Best blog workflow for the time-impaired
March 6, 2012 5:32 PM Subscribe
Best blog workflow for the time-impaired! I haven't chosen a platform yet. I prefer to host the images myself. Please walk me through your super-efficient workflow!
Response by poster: Well, I'm thinking something like, maybe Person A says, "I upload the photos first and rename them by this convention:2012_0306-01... Then I write the text and paste the URL in..."
Person B says, "I write all the text during the week in Blogger and save them as drafts and use [***photo of steps***] as photo placeholders, and do all my uploading on Saturday."
I was hoping that super-efficient people would see my question and think, "Yes, that's me! I post to my blog all the time and I have a really efficient system. Here's what it is."
posted by xo at 5:59 PM on March 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Person B says, "I write all the text during the week in Blogger and save them as drafts and use [***photo of steps***] as photo placeholders, and do all my uploading on Saturday."
I was hoping that super-efficient people would see my question and think, "Yes, that's me! I post to my blog all the time and I have a really efficient system. Here's what it is."
posted by xo at 5:59 PM on March 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
This question is still way too open-ended in my opinion. Your blog might be links only, or images, or text, or news posts and then you've always got to be on the ball. Mine might be a combination of those things
Personally, I've been writing and posting in MarsEdit on the Mac. I write whenever I have time and content in mind.
The platform is or should be almost irrelevent, or if it isn't, you're spending too much time on it. I self-host all of my wordpress blogs with dreamhost.
posted by TimeDoctor at 6:18 PM on March 6, 2012
Personally, I've been writing and posting in MarsEdit on the Mac. I write whenever I have time and content in mind.
The platform is or should be almost irrelevent, or if it isn't, you're spending too much time on it. I self-host all of my wordpress blogs with dreamhost.
posted by TimeDoctor at 6:18 PM on March 6, 2012
More information would be helpful. Is this a personal or professional blog? How often will you be posting something? Will you be writing about time sensitive items? Will your posts be sequential (i.e. "today I'm going to write Part A, tomorrow is Part B, Part C of the story will follow...").
I can't make any claims to efficiency but on my personal blog the process almost always starts with me choosing a photo or set of photos and then writing up the "story" that accompanies the photo(s). The photos get edited in Photoshop Elements and the text gets written right in typepad. Years ago I used to write several posts at once and then schedule their publication times, but I found that I prefer spending a few minutes a day writing rather than a big chunk of time every few days.
On the news blog I contribute to the process is exactly the opposite. The story is always time sensitive, so I write that up first (using a text editor). Then I hope to find an appropriate photo/graphic to illustrate the story.
I agree with TimeDoctor that the platform is mostly irrelevant. I've used several and for what I do, putting up posts with text and images, they are all pretty much equivalent.
posted by plastic_animals at 6:37 PM on March 6, 2012
I can't make any claims to efficiency but on my personal blog the process almost always starts with me choosing a photo or set of photos and then writing up the "story" that accompanies the photo(s). The photos get edited in Photoshop Elements and the text gets written right in typepad. Years ago I used to write several posts at once and then schedule their publication times, but I found that I prefer spending a few minutes a day writing rather than a big chunk of time every few days.
On the news blog I contribute to the process is exactly the opposite. The story is always time sensitive, so I write that up first (using a text editor). Then I hope to find an appropriate photo/graphic to illustrate the story.
I agree with TimeDoctor that the platform is mostly irrelevant. I've used several and for what I do, putting up posts with text and images, they are all pretty much equivalent.
posted by plastic_animals at 6:37 PM on March 6, 2012
Response by poster: Sorry... I thought I had provided enough information, but I guess I didn't. It would be a traditional blog, in the sense of writing a paragraph (or three), and then including a photo (or three). Not links only. Not all images. Not news posts. Just a standard blog. Writing 2-3 times a week. Probably not multi-part stories.
posted by xo at 6:42 PM on March 6, 2012
posted by xo at 6:42 PM on March 6, 2012
Just write it, don't get bogged in the workflow details at this stage. You'll find what's best for you as you go. Wordpress will resize all your images for you. Other CMSes too, I bet.
Most of the blogs I read seem to use text files (and markdown) for draft posts. They also have a text file list of possible blog topics. These tend to be more techy blogs.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:59 PM on March 6, 2012
Most of the blogs I read seem to use text files (and markdown) for draft posts. They also have a text file list of possible blog topics. These tend to be more techy blogs.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:59 PM on March 6, 2012
I've got over 5000 posts on my blog and I don't think I even have a work flow. I write everything directly in Wordpress . I don't use many photos, but when I do I self host my own, or use CC licensed photos from Flickr. Just write when you have time, If this is a personal project you've already way over thought it.
posted by COD at 7:30 PM on March 6, 2012
posted by COD at 7:30 PM on March 6, 2012
Best answer: Okay, I understand your question now. I'm not super efficient, but here's what I do. I have a blogspot blog with lots of photos.
Take photos on my camera; transfer to computer; edit in Picasa; export to a folder in Picasa that automatically syncs to an online folder (this is key).
Go to my [blogspot] blog, write post, and use the blogger interface to paste in the Picasa photos, which are automatically uploaded from the synced folder.
I take photos when the light is good. I edit photos and write posts when I have time (which is most days), and I post 1-2 posts a day, 7 days a week. I try to keep at least 4-5 posts ready or almost ready to go, in case I have a couple days in a row where I don't have time to write a new post.
posted by insectosaurus at 10:45 PM on March 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Take photos on my camera; transfer to computer; edit in Picasa; export to a folder in Picasa that automatically syncs to an online folder (this is key).
Go to my [blogspot] blog, write post, and use the blogger interface to paste in the Picasa photos, which are automatically uploaded from the synced folder.
I take photos when the light is good. I edit photos and write posts when I have time (which is most days), and I post 1-2 posts a day, 7 days a week. I try to keep at least 4-5 posts ready or almost ready to go, in case I have a couple days in a row where I don't have time to write a new post.
posted by insectosaurus at 10:45 PM on March 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by insectosaurus at 5:52 PM on March 6, 2012