In The Bloginning 5 - My Blogging Tools
27 02 2007So which blogging tools do I use?
Simply…
My Moleskine – In my opinion the most wonderful offline tool there is. I have several and I always have one with me. I use it to jot down my ideas as soon as I get them… particularly when I’m travelling. I may be in the middle of writing a business case or brief at work and suddenly get a whisper of an idea. I immediately jot it down in my Moleskine. I find if I don’t do that the idea can be gone in a flash, and I’d never remember it. My Moleskine allows me to write down the idea as soon as it comes to me, then I can put it aside and return to it later. My Moleskine (pronounced Mol-es-skina by the way), is home to entire draft articles, which I flesh out when putting them online, as well as several half-finished parts of articles and ideas that I’ll probably return to at a later date or dispense with entirely. There is something about this little book that has created 1000’s of passionate fans. I’m one of them.
My Mont Blanc fountain pen. I use a computer for most of the day as well. I’m an avid texter. But when I write nothing quite makes writing as much a pleasure as when doing so with a well-crafted fountain pen. Fountatin pens are one of my obsessions and have been for a long time – I’ve collected them for several years.
BlogJet. I compose 99.9% of my articles off-line using this tool. It gives me control, but more importantly it has saves me from losing entire blog posts (although Wordpress’s autosave is now a lot better than it was). BlogJet works for me, even more so now they’ve brought out BlogJet 2. I tried Windows Live Writer, but I didn’t really like it and soon returned to BlogJet. Can’t imagine blogging without it.
My Wordpress blogging platform – well, I would say that wouldn’t I? But For ease of use and template variety and the sheer creative customization you can do (and that it inspires) with this platform you cannot beat Wordpress! The sky really is the limit with this tool and it has helped my blogging in no small way. At some point my plan is to list all the neat plugins I’ve been able to take advantage of on my blog. It think that’s on my To Do List, which means it will get done. Soon!
Over to you – do you use any particular blogging tools?
Next: How do I get ideas?
Technorati Tags: Moleskine, BlogJet, Wordpress, blogging
I use StumbleUpon to find things to write about. And a journal. Can’t forget that journal.
Only my brain, and that is fast deteriorating, although it sounds like a good idea.
Wordpress and my laptop are my basic tools. If I have an idea I will often email it to myself. I almost never write anything on paper (except at work if I’m marking something up) since my handwriting is terrible. Fireworks if I need an image altered or cropped. A text editor if I need to use some code as I often forget correct HTML syntax.
Joy… I never thought of using Stumble upon as a source of ideas…. but of course you’re right, there are so many interesting things on SU. You have to b e a fairly ardent Stumbler though!
Christine - Arrgh - I forgot to mention my laptop! I took it for granted…
I use Photoshop for my images - but when I use images I tend to just blog them from Flickr.
Dave - what’s a good idea? That your brain’s deteriorating?
My tools: WordPress, TextEdit, iTunes (for atmosphere) and my mind.
I was using a WP widget for Apple’s Dashboard Widgets that ties into the blog’s WP site and makes for more time-efficient posting, but I lost it in a system fubar I did! Maybe I’ll check it again and a few others to see what I could use. WP’s editor isn’t the greatest in Safari; much better in Firefox, but I like the feel of Safari better.
Sometimes the birds whisper suggestions in my ear… would they be a tool? Hmmm… LOL
In my recent job I’ve found myself spending a lot of time in a car without access to a computer, and I’ve wished I had a way to write. I’m horrible with pen and paper… the ideas come much faster than I can write, and it ends in little more than frustration. Perhaps, though, I should simply practice.
That said however, I’m sure when writing posts on the go I’d want to hit up Wikipedia or Google for more information on whatever it is I’m writing about, and would probably find myself frustrated by the inability to do so. Sadly, I don’t think I could get away with a laptop.
Rirath - sounds like you need something like a PDA with an integrated keyboard. I use my Ipaq6950 for writing stuff if I need to. It has my email so I can send things to myself while on the move. Great for getting ideas down, when you’re on the move and no computer and don’t like writing.
I have Mobile office, plus other note taking apps (and of course my games ;), and if I wanted to could actually do quite a more on it for blogging than I actually do. I was amazed at how quickly I learned to type on that tiny keyboard
You can surf the web on them - but they can be a slow unless you are using wi-fi. Anyway, just an idea - They are not cheap though - unfortunately.
I actually did game reviews for awhile for MobileTechReview.com, so I’ve owned a few Pocket PCs as well. My old Jornada 525 actually had a nifty Targus pocket keyboard that unfolded to the size of a full laptop keyboard… that was fairly nice. Wouldn’t really work in this situation though, even if I still had it, but I liked it quite a bit.
I’ve thought about a new Pocket PC or perhaps one of the newer Palm models, but honestly I think at this point I’d rather sock the cash into a low end laptop. Still, it’s worth taking another look around.
Rirath… Dell has a Latitude D420 that’s really nifty. It’s small and compact and slim with a full size keyboard. Doesn’t have built in media but it’s really quite cool. Oh and I have to compliment you again on your great blog…