Windows Live Writer: Blogging made easier!

I always used to wish if I could take my own sweet time offline to write a post and publish it once I am done. That was not possible till I found Windows Live Writer.

To me blogging was always something I did online. From typing a post to proof reading it to publishing it. Typos used to creep in and I always had to go back and edit a post even after I published it. I tried a few Offline Blogging Applications. But none of them was worth the bargain. They were very basic and I don’t think any of they really understood what a blogger wants. I think Windows Live Writer understands a blogger better than many of the blogging platforms available today.

Live Writer provides a blogger with many options, options that many blogging platforms, including blogger can not give you. The best thing about Live Writer is the Preview Option. Live Writer downloads your log template so that it can show you the post as it is going to appear in the blog. From hyperlinking to inserting pictures to embedding maps to you name it and it is like Live Writer has it. Following the Google and Firefox steps, Microsoft has also allowed others to develop plugins and addons for Live Writer.

It makes blogging easier is one thing.It also makes blogging much more interesting than it was!

wibiya: make your blog a bit more interactive!

It's toolbar time for blogs. I don't know if you have noticed the blue toolbar on techedIN. It is there because I wanted to make techedIN a bit more interactive than it was. This feature on techedIN is brought to you by Wibiya, an Israeli start-up that is specialized in creating 'customized web-based toolbars.'

What value does it add to your blog? Well, see for yourself how it adds value to techedIN.

1. One click and you can translate the page into 11 languages, one at a time. Wibiya uses the Translation Feature offered by Google to do this. When you click on the 'Translate' button, you are redirected to the tool that Google uses to translate a page. The user interface of techedIN remains as it is. Only the content gets translated. 
2. Another feature I liked is the option to view random posts. Click on the Random Post button and it will take you to one of the posts on techedIN which you would have otherwise missed out, as it is archived.
3. The toolbar can also give you a list of recent posts. One click and you get a list of recent posts. Click on the one you want to read and it will take you there.
4. The toolbar also has options to let readers subscribe to the RSS Feed or share a post with a community. 
5. Wibiya also gives you an option to share notifications with your readers. It is a flash pop-up that shows up as you load the blog. I toyed with the idea of using it as a pop-up always annoys readers. I thought I wouldn't use it. I changed my mind when I saw how effectively it can be used to interact with the readers. I have adapted the notification pop-up [I don't know if I should call it a pop up. It is a flash-object that shows up as the blog loads and goes off on its own in a few seconds.] I christened the pop-up as 'News @ techedIN' I thought it can be used to share IT related news that I find interesting with the readers. No harm in it, what do you think?

 Wibiya also gives you features like creating a Blog Community on Facebook and promoting it on your blog. I decided against using that feature for now, as I do not have enough time in my hand to promote a community.

You can also let readers tweet your posts. I decided against using it as I already have retweet option enabled for the posts on my blog.

What more? Wibiya has a community to help users tackle the toolbar management issues.

And I really liked the way it looks on my blog. I received my first compliment from a reader for making the blog look good, after I installed the toolbar.

I think you should go ahead and give it a shot. And don't forget to tell me what you felt about it!

Image from Wibiya's Site

Hunting Blogger Templates!!

Ever since I took this idea of blogging into my head and joined Blogger.com I wanted my blogs to look 'cool'. I wanted my blogs to look cool because I visited hundreds of blogs that looked cool and different. The templates that Blogger gave me looked very ordinary. Sure, I can tweak the templates using the Layout Options and Widgets in Blogger. But that was never enough, the kind of person I am. Now, I have no idea how to put complicated codes in place to make my blog look the way I want. Therefore, the only option left was go template hunting.

I googled 'Blogger Templates' and got a list of sites that let you pick stylish templates for your blog. I took a look at the first ten of the 6000000 plus results Google offered me. I went to each of them to see how I can pick one 'cool' template for my site. There were many of them. And I finally settled for BTemplates.

There are reasons why I chose BTemplates. First of all the templates come free of cost. Then, these guys at BTemplates offer a wide variety of templates. Two columns, three columns, four columns, rounded, funky - you name it and they got it there. Another thing, they got their list arranged in such a way that it is pretty easy to look at what they have on offer and make your pick.  But what impressed me the most was  the way they packaged their product.

The guys at work for BTemplates pack their templates in zip files. You can take a look at the template, go for a live demo and download the file if you liked what you were looking at. The zip file got two things. One, the template. Two, detailed instructions to help you install the template.

Here is what I did: I downloaded the zip file that contained the template and unzipped it. Then, I clicked the Layout Tab on my blogger dashboard. Then, I opened the html code option. There is a button there that asks you to upload your template. But before clicking that I saved my original template on my computer, using the link that helps us back up the file. Once I uploaded the template I wanted to, there was a message that asked me if I wanted to keep some of the widgets. I clicked 'No'. And bingo, the new template was loaded and my blog looked very cool to me.

I am happy!!