It’s time for a little discussion – lets talk blogging tools.
Over in the ProBlogger.com forum there’s been a lot of talk about different tools, applications, platforms and plugins that helps to improve blogs. I’m loving the different opinions and experiences and thought it’d be a good question to open up to the wider community – what are your favourite 10 blogging tools?
I suspect most of us will probably include our blogging platform (Blogspot, WordPress, TypePad etc) in the list somewhere but other than that anything goes. Perhaps it’s a comments tool, perhaps a desktop editor, perhaps a plugin or widget – anything goes!
But limit it to 10!
WordPress
Vigilance Theme
Askimet
Disqus Comments
Picnik
Photobucket
Squidoo
Propeller
Market Samurai
Gist It!
The ones I’m now having a look at from your comments: CommentLuv, Link Within, All in One SEO Pack, WordPress Automatic Upgrade and OnlyWire.
WOW – thanks for a great post! Tons of value.
These ae 10 tools which i think sharing with you all will be useful and i love Blogger so no WordPress tools .
1. i use blogger platform.
2. windows live writer with plug-ins
3. Google Analytics
4 .jing screen capture from techsmith
5. shareaholic firefox add on
6. Disqus Comment system
7. tell-a-friend sharing button
8. lijit search
9. Q10 for distraction free writing
10. Google reader
Google Analytics
Google reader
All in One SEO
WP Super Cache Plugin
just so so
WordPress
Google
Flickr
Wikipedia
Twitter
Safari
WriteRoom
Typinator
Voila
Picturesque
Here are my favorite blogging tools in no particular order:
1. Windows Live Writer
2. Akismet
3. Disqus
4. TweetMeme
5. Contact 7
6. Share This
7. WP Greet Box
8. MailChimp
9. NewsFox
10. Photobucket
Ok. So if we’re looking for actual tools, I’ll come short of 10 by a long shot. However, in the interest of keeping my blog going, someone could:
1 – use Disqus for comments, so you don’t lose anything on any of the sites you either run, or comment on.
– troll the wordpress codex weekly looking for new toys to play with, be they themes to hack or plugins t try.
2 – write everything, whether it’s worth posting or not. Set it on a delay if you have to, if you’re not sure it’s worth having said, but write it down anyway, just in case.
3 – read lots of blogs on lots of subjects, and pay attention to trending feels; sometimes a marketing blog anda design blog will say the same thing within hours, even when the authors don’t know each other.
4 – use a reader, like Google Reader to keep new posts popping up as they’re released. This also helps when looking for trends.
5 – use Google Alerts if you’re planning a farther reaching series of posts. If you get good at it, you can ride the wave and pick excellent times to release your comments.
6 – Tumbl. Whether it’s through tumblr or through your own site. I built a Tumblelog function into my WordPress theme for this. Tumbling keeps content flowing, and means if someone said it well enough, you can just toss people through to them, rather than expending extra energy rewriting it yourself.
7 – keep reading offline too. Pick up a good book every so often, fiction or non-fiction, and read it critically to pick up on the author’s voice as well as the story they tell. This will help your writing, which will help your blogging.
8 – get a pen pal or two, keep up with people. When you’re conversing in long-letter format, your skills go up as well. Twitter might force you to get better with your words, but there’s no substitute for cohesive, directing writing.
9 – red ProBlogger. Do I get brownie points now?
10 – keep YOUR own voice. Above all else.Sometimes it takes years to develop a writing voice, but readers can recognize when a post is forced, or when you’re playing copycat. Write like yourself and you’ll enjoy writing more, and keep blogging longer. If you’re not writing your own words it becomes a chore, and chores have a habit of getting the lowest spot on the priority list.
There we have it. At least, that’s my list. I know it’s not as snazzy as using Posterous or Delicious for notes and employing time-management tools. But trust me, if you remind yourself consciously of even three of these things every post you make, writing as a process will become (if it’s not already) one of your favorite things.
I consider the following priceless:
1. Windows Live Writer
2. Banner Maker Pro (for easy banners!)
3. Flickr
4. CamStudio (free screen recording)
5. Batch Categories plug-in
6. Comment Relish
7. Popularity Contest
8. WordPress Automatic Upgrade
9. WordPress Database Backup
10. WP-Cache
Pretty much everything is covered but still I would add my list.
