Hooray! Google has, after years of neglect, upgraded Blogger. Some Blogspot improvements, privacy settings, but best of all...categories! I haven't played with it (like all Google products, it's still in beta), but I wanted to let Blogger users know.
This Post was written by Derrick from Obsession with Food
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Note: The beta is invite-only. Check your Blogger log-in to see if you've been awarded an invitation (I have not).
Then let all of us know how it works.
Apparently I haven't gotten an invitation either, but I would love to hear from anyone who does how they like it.
At the risk of wasting my wholemorning when I have a trillion things to do - note that you are allowed to start a new blog which has the new functions.
I just made a new test blog.
It also let me sign up using my gmail account.
The compose mode lets you choose type faces, sizes, colours and formatting.
off to play with it.
actually, reall off to do some work, but looking forward to playing with it later...
thanks Derrick!
I wonder if the changes will affect current blogs, or if you have to start a brand new one to get the changes to take effect.
For pete's sake: We moved our main blog from Blogger to WordPress this weekend to get categories. In hindsight, I'm glad we did it -- we got a much better site in the deal -- but sheesh...
Garrett,
I'd think they'd have a PR nightmare on their hands if they didn't provide a way to convert old blogs. There, after all, zillions of them out there, some of which are very well read.
Blogger Buzz says:
"As we release this version, we're limiting the number of people who can switch over. (You'll see a link on your Blogger dashboard when you are able to move.) Eventually, of course, everyone will be able to transition their blogs to the new version. Thanks in advance for your patience as we roll it out.
If you can't wait, you can create a new account on the beta now and make a new blog to test out the new features. Because the new Blogger uses Google Accounts, you can use your existing Google login, or create a new one. (Later, you'll be able to merge your current and beta accounts, and have all your blogs in one place.)"
The drag around rearrangement on its own will keep Blogger king of the new and keep-it-simple blogs. This is VERY VERY nice stuff.
On the other hand, having been digging in to WordPress and php for the last two weeks I think I have cracked how to build a REAL newspaper/magazine using WordPress thus making it easy to do some very fancy stuff (like not having to have posts ordered by date and how to have real sections)
The programmability of WordPress is always going to make it the choice for people who want more.
But this is great - FINALLY - I will probably keep on keeping my personal blogs at Blogger
I came here looking for this post as I was invited today and was a little hesitant. Do you think that only people with gmail got invited. I know they keep trying to log me in using that account for me. Just a thought.
Since it seems legit maybe I will try it out. Thank everyone for commenting!
Looks like you will have to be updating templates: see here
Owen,
Yeah, Wordpress beckons to me. Particularly as a programmer, there seems to be so many interesting things I could do with OWF. Perhaps when I have time again--2007 at this rate :)
I'll be curious to hear how your transition goes.
Heather,
Well, it's certainly not all Gmail users, since I didn't get invited (though I might follow Sam's suit and play with with a new account).
I played and got frustrated: I think most of us have worked out how to do this and more the hard way and would probably like to keep the control we have learnt to have over blogger.
It's great for begginners though. My mum is returung next month and wants to start a blog so this will be perfect for her.
It's definitely not related to using gmail; I use a yahoo address for blogging and I am switching over to the new Blogger. There was a "find out more" link or something like that when I logged in. Unfortunately I am leaving town soon and probably won't have time to play with it before I go!
I have switched over my site to the beta stuff, and I am happy with the results -- the sidebar archives links are improved, and I finally got the labels (categories) I've wanted since I started.
One snag -- I lost the customizations I had made to my template -- most notably the statcounter code that tracks my clicks. And, they don't yet support html editing on the new templates, so I was a little flustered at first.
BUT -- Using the new 'page elements', I just created a 'Text' page element, pasted the code in there, and posted it on my sidebar. It's invisible, and it's tracking, so I'm happy.
Ok I spoke too soon. I wasn't able to get my blog to be in the beta format, but I did try and start a new one to play around. Not sure how it will all come together since I have learned how to do different things the old way.
Has anyone switched to the new Blogger who uses a language or languages other than English? This is what scared me off.
I got the invitation, but declined, thinking I'd have another chance, grumble grumble.
I received an invite, but I'd hate to lose all my customizations. For those who've switched, how much do you have to recreate, and if there's no HTML editing how do you get back your customiziations. Also, do you have to use the new templates or can you keep your old one?
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