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Blogging Interfaces

Imagine an integrated yet comprehensive interface for writing and publishing blog posts that is independent of one's blogging platform. An online document management system that provides all the features of a leading edge wordprocessor and has a simple mechanism for deploying articles online.

Several of these systems do exist and, in fact, I'm testing one right now.

Recently, Google integrated Writely , its online wordprocessor, into existing Google Accounts, enabling Gmail users to have a seamless interface to another Google service.

The product is free and features HTML editing, image and link insertion, text formatting, document management, and collaboration services. Documents can be printed, emailed, published or posted. Documents that are published (to the Internet) can be viewed anywhere by anyone and are assigned a unique address (URL) on google.com. Posting is done "magically" to blogger and through the API of standard weblog software packages. Unfortunately, only one weblog can be specified at a time.

At the basic level, Writely is basically a uniquely interfaced AJAX editor that writes HTML documents on the fly. Although it is easy to use, it lacks many of the features already integrated into its competitors. Specifically, check out Zohowriter, a solid WP with the ability to interface any number of blogging systems.

Rather than attempting to be a Microsoft Word clone, WritetoMyBlog serves bloggers, enabling posts to be created with an advanced word processor. Because of the narrowly defined user group, the online publishing system has integrated features that appeal to bloggers (e.g., easy tagging, category selection, trackbacks, etc). WritetoMyBlog does store documents or blog account details, but acts as an interface gateway between you and your blog service. You don't register with their service but simply use their advanced interface to log into your existing blog. Posts are published directly to your blog and can be edited or saved as a draft. The interface is based upon TinyMCE which also happens to be an available plugin for Wordpress users.

Another concept available for Firefox users is the Performancing for Firefox plugin. It works with most blog software, has an easy WYSIWYG editing interface and supports Trackbacks, Technorati, Del.icio.us and multiple blogs. Just click an icon in the lower right of the Firefox window and a panel opens, allowing you to view another web site and compose a post simultaneously.

Overall, I like the simplicity and ability to manage documents in Writely. Although Zohowriter shares these same features I've had great difficulty posting to MovableType sites.

Update: Google Docs has some real competition - a userful article discussing Google's competitors, many of whom are already well established.

As I mention above, Google appears to be going after the broad market of individuals who put a premium on ease of use.

Posted by tim at October 13, 2006 1:06 PM

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