Hi All - 'testing, testing, testing'!! I am pointing you to a couple of free and useful social-medial related goodies today, which you may already know about, and which are of particular interest to bloggers, but which are in 'test' mode here! - including:
I am actually writing this from another location - ooohhh! '-) Will it be legible? What on earth is this going to look like? :-0
Or, maybe I will add some 'extras' here. As usual, my 'short' post has turned out to be a tad longer than intended. So - you might just end up having a little 'chuckle' and a giggle today! What with the 'egg on my face' if this doesn't work, or if it does work, if you manage to view one of the special 'animated features' below :-D
But feel free to skip over much if you are not as interested - perhaps just watch some of the videos.
OK, OK, I won't be so hard on myself, only just incredibly embarrassed if this doesn't work! But - my excuse - ITS JUST A TEST FOR NOW - so please forgive me, and blame Darren Rowse from Problogger if it doesn't work! (maybe not, perhaps its just me!) - but this is how I found the ScribeFire Blog Posting plugin.
Anyway ..... how many times can I excuse myself with the word 'test' (but I am saving this to a text file just in case)! Back to it ...
SCRIBEFIRE - Blog Creator-Editor Plugin for the Mozilla Browser
This rather plain, relatively unformatted test of the 'Scribefire Plugin' enables you to create your blog posts, anywhere, anytime! But the 'look' and plain nature of this post does not reflect the quite powerful features and capabilities of this Blog Creator, which has a fantastic user-interface and WYSIWYG editor - all integrated with your browser (it also has source and live view).
What does this blog plugin mean for you?
It means that you don't have to be logged on into your blog's dashboard to write a post. It means that you can literally post from anywhere when you are online, and you can make a post whenever it takes your fancy. For instance, maybe you have discovered a great website you would like to talk about and share with your blog readers - its sooo easy apparently, because once installed, you can easily drag, drop and paste clippings from that website, with all formatting in place, into your post editor - easy peasy! :-)
(although I haven't tried this one yet - see note below).
Its simple to use, great on the eye, and you can do many things at first glance - For example -
- Testing 'the bullet-point feature:
I'm not sure if it has a 'spell-checker' or track-back facility, although it does have a 'more' button, which I am hesitant to use just yet! So there may be many more features here ...
- Testing the 'block-quote' feature -
Yep, seemed to work :)
- Testing 'insert a You Tube Video' by one-click:
Let's have a short 'feel good video' :-)
The Secret Law of Attraction and Your Dream Life
- Yep, this seemed to work. BUT - Ok, this one was a bit tricker - it is incredibly easy to do a video search, find and view a video and just click 'ok' - wallau! You have your video. How easy and exciting is that - oh how wonderful technology can be!
But initially, the video didn't show up. Humph! So, I switched to html view (source view), and found that the actual code for the video had been automatically inserted right at the end of this post. So, please bear this in mind if you use the scribefire plugin to write your blog posts.
Solution - I just cut and past the code and moved it up here, to the correct location (remember, make sure you are in 'source' view though).
Is the video showing I wonder - it is here, in the editor now :-)
If so, enjoy!!
- Testing 'insert a Flickr image' by a one-click search and click 'ok':
(image courtesy of Flickr)
Hmm - yes, got my image! But the same thing happened - it was automatically inserted at the END of this post in the editor. But all I did this time, was select the image, 'right-click' and cut-copy it here (I couldn't actually 'move or drag' it).
Let's try another one - I am having some fun :-) (would be nice if this also had some 'smilies'!)
(image courtesy of Flickr)
heehee! Yes, and you can resize it - oh joy - this is so much easier than doing it in the blog dashboard (even in blogger, as there doesn't seem to be a feature specifically for flickr this easy yet, and for videos, you have to know where the video is first, then copy and embed the full code. But all you need to do here is do a search on a keyword, select your photo or video and click OK (making sure you then position it correctly).
- and it can be sooooo easy to go overboard and just post videos and photos.
In fact, lets try another video now - FUNNY FUNNY 5minute video! :-)
(sorry!) I will get back to the point of this post eventually - hehee
'extreme funny'
SO far so good... But ...