Disquss comments
Aweber
Related Posts
All in One SEO
Blog Stats
Akismet
WP-Poll
Adsense
Google Custom Search
Feedburner Plugin
Here are my favorite blogging tools:
1) Feedburner
2) Scribfire
3) Zemanta
4) Hybrid Framework (WordPress theme framework)
5) Google Analytics
6) HootSuite / ow.ly
7) WP-SpamFree
8) Google Reader
9) Fotobook (Connect Facebook albums to WordPress)
10) Sharethis
Hi Darren,
Really wonderful question from you.
My 10 Blogging Tools are:
1 WordPress (Self Hosted)
2 Window live Writer
3 Akismet
4 Feedburner for Spread my content
5 Aweber For Subscription
6 Google Analytics
7 Woopra for Real Time Stats
8 Related Post Plugin for High CTR
9 Affiliates Link Stats Checker
10 Social Media for auto spread the content
List is endless so I hope these are sufficient tools.
1. Akismet
2. Apture
3. Broken Link Checker
4. Dagon Design Sitemap Generator
5. FeedBurner FeedSmith
6. Twitter Tools
7. Limit Login Attempts
8. All in one SEO
9. YARPP
10. WordPress Mobile Edition
1) WordPress
to blog
2) TwitterFox/StumbleUpon/a number of Forums/RSS-Button
to spread new post
6) youtube, google video, daily motion etc. for videos,
7) pixelio.de for free fotos,
8) search statistics, forums, daily life for new ideas,
9) Tumblr to store videos, pictures, short texts I will use later
Darren,
My top 10 favorite blogging tools would be the following:
1. WordPress.org
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. All in One SEO (WordPress)
5. YouTube
6. Google Analytics
7. Feedburner
8. Google Tools (web search, etc.)
9. Blogger
10. Reading Problogger.net, Mashable, and Lifehacker
Ok, here is my list:
http://grabjuice.com/
Backtype
GoogleReader
WP
WP.com
Darkroom
Twitter
Feedburner
1. WordPress
2. FeedBurner
3. Twitter
4. Facebook
5. All in One SEO
6. WP Super Cache
7. WP Daily Database Backup
8. Akismet
9. Subscribe to Comments
10. cFormsII
Plug-in Favorites are:
1. All in one SEO
2. Adsense
3. MBP Stripe AD
4. Ping Optimizer
5. Unblockable Pop up
6. Platinum SEO
7. Sociable
8. Comment Autoresponder
9. Subscribe210
10. XML Sitemap
These are great tools!
Twitter
Facebookshare
Google friend connect
Thee best tools
Here are my ten today (not in any particular order), if you asked me again tomorrow the list would probably be different!
WordPress
WordPress Themes
Evernote
Google Alerts
WordPress Plugins (esp Related Posts and Ordered Thumbnails)
Windows Live Writer
Flickr for Creative Commons Photos
Akismet
Google Chrome
Tweetmeme
Tony,
WordPress self-hosted is WordPress.org. You host a WordPress blog on your domain and pay for the domain registration and hosting fees.
So, your blog address would be http://www.yourdomain.com versus http://www.yourdomain.wordpress.com.
I hope that helps!
Heather
i like- seesmic desktop, hootsuite, facebook connect, blogger, google toolbar, akismet, aweber, evernote, seo for firefox and wordtracker
I like Posterous, Shareaholic, and Bit.ly
well some of my favourite tool are
linklist
twitter
picture
youtube
Mostly I use the following tools:
1. Windows Live Writer – An excellent tool for blogging. Supports many great plugins and high functionality. (free)
2. Photoshop – I use this software to edit/create photos on my blog. (commercial)
3. SnagIt – A great screen capturing software with many advanced features and options (commercial)
4. Google Analytics – Show you some great and accurate information about your visitors. (free)
5. FeedBurner – I use this tool to get information about my subscribers and loyal visitors. (free)
6. BitKinex – The most functional FTP client software available completely for free.
7. Notepad++ – Great text editor, supports automatic syntax highlight and much more. (free)
8. MS Word – The most popular and most effective office suite from Microsoft. I use it often for my blog. (commercial)
9. Google Mail – I use the google mail address for my blog. (free)
10. WP Plugins like All in One SEO, WP Super Cache, InteseDebate (comments), Vipers Video Quicktags and much more…
Yes a mix of that…
seriously,
all-in-one-seo-pack
Kimili flash embed
database backup
SexyLightBox for WordPress
Contact form 7
wp-stats
nextgen gallery
and APTURE!
