A Number Of Blogging Options

Just this evening I was thinking how much the WordPress system has come along since its inception in 2003. (Has it really been around THAT long).  I guess so, as I started up my first blog about then, and I quickly decided on WordPress. Back then, it was pretty much just blogging software, but it’s matured into a full featured CMS since then.

Now, when it comes to actually writing a blog, I truly have a number of options. I can, of course, blog via the built-in interface of the blog.  I can also blog third party software, such as MarsEdit on my Mac; from the iOS WordPress app on my iPhone or iPad; from the WordPress.com site (the option I am using right now). What this means is that I can pretty much blog from anywhere, although I have to admit that for a longer post with plenty of text, I would rather be at a desktop or laptop machine with a regular keyboard than trying to type several hundred words on a phone keyboard, even with Swype style input installed.

Shopping Online
Still best for blogging.

I realise that for many people having a personal blog has fallen by the wayside, with the advent of social media. After all, you can interact with friends and family using Facebook, and pretty much everyone know where to find it, and it’s easy to use, even for the dedicated NON-Geeks out there.

Still, I do enjoy blogging on my own site, and I can pretty much input whatever I want without any censorship if I so desire; not that I really output anything particularly controversial. Well, not yet anyway.

img_2113I can, and do, link my posts to Social Media, and chances are that you’re reading this having come from Facebook or Twitter. If you have, or even if you haven’t, please consider leaving a comment here before you go. I’ll even reply to you if you wish. Thanks for dropping by, and do come back again soon!

 

 

 

Automatic Cross-Posting

It’s great that you can post to one one place, and have it automatically reposted to other places. A photograph taken in Instagram, can appear on your Facebook page; your blog posts can arrive on your Google+ page in seconds, and your Tumblr can Tweet.

Typing with my tablet
Sitting in Starbucks

However, it’s very easy to overdo it.

Be sure to check for duplicates, because it’s easy to set up a loop. Perhaps you set those Instagram posts to go to Facebook and Tumblr and Twitter, but you’ve got your Tumblr to tweet, and your tweets go to Facebook too. Now, you’ve got the same post arriving on your Facebook twice and tweeting twice.

While your friends might well like your photographic efforts they’re probably not such a huge fan that they want to see them numerous times!

Services like IFTTT are great for automating some of these things, but again it’s very easy to set up dupe loops. WordPress can easily repost to various social media sites for you, but be careful where it’s already switched on elsewhere!

There can be too much of a good thing.