Oh how annoyed I will be if none of this publishes! I actually have no idea, until I click that 'publish' button and go to my blog - hmmm
(actually, that is another key point - if you click on 'save', it doesn't tell you if it has saved or not, so we must rely on trust and have faith!). Or will I end up - again - with 'egg on my face'?!
On a more serious note though, my main concern is that I am still writing my post 'online', and how often is it that the internet crashes right in the middle of writing! AHHHH. Well, I guess one should be more organized and actually write one's posts BEFORE going online to solve that one - silly me!
But again, because of this issue, rather than writing a full article and review of this tool for you, I thought I would just write this as a TEST post first, rather than wasting my time, ....just in case! And see if it works. That word again - test! heehee - If it does - Yahoo! :-)
I am still, however, interested in purchasing a desktop blog creator/editor, to publish to my blog. Safer offline than online! I think there is a great one could 'BlogJet', and I will let you know more when I find out (there are also some free ones I will have a look at for you).
Nonetheless, this ScribeFire plugin is a great way of doing the same thing for free, but online. Again, if this does post to my blog - and if I do manage to move it over to another browser (see below), then I will explore this plugin further, and you can try it for yourself.
You might want to have a look at ScribeFire now anyway by Left Clicking Here. (link opens in new window)
'Flock', the Social Web Browser:
Now that I have found some great plugins for Mozilla (I was previously an IE user), including the 'read it later' plugin and scribefire, I need to change my net browser again! (I will tell you more about the 'read it later' plugin later if I don't lose it, which is also fantastic and a great time-saver!)
Why am I changing? Because I am about to undertake an online 'Challenge', which I will tell you all about very soon (hehee), and which requires the 'Flock' browser. Hmmm, scary. Never heard of it until now. But apparently, the 'Flock' browser is based on Mozilla, is better and has many social media and web2.0 tools built right into it - which is what we bloggers love to hear!
It also works on both Mac. and Windows computers! So, whether or not you also become involved in this - 'to be announced' - challenge' - the Flock browser really does look great from the videos I have viewed on YouTube (just do a search) and from 'pre-seasonal' training in the Challenge.
No - I want some more fun! Am I being selfish today!! Hopefully you are also getting something out of this too? So - below is a very quick introductory Video of Flock, which illustrates the social media and sharing nature of this browser (not the technical aspects) (great, I get to add another video for you!!). There is a link in there to find out more if interested.
Getting Started with the Flock 1.2 Browser
- And here is a slightly more detailed video of the Flock Browser -
Figuring Out Flock
I LOVE the 'scrapbook' feature of Flock - and be careful how you pronounce 'Flock' depending on your accent, for reasons I won't mention! (you will see this scrapbook feature in the video).
Of course, you don't have to use all of the features. For example, I use the 'Google Reader' for my RSS subscriptions, and will probably not use Flock's reader. Also - while the 'My World' in Flock (see the second video), which can be used as your Home Page (similiar to iGoogle), is a place where you keep all your sites and RSSs, etc - looks great (as noted, I have yet to install this), I use NetVibes instead......
An Aside - Netvibes WebDashboard (instead of 'My World' in 'Flock')
Just as an aside, if anyone is interested, the Netvibes Dashboard is an absolutely fantastic alternative, and is far superior to iGoogle's home page. It looks great, so it is fun to use (add all your podcasts online and take a break, or listen while you work) - add lots of widgets, links to your memberships, news, research, just about anything - create lots of tabs and lots of colors, notes to yourself and more!. You can customize it so much. Add everything you need in one area/web dashboard.
AND you can use is as a social networking tool, by 'sharing' some of your pages/tabs with your Friends in 'Your Universe'. It even has an 'update' of 'what you are doing' for your friends, which is a feature similiar to Twitter I think (although I am still learning about these), and you can again use blogging and email sharing features.
If interested, go to www.netvibes.com or Left Click Here. (link opens in new window)
Let me know if you have any questions.....
Will I lose my plugins If I change Browsers?
Never Fear (we hope!). Flock will import all of your Mozilla bookmarks and plugins for you - so keeping fingers crossed. I will believe it when I see it.... So .....
