- Blogger Beta came out of beta a couple of days back. So I’d be interested in hearing Blogger user’s reviews. Do tell!
- WSJ has published an opinion piece on bloggers and how we’re a mob. The irony is that bloggers everywhere are joining together to storm the paper’s website like an angry…. mob.
- Eric has released a WP plugin to help bloggers to automatically link up to their Chitika Shoplincs.
I suffered through that article (and yes, suffer is the operative word) to find out what his point was: “we’ve allowed decay to pass for progress.”
Joseph Rago’s long-winded diatribe was soooo boring.
His essay reminded me of a funny cartoon over at Headrush:
Stop your presentation before it kills again!
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/06/kill_your_prese.html
yawn… good night.
Re Blogger out of Beta
I’d still be with Blogger except that I had a problem with the FTP. I asked for help November 9, the problem still exists, I have yet to hear from Blogger, and have since set up a WP blog that I’m pretty happy with.
I kinda miss Blogger’s simplicity, but am much more happy with the move to WordPress.
And I note that most of the replies to Jordan’s announcement on the end of Beta went along the lines of “You’ve got to be kidding. I still can’t publish/ftp/something or other.”
Darren, the last link in your post is broken :)
And thanks for the news :)
I’ve been unable to switch to the new blogger. Like Dan, I’ve had problems with the FTP in the old one for a number of weeks, and I assume that because my blog is 4 years old+ I’m considered one of the “Large Blogs” that are unable to switch yet.
Shame really, because I would’ve thought they’d cater more to the veterans rather than the johnny come lately who post 3 posts, an adsense link, then bugger off. The only way it effects me is that I also blog on my friends blog, which is able to switch. I’ve been unable to post on his blog.
Like Dan, I am also in the process of switching to WordPress.
I stand by my How Do I Love Blogger Beta? Let Me Count the Ways … post, but I had problems logging on yesterday.
Did anyone else? If so, here’s how I got on finally…
Looks like Joseph took a grumpy pill. I may have to blog about this…
I regret that the opinion piece in the WSJ was part whine and part diatribe, because he did have a few valid points,that, of course get overlooked in the rush to defend. Blogs, as well as, the Internet as whole, DO connect and isolate like-minded folks. Yes, some blogs are poorly written. Yes, trained journalists may know better how to report objectively…though whether they do is somewhat in doubt. It’s a shame that the author could not have produced a well balanced piece that would open up discussion and provide actionable input for bloggers everywhere.
Interesting. I am yet to read that article, but I think it is a big link bait than anything else!
[…] Joseph Rago at the WSJ reported an damning opinion piece yesterday regarding bloggers (thanks to Darren Rowse at Problogger.net for the heads up). As like any other piece of journalism, blogs are one person’s opinion, whether it attempts to be subjective or objective. I’ve seen puuuhlenty of “official” news articles that have reported topics that have distorted the facts, to either obfuscate the truth, or provide a one-sided view on the matter at hand. […]
Just read through the comments above. I had problems with ftp too, but not sure if it is the same thing others suffered from.
When I published, it would not prompt for login and password for my ftp server but would try to publish with some unknown credentials. To resolve this I had to save my ftp credentials in the settings -> publishing page. This is a bad security issue, but it works as of now. Hopefully they will fix it.
I guess blogger may not have responded to your mails/comments because they might already know this and would have received a flood of complaints, to which they are unable to respond.
I am a Blogger blogger, and have really enjoyed the new simplicity of the new version. The headaches have been limited (ecto quit working, but that is now fixed. I am very happy.), and I have far better control over my template. I am a fan.
That said, I would still like to have my own URL, and have more control over the whole blogging situation.
Unrelated question: Why do you continue to use nofollow in your comment urls? Is it not against the principle of giving as you get? I am intrigued since you seem to have so many articles about how to use comments to increase your visibility and so on and so forth and yet it seems your use of nofollow is against some methods you preach.
Sorry if there is something I am missing. I’d be glad if you addressed the question of nofollow’s usage (And non-usage) in detail.
Thanks a lot!
Darren,
I’ve been using Blogger Beta (well, formerly Beta) for two months. It has worked well and is free.
I have not experienced many bugs. It certainly has its share of quirks – most of which I’ve been able to resolve through the many hacks and helpful tips posted by bloggers who specialize in blog hacks. When I have emailed these folks for more assistance, every inquiry has been answered by a prompt helpful response. This community makes using Blogger a decent experience.
For the record, I tried TypePad – Pro Level, too. It had some great features (particularly hosting on my own domain). However, it also had some quirks – and I felt that even if TypePad – Pro Level were free, I would stick with Blogger. I guess it meets my needs.
Thanks for following this for us.
Mitch
excellent tips