in the preview tab.

Live Writer gives you a WYSIWYG editor, letting you compose and edit your post using a word processor approach. You don’t see your HTML code as you format your writing, and it even offers you the option of downloading your site’s template to view how it will look after you post it.

Inserting Media

Inserting media into your post is easy with w. Bloggar, although there are some extra steps involved for inserting images. To insert an image file into your post you can choose one of two ways: (1) insert the code for an image already on the web, or (2) upload the image from w. Bloggar and choosing to insert it into the current post. While uploading the file then inserting it may not seem like a huge deal, it can only be done one at a time.

To insert media like YouTube (or other) videos all you have to do in w. Bloggar is choose Insert HTML Code, then paste the code from the media’s web site.

Live Writer, in a lot of ways, was made for bloggers who use a lot of media in their posts. In fact, it has an entire Insert menu on the sidebar where you can choose to insert any number of things.

When you insert photos into a post you choose them from your local hard drive and when you publish the post it automatically uploads them for you. With its video insertion menu you can type the URL of YouTube videos and it will post them, as well as other video providers. If you have a Soapbox account you can insert those videos. The Insert Website Image feature allows you to input a URL and Live Writer will grab a screenshot of it in your browser.

Other Features

Windows Live Writer allows you to postpone your posts depending on whether your blogging platform supports it, which makes it easy to keep a steady flow of posts on your blog by composing posts when you get those bursts of inspiration. w. Bloggar doesn’t support this.

Live Writer also allows you to post entries into multiple categories much easier than w. Bloggar, which allows you to post in one from the main window (to post to multiple categories you must open a menu and check the boxes for the categories you would like the post in).

Live Writer allows you to tag your posts for several social bookmarking platforms by default, and lets you add others to use in the future. In w. Bloggar you must use the standard insert HTML code feature. Live Writer also shows your previous posts in the sidebar, waiting to be edited when you realize you’ve messed up a link, fellow blogger’s name, or were just way too drunk to blog. Live Writer presents them visually in a WYSIWYG manner, whereas w. Bloggar shows them in robotic code view.

Windows Live Writer is also extensible, allowing you to install plugins which provide additional functionality. You can check out the entire gallery of plugins to see what kind of tools are open to you when you use Live Writer.

Conclusion

Both of these tools have their pros and cons, strengths and limitations. They both support a huge variety of blogging platforms such as Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, Mambo, Drupal, and Live Spaces. They both provide most of the functionality a blogger would need from their go-to application, but one of them provides this functionality in a more straight forward and simpler fashion: Windows Live Writer. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if you run XP or Vista, or what blogging platform you use (as long as it is a widely used one of course), Windows Live Writer would serve you well as your main blogging app.

What app do you use to post to your blog? Windows Live Writer? w. Bloggar? Ecto? Word? *shudder* Your blog’s administration interface? I’d like to know!

[Windows Live Writer] [w. Bloggar]