Learning To Blog IX: Never Lose Another Post

A while back, in an effort to learn to be a good blogger (well, last a better blogger, if not improving enough to be "good"), I looked to Harvey of Bad Example. You see, Harvey has a list of blogging tips in the top right corner of his blog.

The list has grown since I began, but I'm taking them from top to bottom as a "Learning To Blog" course. So far, I've taken:

• How to start blogging
• Finding your blog voice
• Getting more traffic
• Getting more comments
• Free image hosting
• Google search code
• 5 more handy searches
• How to use trackbacks

Now, I'm at the tip on how to never lose another post. Here are excerpts from Harvey's post, with my comments.

SECRET WEAPON FOR THE BLOGSPOTTED - UPDATED 5-24-05

It's no secret that Blogspot has had yet another bout of the not-user-friendlies lately, and ... Blogspot's squirliness had cost (bloggers) several posts.

Yep, that's happened to me. And not just with Blogger. It has happened with TypePad, which costs $150/year more than Blogger. So don't say it's because it's free.

... But there is a cure for this. ... NoteTab Pro ... has a free version called NoteTab Light that I've used with great success. I've tried several word processing programs in my day, but when it comes to writing up blog posts, NoteTab is without peer.

I have used a few, too. Since I use Windows, I've used Notepad, WordPad, and other free stuff. I've also used HomeSite, but that's not a freebie.

It's got 2 big advantages over composing your post in your blogging software.

First, while Blogger, Movable Type, Radio, TypePad, etc. give you a few formatting buttons, NoteTab gives you... well, ALL of them. ...

I won't say it has all of them, but it sure has a lot.

It's got "buttons" I've never even used, but if I need them, they'll be there for me.

Second, there's no squinting-tiny editing window. You get to use the whole freaking page. Saves a lot of time scrolling up & down.

Yes, that's the way I like my HTML code: where I can see lots of it.

The one thing it lacks is a preview mode (or at least I haven't been able to find it), but still, you can get 99% of your heavy lifting done with NoteTab, then copy & paste to your blogging software, and just polish up the rough edges there.

Yes, it's great for use that way.

It's the best thing that ever happened to me, blogwise.

I'm tempted to make a wise-crack here, but I won't.

And I DID mention that it's free, right? And only a 1.8 Meg download.

Go get yourself a copy, and breathe freedom's sweet air.

This is one of those posts Harvey put up after I began, and I caught it when he posted it. And I tried it out. And I'm glad I did.

UPDATE 5-24-05: [If you've found this post useful enough to blog about, send a trackback or e-mail the permalink to me at harvolson-at-gmail.com and I'll add you to my Bad Example Groupies blogroll. See this post for details]

That last paragraph really isn't part of instruction or tips, but since Harvey has been so kind to share these tips, the very least I can do is provide his request for feedback. If you find this tip ... or any of Harvey's tips ... helpful, let him know. Oh, and don't rely on the excerpts I provided here. Go read all of Harvey's post.