One thing that has been difficult for me when I create how to blog posts is to insert code snippets. The visual editor will change it and the HTML editor will actually run the code. So it is difficult to put code examples in WordPress posts. Once again Live Writer to the rescue. There are now at least a couple of plugins that make this easier. There is an insert code plugin and a code snippet plugin, available for free download.

Another popular group of plugins are ones for inserting photos. There is a plugin that will turn any image into a Polaroid picture, and several plugins for inserting galleries of photos. Including  your Facebook photos, Flickr photos, and your Picasa images. There is also a cool plugin that will insert a thumbnail file of any website. There is even a snagIt screen capture plugin.

I also like the feed reader plugin which allows you to insert feeds into your site and the Wikipedia link plugin which allows highlighted text to be turned into a Wikipedia link. Maybe I should make my own plugin that allows highlighted text to be turned into one of my links. I’m sure I am not the first person to consider that.

If you are a tablet PC user there is also an ink blog plugin which allows you to blog directly from your tablet PC. No typing required. I could go on about all of the cool plugins but you are probably better off browsing the list and finding what uniquely applies to you. In fact if there is something you want to do and can’t figure out how. Don’t worry there is probably a plugin for that.

I’m just going to mention a couple other plugins that I think are really cool. The Google Insert Maps plugin will insert a map into your post, the Amazon Book Lookup Plugin will let your readers search for books by author or title and the book information is included in your post along with your affiliate ID. I love the formatting options already available in WLW but if you want added functionality there are plugins to draw horizontal lines and increase your bullet point graphics.

Since it has been awhile since I updated this site I just wanted to give your brief update. It is November and winter is finally here. The holiday season is just around the corner if you have some last minute preparation before the real cold sets in it’s time to get it done. So you can spend the winter writing on your blogs and not worrying about what is going on outside.

That means clean your gutters, put away the patio furniture and get out your winter swimming pool covers. Have a great Holiday Season and enjoy your winter writing activities.

WLW really helped because it made formatting, creating tables, adding video and images a breeze. Things have changed a bit since then. For one thing I know a lot more about WordPress, blogging, and coding now. For another thing WordPress has changed. The WP visual editor is actually very good now. Adding video and photos is not a major ordeal and with the kitchen sink function formatting is fairly easy now too.

I still like WLW but I use it less because the WP interface is easier and I know how to code, for the most part. I also have many sites and after awhile some of them would not work in my live writer interface. I’m not sure if I had a corrupt file or if there is a limit on how many blogs we can have WLW linked to at one time. That being said WLW is still a valuable tool.

In fact I have found a new clever use for it. Even though I know so much more about coding, I still can use some help once in awhile especially when it comes to things like creating tables.  An easy way to use WLW to completely customize your posts. Is to use WLW like an HTML editor. In fact I think this little trick is brilliant and you don’t even have to configure WLW to use it.

Just open WLW and click on the edit tab. Then use the easy to use visual interface to create a page formated with colors, and images, and spaces, and tables and whatever fancy stuff you want. Then click on the source tab and copy everything in that window. Then open WP and click on the HTML tab and paste in the source code you copied from live writer. Now you have a perfectly formatted post. Created by you and coded by live writer.

This works like a charm every time. In fact I even have DreamWeaver and yet it is often easier for me to use this live writer trick to create coded blog posts. Things have come along way and with minimal knowledge we can now make our WP sites look anyway we want them.

Which is great because having the flexibility to make your site look how you want is as flexible as what we do with our sites. Some people blog to share information, or express themselves, or make new friends. Some people create sites to earn extra money or to sale affiliate products.

Often times sites that sale products are review sites. Some of these sites have several posts with reviews of different products. Some of these sites are smaller and focus on just one product. I have a friend who has created one such site. It is for a product called Google Terminator. I don’t really know what this product is about but it is something to do with creating templates for product reviews.

One of the nice things about the Internet is that there is no shortage of information when you are considering purchasing something. Or when you are looking for a solution to your problems.

Image via Wikipedia

If you haven’t upgraded your version of Windows Live Writer now is the time to do it. Once again if you are a blogger I can’t emphasize enough how useful WLW is and the new version looks even better. The interface is cleaner and I’m hoping to discover more added functionality. I’ll be testing it over the next couple of days.

Another thing I noticed is when you download Windows Live Writer you can also download an entire group of Windows Live products. I deselected these options, because I was really interested in just upgrading my version of Windows Live Writer.

If anyone has any experience with the other Windows Live products I’d love to hear about it. Till next time, Jesse.

What does Zemanta do? It helps you find and load images, related articles, and references to Wikipedia to your blog post. Zemanta has a semantic algorithm which analyzes your content and compares it to a database that suggests content.

You can download Zemanta for LiveWriter here.

All of these things can usually be done in WordPress or whatever blogging software you choose. But live writer makes cranking  out a post with multimedia a cinch. Without having to mess with code and tags and other things that can make a quick post another tedious post.

Once you have your post published. It’s easy to go to your dashboard and make sure everything is just right. Fill in those tags or add more info with all in one SEO pack.

Live writer is also great for multi author blogs which may have some writers who don’t have their coding skills up to snuff. Just have them use live writer to post and edit. Then the main administrator can take care of all of the technical issues.

For easy blogging posts, Windows Live Writer is the way to go.

This version is still in beta but if your interested here is the download link;

Windows Live Writer Technical Release Preview

Anyway live writer has some more new plug ins, worth checking out. So in no particular order here you go:

• AdSense Coder another plug in for inserting that pesky AdSense in a post.
• Quote Of The Day Inserts a quote of the day into your post. I’ll test it now, and see if it works:

Quote of the Day:
If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence.
–Anonymous

Actually that quote of the day thing is pretty cool. You just click on it and you get the insertion. They also have a bible one for the more religious folks. Very cool. Just watch out for duplicate content penalties.

• Word Count Yay! Windows Live Writer now has a Word Count plug in. Need I say more?

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As you can see it’s almost unanimous. Most bloggers who try Windows Live Writer give it a stamp of approval. If you havn’t tested it out yet. You’re missing out.

• Works with your blog service
• Preview before you post
• Blog and publish on your schedule
• Rich media made easy
• Powerful editing tools
• More rich content with easy plug-ins
• Works seamlessly with Windows Live Spaces

More Great Features:

• Works with your existing blog.

• Copies the style of your blog.

• Makes editing, formatting, inserting video, and editing photos a breeze.

• You can go back and edit previous post with live writer.

• You can switch from one blog to another and live writer will automatically change styles.

• Plugins are available for even more functionality.