July 3rd, 2009

Tags: Blogging Tools, Poll Results, Polls, WordPress

Responses

Comments

Mosey (20 comments.) says:

7/3/2009 at 7:37 pm

As already pointed out: like many, I’ve almost always used the Write Panel and am most familiar with the interface. I do worry about using other methods, because it’s always good to check what the post will look like using the ‘Preview’ function before it goes out.
Kevin Paquet of Pinoy Teens (10 comments.) says:

7/3/2009 at 7:46 pm

Another reason why most people write using the Write Panel of WordPress could be custom fields, like in the case of fine tuning posts with All In One SEO.
Hicham (36 comments.) says:

7/3/2009 at 7:56 pm

It’s pretty much for taking full control on everything via the admin dashboard rather than desktop applications.
soz (3 comments.) says:

7/3/2009 at 8:08 pm

Maybe this is the reason, but maybe many people can not find a good desktop app.
Ted Szukalski (6 comments.) says:

7/3/2009 at 9:09 pm

It will be interesting to see a comparison, let’s say in 12 months. I am sure mobile use will increase dramatically as the smarp phones become more popular.
jobin martin (1 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 12:24 am

I use the write panel for my posts, because I can save the post as a draft and make changes to it whenever needed. It is simple to use and saves drafts automatically.
- Bob Almond (1 comments.) says:
  
  7/4/2009 at 1:10 pm
  
  Actually, most of the desktop apps do this too – I use WLW and find it a whole lot easier when I just want to get content up there quickly.
  - klosterpink (1 comments.) says:
    
    2/20/2010 at 8:07 pm
    
    Hi Bob. I’m wondering if you are familiar as to how to “post to draft” using feeddemon and wordpress? shot in the dark, but thought i’d ask. thanks!
Theresa Cahill (1 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 2:01 am

I’m just a control freak and really like to do my posts totally hands on. I’m sure if I made use of some of the apps out there it might be able to be done quicker, but I’d still be logging in to tweak this or fix that
Ryan A. Smith (7 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 2:39 am

The best method is whatever works best at your hands.
- Kevin Paquet of Pinoy Teens (10 comments.) says:
  
  7/4/2009 at 3:07 am
  
  Ironic but true.
  
  There are times that one works better in this situation the other better in that. But in normal situations the Write Panel gets the job best done with Custom Fields available for fine tune.
Amit Cohen (1 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 10:01 am

I’m Using ScribeFire. A FireFox plugin.
Easy & fun
Patrick James (1 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 5:15 pm

I think that the reason most people use the write panel is that it comes with WordPress!

I find it it be a perfectly good place to create posts but most people don’t know there are alternatives and just use what they’ve got.

I use an blog editor on my Mac (MarsEdit) because it is such a nice writing environment, comes with a super macro capability, can open posts in another even more powerful text editor if need be. However most importantly with a desktop blog editor I just feel that it is really very accessible, if you like, it is just there.
- V. Ivanov (1 comments.) says:
  
  7/6/2009 at 4:17 pm
  
  Yeah, precisely. Like IE with Windows: many people use Internet Explorer, because it’s already in Windows.
D-Dub says:

7/4/2009 at 5:40 pm

In my view, they’re not mutually exclusive things. I have always done all of my composing and formatting in WLW, because it provides a number of useful features, but I always upload the post to my site as a draft. Then I use the WP write panel to make use of plugins and custom fields before publishing.

Incidentally, after online modification the post can be retrieved by WLW for further formatting changes. This is a really great feature when you’ve viewed the WP preview and realize the photo isn’t sized quite right, for example. I just retrieve the draft with all the changes I made online and reformat things in WLW.

I can’t imagine blogging solely one way or the other.

Regards,

D-Dub
Babs (37 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 5:59 pm

I honestly don’t get the concept of desktop applications.

Maybe it’s because I have 24-7 internet access at home, sometimes use other computers, and find it easier to automatically cross post via a few additional WP plugins. *shrugs*
Harson (2 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 8:17 pm

I use WP dashboard panel because besides posting i can also go through latest developments in WordPress-sphere and also i can see what’s going on with my blog.

i can see if plugins neeed updates or if there are spams or comments in the queue.

Windows writer is also a good tool but i think when you need to edit the already-published piece you’ve got to go again to dashboard.
Ron Hager (1 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 8:39 pm

I have blogs on 3 different platforms. I can easily post to any of them using Windows Live Writer (WLW) which I have been using since shortly after it was released. I like it because it allows me to draft my posts without having to invoke the specific dashboard for that blog. I can make all the mistakes that I normally do without messing up my blog as I was prone to do before WLW. Yes, there are a few things I occasionally need to do within the dashboard, but by and large those are rare for me.

