Switching to the Blogger beta
Cor, this new version of Blogger is nice. Google has added some new features but not messed too much with the interface, which surprised me a bit - I thought they’d make it look much more like Gmail or Google Reader. Maybe that will come later.
But the new labels feature is well done, feeds are available for every label you create on your weblog, and the labels links are usefully, not obtrusively, added to existing posts. It’s also easy to browse through hundreds of old posts and add labels to them by checking a few boxes and selecting “Apply label”.
There’s a new WYSIWYG post editor, which I don’t use. Nice to see it included though. Best of all, you can switch it off completely - a nice touch which shows the Blogger team were expecting some users (the old timers) who would prefer to do things the old-fashioned, I’ll-code-it-myself-thanks, way.
So far, so good. Someone asked me about Blogger the other day, a web professional who was interested in setting up something bloggish on his site. I recommended it, on the basis that it’s so easy to set up and use. There really is no hassle. I think it offers the best combination of features and simplicity. Yes, it lacks a lot of features that other weblog apps offer; but those features are extras. They’re not necessary for running a weblog. Some people might like them, but most people don’t need them.
Oh, and something else I’ve just noticed this evening: you can now post to Blogger, LiveJournal, Wordpress.com and others from inside your Google Docs account.
Labels: tech
