Too Clever By Half

Did you get what you wanted this year?

I didn't, but check out the new user interface at blogger.com, now under development.

Now is our chance to influence the user interface we will be using for years to come.

Catalogs, journeys, civic blogs, and more

What kind of blog do you want? Consider these five types.

Catalog blogs Rating and sharing	Tutorial blogs Teaching and showing
Journey blogs A story in time	Civic blogs Engaging in an issue
Aggregator blogs A focused news beat

There are other possibilities, of course.

Types of Blogs

Imagine getting a carefully curated set of links to recent news about a topic that interests you, every week.

This type of blog benefits from a tight focus, knowledge of the subject, and regular periodic publication.

Types of blogs

Photos, video, sound, screen capture, and links make blogs great platforms for collections of "how to" posts on a given subject.

(Notice I said collections, plural.)

If you have expertise to share, a blog can be the ideal hub.

Types of Blogs

Some blogs exist to promote civic engagement around an issue of concern.

Many shed light on local issues that would otherwise fall through the cracks.

They stimulate and enrich public discussions about everything from the tax rate to bike lanes.

Labels group posts together on pages by category.

They are a great way to organize your blog.

But how can you manage them?

Types of Blogs

A journey can be a trip, a year at school, a diet, a divorce, a struggle with cancer.

You are bound for a different place than where you started, and the blog tells the story of how.

Like the catalog, it is deceptively simple. You just put one foot in front of the other and at some point you have created a body of work.

The journey, in installments, is the original form of blogging. It is the "log" in "blog."

Types of Blogs

Say you live in a great pizza town. You could try a slice of every pie in town and write a blog post about each.

Compare! Rate! Criticize! Rave!

Several months and many meals later, you've got a blog. And maybe a following—people are passionate about pizza.

Easy peasy.

One minute.

One minute will save to your hard drive all the posts and pages on your blog, published and in draft. Comments, too.

The same minute will save your blog's theme.

Do I need to say it?

So, you are done with Google!—or at least with your account, and are ready to erase it from your digital life.

Not so fast.

The name of this blog is a nod to a project that, for a few months in 2010, was arguably the state of the art method for showing your blog in chronological order, oldest first.

Q: How did I do that?

A: I used a feed.

But there has been a change.

Blogger editor > toolbar > Insert Image > options

Maybe a picture is worth a thousand words. A photo or graphic can attract the eye, set the tone, explain, demonstrate, or illustrate.

Every blogger should know all the ways to add an image to a blog post or page.

Here's a guide.

Update: Until further notice, I recommend that you should not drag images into your blog posts.

toolbar > Insert image > By URL

A URL (Universal Resource Locator) is the unique address of a file on the Word Wide Web.

If you know the URL of an image file, and if that file is public, you can post it directly into your blog at Insert image > By URL.

Use "by URL" to insert an image that is on the web.

toolbar > insert image > Add Images > From your webcam

Not everyone has a webcam, but if you do you can insert a photo from it into your blog (and your blog's album in the Archive).

It's one of six options in "Add images," the pop-up you get when you click the Insert Image icon on the toobar in Blogger's editing window.

February 4 is the last day to save your blog's Google+ comments

Mene, mene, tekel upharsin

toolbar > Insert image > Photos

The "Photos" option provides direct access to all the photos in Google Photos, for the blogging account you are using.

The Photos option lets you insert images from the linked Photos albums.

That's an important distinction if you have more than one Google account (I have three). You won't see photos that you took or uploaded using another account, even if you share them.

toolbar > insert image > Add Images > From Google Album Archive

Partial view. Each box is an album. Click to enlarge.

"From Google Album Archive" is one of six ways to add images to your blog from "Add Images." (You get "Add images" when you click the Insert Image tool in Blogger's editing window.)

new post > toolbar > Insert image > Blogger

Adding an image from "Blogger" lets you insert images you've previously added to your blog, or any other blog where your account has author privileges.

"Blogger" lets you reuse any image you've already added to Blogger.

It's one of four options you'll see once you click the Insert Image tool in Blogger's editing window.

new post > toolbar > Insert image > Add images > Browse

Picture are great, and you can add them right into your blog from Blogger's edit window.

"Upload" lets you import an image from your computer or other device.

Use Upload to get an image into your blog from your device.

"Upload" is one of four image-inserting options available when you click the Insert Image tool in Blogger's editing window.