Trying Something New

OK ... so on Craig's  suggestion, I downloaded Windows Live Writer, a free blogging program that lets you do WYSIWYG entries and formats them for various blogging platforms (Typepad, Blogger, Wordpress, etc.). 

I've had some troubles in the past with Typepad's various little eccentricities (photo sizing, etc), and I know Laura has as well.  And I hate posting, going to read the post, finding typos and spacing glitches and whatnot, going back to the entry window, re-saving the changes, checking again, finding a comma missing, and on and on. 

This is allowing me to see the post as it will appear on my blog even as I type it and insert the pics, sizing them by dragging and stretching (woohoo! no more using Typepad's craptastic photo sizing utility! ) and even giving them a cute lil border.

(What better way to test this than with a cute puppy pic?  Say "hi" to Caesar.)

 

Another cool feature is that it remembers links - so if I just type Laura and then type V into the space for the url, it gives me a dropdown menu and sure enough, there's Vitamin Sea.  VERY cool, because normally I have to open another tab, click on the link to bring it up, then copy and paste.

Although I'm typing this before I'm actually going to post it, of course - it's promising to let me to post exactly what I see here. 

As much as I am loathe to say anything nice about Microsoft - this seems to work pretty sweet.  I had to install the Windows.NET package (which I found here, along with the inevitable accompanying Service Pack to fix all that was wrong with it) in order to let Windows Live Writer work.  But it seems like a good solution to a bunch of niggling little problems.

If you're a blogger, look into it.

Comments

[Laura]

you're killing me. I'm laughing so hard right now!!!
I'll check into this too, this could be the trick! I'm also looking into Wordpress, although I've heard people seem to have problems loading photos onto it? hmm,
I'll check it out tonight, after I go to the store, get dinner, go back to work and then come home and collapse.
no wait.. i'll check it out tomorrow. pace, pace, focus, focus....

[Laura]

by the way, do you have the firefox extension that saves the url? for example, If I just click on "tr" in the address bar, your website url will pop up and I can simply go into it without opening up another window. It saves all previous sites that I've been to as well.

[Allie]

That's Antony.

[platypus]

That sounds great. I've only been blogging for five minutes and already Blogger's winding me up. If it solves the problem of me having to try twenty times before it'll let me upload a picture it would be well worth it!

[CircusKelli]

HI Cae--ANTONY!

[kerrianne]

Ok. Caesar is adorable. I have no other intelligent, relative comment to give in lieu of the predominant topic of this post, but that Caesar. Boy is he adorable.
: )

[StampyDurst]

Well, Caesar or Antony either just saw the biggest steak ever or he has a thyroid problem (or he's doing his best Marty Feldman imitation - which would be the best of all worlds).

Glad to hear you solved your blogging problems. Is there anything like this for the mac? Or am I destined to be a blogging retard for all eternity?

[Nils]

Well, Stampy, I'm not sure about the Mac thing, but whenever Macrosoft comes up with a new idea it takes the Mac people about a week to come up with a version of the sae idea that also slices and dices vegetables, picks out and irons your clothes, and solves world hunger. So just keep looking around.

[Squirl]

Caesar is so cute!

[Bucky Four-Eyes]

Nilbo, did you ever think people would be telling you how cute your puppies are?

[Ortizzle]

Thanks for the info. Maybe during the Christmas hols I will have time to fiddle around with it... cuz I hate cutting and pasting all the links, too. Cute pic of ...Antony!

[Nils]

No, Bucky .. whenever I hear "Nice puppies", I think of you.

[pedal]

Drivers who run red lights should be punished severly