A TIP if you are changing your internet browser too ....
All of this may seem a little enigmatic to you at the moment (what on earth am I writing about, and why on a selfhelp blog?!) ..... but don't worry, all will become clearer later :-)
However, I do advise that if you do become adventurous and change to the 'Flock' browser (and also use IE), AND you don't want to lose all of your plugins and blookmarks/favourites - I would first:
------
There is so much to learn in this 'web2.0' or 'social media' world especially for bloggers!! But as implied, there is a little secret I am going to tell you about soon - an easy way to learn about many of these tools for free - you just need to be interested and committed - 'coming soon'! ;-)
I know I am just going to love this - if it is THIS easy to add videos and photos (and it works). So, I may return soon with a 'proper' review (unless you decide to try the secret challenge coming your way soon)! :-0
For now - LET'S ALL JUST HAVE SOME FUN!
And if this doesn't work - well, more the fool am I!
But please do stop me if I start going overboard though (and I have still to test this for WordPress blogs, as I only have blogspot for now).
Here are the links again:
Apologies for the length of this post!
Take care all, Be Kind :-)
I will be back with an article, or another 'stop and smell the roses moment', or a video, or something completely different!
Ok, let's try that 'publish' button ....
Meg
- the 'ScribeFire' plugin (which I am testing now), that integrates with your browser to more easily create your Blog Posts from anywhere (and with some great features),
- 'social-media' type internet browser - 'Flock' (which I have yet to test), and
- the NetVibes web-dashboard
I am actually writing this from another location - ooohhh! '-) Will it be legible? What on earth is this going to look like? :-0
Or, maybe I will add some 'extras' here. As usual, my 'short' post has turned out to be a tad longer than intended. So - you might just end up having a little 'chuckle' and a giggle today! What with the 'egg on my face' if this doesn't work, or if it does work, if you manage to view one of the special 'animated features' below :-D
But feel free to skip over much if you are not as interested - perhaps just watch some of the videos.
OK, OK, I won't be so hard on myself, only just incredibly embarrassed if this doesn't work! But - my excuse - ITS JUST A TEST FOR NOW - so please forgive me, and blame Darren Rowse from Problogger if it doesn't work! (maybe not, perhaps its just me!) - but this is how I found the ScribeFire Blog Posting plugin.
Anyway ..... how many times can I excuse myself with the word 'test' (but I am saving this to a text file just in case)! Back to it ...
SCRIBEFIRE - Blog Creator-Editor Plugin for the Mozilla Browser
This rather plain, relatively unformatted test of the 'Scribefire Plugin' enables you to create your blog posts, anywhere, anytime! But the 'look' and plain nature of this post does not reflect the quite powerful features and capabilities of this Blog Creator, which has a fantastic user-interface and WYSIWYG editor - all integrated with your browser (it also has source and live view).
What does this blog plugin mean for you?
It means that you don't have to be logged on into your blog's dashboard to write a post. It means that you can literally post from anywhere when you are online, and you can make a post whenever it takes your fancy. For instance, maybe you have discovered a great website you would like to talk about and share with your blog readers - its sooo easy apparently, because once installed, you can easily drag, drop and paste clippings from that website, with all formatting in place, into your post editor - easy peasy! :-)
(although I haven't tried this one yet - see note below).
Its simple to use, great on the eye, and you can do many things at first glance - For example -
- Testing 'the bullet-point feature:
- copy, drag and paste formated text and images from webpages you are viewing,
- write,
- add your own images from your computer or the web,
- add flikr photos,
- create links,
- add youtube videos,
- add special characters, block quotes, bullet points, the usuals ....
- change your fonts in more ways than you can in most editors,
- add your post to 'categories', even add new categories to your blog on the 'fly'
- create titles,
- view all the drafts currently in your blog dashboard,
- select to edit/publish, save your new posts as notes and as a draft,
- strip all formatting, clear content, delete, or if and when ready,
- PUBLISH to your blog.
I'm not sure if it has a 'spell-checker' or track-back facility, although it does have a 'more' button, which I am hesitant to use just yet! So there may be many more features here ...
