Image by via CrunchBase
I've been pro-blogging for a few years now and have a blogging rhythm that gets me through most weeks of producing 8-10 blog posts in a five day work week. For me, some of the functionality I need from blog publishing tools in order to handle a big load of posts for a variety of clients on just as varied topics includes:
- A WYSIWYG editor
- Both HTML and Compose view
- Ability to upload images and manipulate their placement within a post
- Ability to save posts in draft
- Ability to post-date posts to auto-publish on a future date
- Ability to embed social media widgets such as ShareThis, Lijit and video and audio players
At this stage of blogging, these features are pretty much a given, even with free blog publishing tools such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com, not to mention the affordable Typepad.com, so those tend to be the blog pub tools I favor.
Being a professional blogger for other companies, however, I can't always control the blog publishing tools they use. Some of my clients pay me to make blog tool recommendations while others just hire me to produce topic-specific blog posts for them. And unfortunately, their IT person or consultant picks horrendous, feature-poor blog publishing tools for no other reason than it is in a platform they know from their Web development skillset.
Now let me make this clear: Blog publishing tools should NOT be an extension of antiquated Web development tools. Web development tools are so 2001. Blog publishing tools are (should be) far more flexible, intuitive and social than Web dev tools and the good ones are.
But based on my experience to date, the ones that completely hinder the blogging process - especially for power-bloggers - include:
- Blogs created in Drupal
- Blogs created in Joomla
- Blogs created using FuseTalk
- Blogs that are part of a custom CMS created by anyone who doesn't know how to blog
I don't mean to be harsh here, however, if a programmer has never blogged - or if they have not been provided a list of some of the blog pub tool essentials - chances are they will produce a sub-par blogging tool that will frustrate the hell out of the bloggers forced to use it.
In conversations with IT guys, I've had them react to my simple request for at LEAST the ability to save blog posts as drafts as if I'm asking for the impossible instead of a basic blog tool feature. If these requests are so complicated, why not just get another blog publishing tool rather than try to tack on an inferior blogging solution with a patchwork quilt method of programming? There are so many satisfactory options out there for blogs including free and low cost ones that allow you to modify the design templates and even save the blog files onto your own Web server.
Simply put: There are better solutions out there than crappy poor-excuse-for-blog-tool monstrosities. Please do me and all those other pro-bloggers out there who are working hard to keep your blogs fresh and compelling a BIG favor: Get a blog publishing tool that works.