There are a lot of applications that could make blogging easier. They are not necessary but they can be useful and time-saving. Not all of them are just for bloggers, either. Most of these tools and applications have a practical use for everyday life.
Twitter is one of the most widely used blogger tools, but there are also tools to use on Twitter. The one I use is Echofon because it is easy and it doesn’t take up too much space. It is one icon at the bottom of my browser that notifies me anytime someone I’m following tweets a message, sends me a direct message or replies to my tweet. Simple. Other tools I’ve seen are JournoTwit, Seesmic, Tweetie and many others. The trick is to find which tool does what you are looking for.
Digsby is an application for Windows, Mac and Linux. It consolidates several email and instant messaging sites. You can add your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts as well. Each account can be monitored and updated using Digsby and you can also update your statuses at one time. Now you don’t have to be on Facebook to use Facebook chat.
I’ve already covered StumbleUpon as a site but their toolbar is useful for anyone searching the Internet for interesting websites. You can choose your interests and search all of them or just one of them. The toolbar also makes it easy for you to share what you’ve found to your friends using email, Facebook, or Twitter.
When talking about essential blogging tools, Windows Live Writer is usually at the top of the list. It is a desktop tool that can publish your blog. You can add plug-ins that can add video, pictures and even Flash objects. The application imports information about your blog so when you write your entries you can see how it is going to look on your blog.
Scribefire is a plug-in for Firefox for bloggers. You can add numerous blog accounts and blogging platforms. It is convenient when you want to blog about the website that you are on. The icon is similar to Echofon, in the right hand corner of the browser. You can write in plain text or html and preview the post on your blog. The best part about it is the fact that the posts are on tabs and multiple tabs can be opened, so you can work on multiple posts at one time.
Google Reader is one of the better RSS readers, but there are other free readers that can be downloaded to your desktop. RSS Owl is one RSS reader that I highly recommend. It is simple. Just enter the website’s URL and the reader will add the site to your list of blogs to update. All the blogs and subscriptions can be separated by folders and you can time when to look for updates. Any of the links can either be opened in a separate browser or in the RSS Owl’s internal one.
There are thousands of applications that are free and easy to use for bloggers and non-bloggers alike. The only thing you have to do is look for them. As always, I hope these tips prove valuable to you bloggers. I hope to make life easier for both bloggers and blog readers. If you have any questions or if you want to talk about blogging, my email is LSOcasio@gmail.com and my blog, The Zaftig Latina Blog, is http://zaftiglatina.blogspot.com.