- Testing the 'block-quote' feature -
All blogs that you post to/own, can also be easily added to the blog editor, via a wizard. All this is happening 'behind the scenes' ....
Yep, seemed to work :)
- Testing 'insert a You Tube Video' by one-click:
Let's have a short 'feel good video' :-)
The Secret Law of Attraction and Your Dream Life
- Yep, this seemed to work. BUT - Ok, this one was a bit tricker - it is incredibly easy to do a video search, find and view a video and just click 'ok' - wallau! You have your video. How easy and exciting is that - oh how wonderful technology can be!
But initially, the video didn't show up. Humph! So, I switched to html view (source view), and found that the actual code for the video had been automatically inserted right at the end of this post. So, please bear this in mind if you use the scribefire plugin to write your blog posts.
Solution - I just cut and past the code and moved it up here, to the correct location (remember, make sure you are in 'source' view though).
Is the video showing I wonder - it is here, in the editor now :-)
If so, enjoy!!
- Testing 'insert a Flickr image' by a one-click search and click 'ok':
(image courtesy of Flickr)
Hmm - yes, got my image! But the same thing happened - it was automatically inserted at the END of this post in the editor. But all I did this time, was select the image, 'right-click' and cut-copy it here (I couldn't actually 'move or drag' it).
Let's try another one - I am having some fun :-) (would be nice if this also had some 'smilies'!)
(image courtesy of Flickr)
heehee! Yes, and you can resize it - oh joy - this is so much easier than doing it in the blog dashboard (even in blogger, as there doesn't seem to be a feature specifically for flickr this easy yet, and for videos, you have to know where the video is first, then copy and embed the full code. But all you need to do here is do a search on a keyword, select your photo or video and click OK (making sure you then position it correctly).
- and it can be sooooo easy to go overboard and just post videos and photos.
In fact, lets try another video now - FUNNY FUNNY 5minute video! :-)
(sorry!) I will get back to the point of this post eventually - hehee
'extreme funny'
SO far so good... But ...
Oh how annoyed I will be if none of this publishes! I actually have no idea, until I click that 'publish' button and go to my blog - hmmm
(actually, that is another key point - if you click on 'save', it doesn't tell you if it has saved or not, so we must rely on trust and have faith!). Or will I end up - again - with 'egg on my face'?!
On a more serious note though, my main concern is that I am still writing my post 'online', and how often is it that the internet crashes right in the middle of writing! AHHHH. Well, I guess one should be more organized and actually write one's posts BEFORE going online to solve that one - silly me!
But again, because of this issue, rather than writing a full article and review of this tool for you, I thought I would just write this as a TEST post first, rather than wasting my time, ....just in case! And see if it works. That word again - test! heehee - If it does - Yahoo! :-)
I am still, however, interested in purchasing a desktop blog creator/editor, to publish to my blog. Safer offline than online! I think there is a great one could 'BlogJet', and I will let you know more when I find out (there are also some free ones I will have a look at for you).
Nonetheless, this ScribeFire plugin is a great way of doing the same thing for free, but online. Again, if this does post to my blog - and if I do manage to move it over to another browser (see below), then I will explore this plugin further, and you can try it for yourself.
You might want to have a look at ScribeFire now anyway by Left Clicking Here. (link opens in new window)
'Flock', the Social Web Browser:
Now that I have found some great plugins for Mozilla (I was previously an IE user), including the 'read it later' plugin and scribefire, I need to change my net browser again! (I will tell you more about the 'read it later' plugin later if I don't lose it, which is also fantastic and a great time-saver!)
Why am I changing? Because I am about to undertake an online 'Challenge', which I will tell you all about very soon (hehee), and which requires the 'Flock' browser. Hmmm, scary. Never heard of it until now. But apparently, the 'Flock' browser is based on Mozilla, is better and has many social media and web2.0 tools built right into it - which is what we bloggers love to hear!
It also works on both Mac. and Windows computers! So, whether or not you also become involved in this - 'to be announced' - challenge' - the Flock browser really does look great from the videos I have viewed on YouTube (just do a search) and from 'pre-seasonal' training in the Challenge.