1. Problogger.net
Lets me be serious. You learn so much here with problogger that you really don’t need any other tool/resource.
Thanks Darren!
Oh nice idea.
1) WordPress (Just has to be #1)
2) Twitter (So much traffic)
3) All In One SEO
4) FeedBurner FeedSmith plugin
5) Photoshop
6) cPanel file manager (nice and fast)
7) Firebug firefox plugin (for those scarey code moments)
8) Sociable
9) Newsletter plugin
10) Contest Burner plugin
1) WordPress.org
2) All in One SEO Plugin
3) Twitter
4) Facebook
5) Google Reader
6) HD video camera
7) DSLR camera
8) Vimeo
9) YouTube
10) Imagewell (for editing photos)
WordPress. Period.
I am new to blogging, so I only have two tools to share. My favorite two tools are Digsby and My Share the Love Widget. Digsby isn’t really a blogging tool, but it helps my blog just the same. It is a sort of instant messenger program that combines a lot of services, but the best for my blog is a pingbox widget. I put this on my blog, and whenever I am online, my blog visitors can talk to me instantly. Also, which is why I like it better than the Yahoo Pingbox, it gives me the ip address of the visitor that I can click on, and find out where the person is in the world.
I also like my “Share the Love” widget. It is really the same as the “Sharing is Sexy” widget you see on many blogs, just with a title line. It has a button for almost every social bookmarking site, so if people want to share what I have written, they can do so right at the bottom of my posts.
Some great new tools to investigate. It’s hard to stop at 10. My list would be;
1. WordPress for it’s ease of use and flexibility.
2. Thesis for the same reason.
3. Problogger and Twitter to keep updated.
4. Enhanced WP-Contact Form for Readers to ask questions.
5. Photo-Dropper to add images to posts.
6. Youtube and Viper’s Video Tags to embed videos.
7. Wp-Wishlist to add membership aspect.
8. Aweber to develop relationship with Readers.
9. Google Webmaster Tools to check nothing is seriously wrong.
10. WordPress Database Backup, just in case.
WordPress
Thesis Theme by Chris Pearson
Feedburner
Google Web Tools
Yet Another Related Post plugin
Twitter
CommentLuv
Go Daddy
Host Gator
Most Vital: Starbucks
WordPress
Drupal
Google alerts
Email
YouTube
Video-Alerts
My list is as follows,
Akismet
All in one SEO Pack
Ad Rotator – I use this for more than ads
Bot Tracker – This I use when launching a site to see if it’s recognized
Exclude Pages from Navigation
Featured Content Gallery
ReviewAZON
Wordpress Database Backup
Dragon Design Sitemap Generator
Contact Form 7
WIndows Live Writer takes the cake for me. I install it on any computer I use to blog with and it’s just as easy as Google Docs to keep my drafts online.
I’ve become a fan of any site that uses CommentLuv, too. I love being able to see what other people are writing, and I love for them to see mine, too.
All in one SEO Pack
RichWP.com – All Theme Package
Supercache
sxc.hu – free stock photos
I am one of your Twitter Followers, @amazinglyamara, and my favorite blog tools are blogspot, livejournal, and delicious. I look forward to reading all the great suggestions in your blogs comments, what are your favorites Problogger?
