Works for Me Wednesday is having a theme today about blogging tips. I am new to blogging and don’t have any tips, really. But since my site is about sharing things I have tried, I thought I would share what I use to write my posts. I use Windows Live Writer. Live Writer is completely free to download (they try to get you to download a ton of other stuff with it, but you do not have to – I didn’t). It works for Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad and others.
Here are some of my favorite things about Live Writer (other than it is FREE-yep-no cost). Without a doubt my favorite is that when you set up your Live Writer with your blog, you set it so when you are drafting a post it will appear EXACTLY as it will on your site. Your background is on there, your font is the same style, color, and size as your site. Your width is exactly as it will be. So you can see where line breaks will occur and exactly where pictures will be placed. That makes it worth it for me right there!
My second favorite feature is how easy things are to make your blog more efficient. When posting a link you have the option (with one click) to make that link open in another window. This way that person does not have to back their way through to get back to you. Everyone is really into doing the “no-follow” on links, too. Well, Live Writer gives you the option to “no-follow” a link with just the click of a mouse. No need to look through the code and type in stuff just so. It is all done with one click. Oh, and you can tell it to always hyperlink certain text. For instance it will automatically hyperlink We are THAT Family every time I type it.
Do you love to include lots of pictures like I do? Live Writer allows you to crop, tilt, rotate, watermark, and add effects such as making the image black and white or sepia. You do it all right there on the draft page. No opening new software and saving and transferring. You can make the picture ANY size you want. Not just small, medium, or large. You can put it ANYWHERE in your post and see exactly where it is going to show up, not just guess. You can hyperlink that picture, too.
Live Writer allows you to directly connect with your You Tube account to add your videos to your site. Once again, no opening new windows and copying and pasting.
You can also add maps to your site right from the draft page. I have not done this yet. My content doesn’t really need a map reference. But it is there if I need it.
When you are finished with your post, you can preview it as it would appear on your blog. With the adds, widgets and buttons. Just to make sure it all looks good before you publish it.
Once you use Live Writer to create a post, that post appears on Blogger or Wordpress, so you can manage it directly from there or on Live Writer. In other words, you can create a post in Live Writer and publish it (or schedule it) and go directly to your dashboard online to edit it if you choose. They are connected. You can even edit posts that were written directly on Blogger or Wordpress (not on Live Writer initially) on Live Writer after the fact.
If and when you install it, just unclick all of the things except Live Writer. Windows wants you to download all they have, apparently. When it asks you if it can create a temporary post, let it. It removes it within a second and it helps Live Writer get all of your parameters set.
You can still categorize, tag, label and schedule posts just as you would on your own dashboard.
I love Windows Live Writer. Can you tell? Well it works for me. It may work for you. Try it.
This post was linked with other blogging tips at Works for Me Wednesday on We are THAT Family.
What type of blog do you have? Blogger? Wordpress? Typepad? Tell us.
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