I do very much agree with Ryan Smith, the best tool to use is the one that we are accustomed to working with and that works well for us. But if another tool is highly recommended, we should be willing to assess if that tool will accomplish what we need in a more productive manner.
Taiyo Johnson (1 comments.) says:

7/4/2009 at 9:58 pm

Why type your post at all?

I use/have used Jott (when it was free), Dail2Do, and other voice-to-text applications (like Google Voice. I call it GoogleCasting) to blog right from my mobile phone.
The text translation isn’t perfect but it’s not a bad starting point and you could edit it later. The great part is that you create a written post AND a podcast all in one shot.

That only works to wordpress.com blogs
But here is a workaround for self-hosted blogs. Create a wordpress.com blog. Post to that and then export them to wordpress.org. It’s fairly easy (to me anyway)

I like posting this way because I can capture posts wherever I am when the inspiration hits. And that is not always when I am in front of the computer.

Most recently I have been using Google Voice to do this.
I leave myself a message on my Google Voice voicemail and it transcribes it (poorly, unfortunately) and creates a recording. Later I can send that by email to my wordpress site (or just copy and past the text and embed the voice recording).

Voicemail only gives you three minutes to record, but I have another method I use to create longer (possibly unlimited time?)recordings. It is a little much to get into here but I talk about it on my blog.
I am looking forward to the day when the transcriptions are spot on accurate.

Another way to blog if you are away from the computer, laptop, mobile phone, even electricity is to use an Alphasmart word processor.

I bought an old one on ebay for 25USD and it was the best purchase I have ever made. I can relax on the couch, sit in the park, hang upside down from a tree and type my thoughts. I have been using mine for well over six months running off of the same AA batteries I put in there OVER SIX MONTHS AGO. How is THAT for battery life?!
When I want to post the info to my blog I just connect it via a simple cord to the USB port and it acts like a keyboard. I go to my wordpress blog editor, hit the send button on the Alphasmart, and publish.

I didn’t post all this to brag (ok. maybe a little) but mainly because this stuff excites me and it is really cool, convenient, effective. There is a world of possibilities out there: experiment!
Moby (1 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 3:17 am

I use WLW most often but as many have pointed out sometimes it is just easier to use the admin panel for more advanced functions. WLW has a decent but small list of plugins to extend its capabilities.
Sriraj (6 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 4:50 am

Does that winner ‘Posting through WP admin write panel’ include copy pasting from Word? As that’s what I do most.
- Kevin Paquet of Pinoy Teens (10 comments.) says:
  
  7/5/2009 at 6:17 am
  
  I think so, since you cannot publish through MS Word or WordPad.
Gagan (1 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 9:06 am

Even I use the Admin Panel from 2 years and I was not even aware that there are other desktop applications too for the same purpose
kang dadang (1 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 12:50 pm

I have blogs on 2 different platforms. I can easily post to any of them using Windows Live Writer (WLW) which I have been using since shortly after it was released. I like it because it allows me to draft my posts without having to invoke the specific dashboard for that blog. I can make all the mistakes that I normally do without messing up my blog as I was prone to do before WLW. Yes, there are a few things I occasionally need to do within the dashboard, but by and large those are rare for me.

Two by blogspot. easy and very familiar
Robin (1 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 1:17 pm

I like using Zoundry Raven as my desktop application at work mostly, that way I can work on a post sometimes when I have a free moment without opening up a webpage. Plus at work all I have is IE and I hate using it, so I try to use desktop apps whenever possible.
benwaynet (3 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 3:59 pm

Like others have said I use WLW because I have multiple blogs and I use a desktop rss reader, so when I want to post about an item from my reader. I use the built in tools to go from the rss reader to WLW and then craft and upload my post.
original (1 comments.) says:

7/5/2009 at 6:36 pm

I like the control i get from the write panel. But i would love to find something i could run on my phone that would allow me to post to my blog on the move like what twitter allows me to do. Problem with that is the sheer time it would take to write anything of any depth/length.
Atul (2 comments.) says:

7/6/2009 at 6:21 am

me also prefer WP write panel method
Matthew (1 comments.) says:

7/7/2009 at 9:52 am

I agree with having the plugins features available while posting, but if you don’t need those I highly recommend Blog Desk, an offline editor. I’ve been using it for well over two years and I like it so much better than Windows Live Writer. In fact, the was a mention about it on this site about two years ago, when I wrote in about it. Check it out.
http://www.blogdesk.org, it’s free and works great!
Best,
Matthew
The Winning Attitude.com
Ambrose (1 comments.) says:

7/7/2009 at 6:06 pm

I personally use the write panel with the tinyMCE Advanced plugin. Probably the best general purpose wordpress plugin I’ve ever used.

Tweetbacks

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