No - I want some more fun! Am I being selfish today!! Hopefully you are also getting something out of this too? So - below is a very quick introductory Video of Flock, which illustrates the social media and sharing nature of this browser (not the technical aspects) (great, I get to add another video for you!!). There is a link in there to find out more if interested.
Getting Started with the Flock 1.2 Browser
- And here is a slightly more detailed video of the Flock Browser -
Figuring Out Flock
I LOVE the 'scrapbook' feature of Flock - and be careful how you pronounce 'Flock' depending on your accent, for reasons I won't mention! (you will see this scrapbook feature in the video).
Of course, you don't have to use all of the features. For example, I use the 'Google Reader' for my RSS subscriptions, and will probably not use Flock's reader. Also - while the 'My World' in Flock (see the second video), which can be used as your Home Page (similiar to iGoogle), is a place where you keep all your sites and RSSs, etc - looks great (as noted, I have yet to install this), I use NetVibes instead......
An Aside - Netvibes WebDashboard (instead of 'My World' in 'Flock')
Just as an aside, if anyone is interested, the Netvibes Dashboard is an absolutely fantastic alternative, and is far superior to iGoogle's home page. It looks great, so it is fun to use (add all your podcasts online and take a break, or listen while you work) - add lots of widgets, links to your memberships, news, research, just about anything - create lots of tabs and lots of colors, notes to yourself and more!. You can customize it so much. Add everything you need in one area/web dashboard.
AND you can use is as a social networking tool, by 'sharing' some of your pages/tabs with your Friends in 'Your Universe'. It even has an 'update' of 'what you are doing' for your friends, which is a feature similiar to Twitter I think (although I am still learning about these), and you can again use blogging and email sharing features.
If interested, go to www.netvibes.com or Left Click Here. (link opens in new window)
Let me know if you have any questions.....
Will I lose my plugins If I change Browsers?
Never Fear (we hope!). Flock will import all of your Mozilla bookmarks and plugins for you - so keeping fingers crossed. I will believe it when I see it.... So .....
A TIP if you are changing your internet browser too ....
All of this may seem a little enigmatic to you at the moment (what on earth am I writing about, and why on a selfhelp blog?!) ..... but don't worry, all will become clearer later :-)
However, I do advise that if you do become adventurous and change to the 'Flock' browser (and also use IE), AND you don't want to lose all of your plugins and blookmarks/favourites - I would first:
- Import all your IExplorer favourites, links, bookmarks, settings, etc, into your Mozilla browser (you can do this in the 'File'/'Import' Menu (on Windows computers)
- Then, when 'Flock' imports all of your Mozilla links and favourites/bookmarks when you install it, the IE ones will also be included.
------
There is so much to learn in this 'web2.0' or 'social media' world especially for bloggers!! But as implied, there is a little secret I am going to tell you about soon - an easy way to learn about many of these tools for free - you just need to be interested and committed - 'coming soon'! ;-)
I know I am just going to love this - if it is THIS easy to add videos and photos (and it works). So, I may return soon with a 'proper' review (unless you decide to try the secret challenge coming your way soon)! :-0
For now - LET'S ALL JUST HAVE SOME FUN!
And if this doesn't work - well, more the fool am I!
But please do stop me if I start going overboard though (and I have still to test this for WordPress blogs, as I only have blogspot for now).
Here are the links again:
- ScribeFire Blog Editor - www.scribefire.com
- Flock Web Browser - www.flock.com
- NetVibes Dashboard/Home page - www.netvibes.com
Apologies for the length of this post!
Take care all, Be Kind :-)
I will be back with an article, or another 'stop and smell the roses moment', or a video, or something completely different!
Ok, let's try that 'publish' button ....
Meg
2 comments:
Love the pics you embedded in this post Megan! I'm testing out the commenting functionality - looks like you are no longer forced to login to a Google account so that's cool :-)
Hi Caroline :-)
Thanks for your comment - yes, I love the piccies too - cats! and more cats! :-)
Its great that anyone can comment on blogger now, although I think it also depends on the blogger - ie. the google blogs can be setup to receive private comments only, or only from people with a google account.
I would much rather enable all people to have a say!
Thanks again Caroline. Hope to see you again :)
Kind Regards
Meg
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