Hi,
My list:
1 WordPress
2 Blogger
3 FireShot http://screenshot-program.com/fireshot/
4 TwitterFeed
5 Google Analytics
6 Google Reader
7 Firefox Web Developer plugin
8 Twitter
9 ShareThis plugin
10 Photoshop
Great idea! My fav tools are:
1. WordPress Self Hosted
2. Zemanta (easy images and more)
3. W3 Total Cache plugin (minimise loading time)
4. Share this (max social share)
5. Google Reader (for inspiration)
6. What would Seth Godin do plugin
7. All in One SEO
8. Form builder
9. Linkwithin plugin
10. Disqus plugin
Some great ideas here that I will be checking out for sure! Thanks for this Darren :)
Textpattern
Fireworks
Smart Ftp
Thunderbird
Notepad
Google Reader
Stumbleupon
Twitter
Feedburner
Tumblr
1. As I’m into SEO, I use all the top SEO supporting word press plug-ins, e.g., Fuzzy SEO Queries, Google XML Sitemaps, SEO Friendly Images, SEO Slugs.
2. To help me find good keywords, I use the following free tools:
http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
http://www.google.com/sktool/#
2. For research purposes, to give me ideas for what to write about it, I use google alerts and and new service called Trackle.
Here are five that I feel are especially valuable:
WordPress
“WP-SpamFree” plugin (totally eliminates spam comments from showing up. You never need to deal with them.
“DarkRoom” plain text writing program (green text with no formatting on a black background). Very conducive to focused writing. I’ve switched now to “TextRoom” as I have switched OS to Linux Ubuntu.
“FreeMind” mind-mapping software for brainstorming.
A local Apache server on my machine for site development
I use a Mac and a PC.
wordpress, windows live writer, camtasia, skitch, photoshop, filezilla, text editor (Notebook++ or Smultron), TubeMogul, pixelpipe
I can’t live without:
1. WordPress
2. Drupal
3. MS LiveWriter
4. Filezilla
5. Micro Niche Finder (commercial)
6. Instant Article Wizard (commercial)
7. Photoshop Elements (commercial)
8. Screen Shot Captor
9. Photo Filtre
10. Notepad2
Ha! not mentioned above but kept open all the times – Firefox plus so many add-ons..
Short list for me:
Twitter
Analytics
iMac
A Firefox add-on that I use whenever I write:
Dict — Right click a highlighted word to look it up in several online dictionaries and a thesaurus. Results appear in a pop-up window.
A useful Freeware tool:
Quotepad — Press Ctrl-Shift-Q to copy highlighted text to Quotepad. The source URL is automatically inserted at the end of the copied text.
1. Bookmark and track email and posts with Gmail.
2. Quick post media (minimum writing required) with Tumblr.
3. Keep post ideas synchronized with Foxmarks.
4. Spend less time resizing images.
5. Get topic-based post ideas sent to your inbox every day with Google Alerts.
6. Automate repetitive code with text replacement.
7. Live-blog from your phone with Jott.
8. Make reusable templates for posts and images.
9. Copy links and their titles with CoLT.
10. Skip the copy/paste with AutoCopy.
Hi..
I read about wordpress and wordpress.org, but not sure if self host means the free blog part, I know wordpress.org you have to pay.
I use WordPress, which I love, so these are my favorite Plug-ins.
1. Sexy Bookmarks – great way to share links
2. Apture – great way to share other links and videos…my favorite plug-in
3. Aksimet – spam sucks
4. Daiko’s Video Widget – post videos on blog, but he is not updating it any more…any other suggestions?
5. Subscription Options – easy & simple subscribe widget
6. WordPress Stats – so easy and right there all the time
7. Viper’s Video Quicktags – post any type of video on the internet with customizable settings
8. WP-Polls – who doesn’t love polls?
9. WordPress Database Backup – I really don’t wanna lose all my info, do you?
10. Yet Another Related Post Plugin – great way to redirect readers to other related posts in your site
Great post idea by the way. Thanks to everybody who shared. If you have any questions on some of these, please contact me!
1) Feedburner
2) Scribfire
3) Zemanta
4) Hybrid Framework (WordPress theme framework)
5) Google Analytics
6) HootSuite / ow.ly
7) WP-SpamFree
8) Google Reader
9) Fotobook (Connect Facebook albums to WordPress)
10) Sharethis
I just discovered linkWithin and I am going to try it – it looks great.