Essential Blogging: Selecting and Using Weblog Tools (Paperback)

by Shelley Powers (Author), Cory Doctorow (Author), J. Scott Johnson (Author), Mena G. Trott (Author), Benjamin Trott (Author), Rael Dornfest (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"If you're not a Blogger user then Essential Blogging, the king of the 'how to' books, would me more appropriate." "Packed with tips and code examples it is a treasure trove for the writer who wants to move beyond the standard templates bundled with each system. Even advanced users are likely to find some value in its discussion of BloggerAPI clients used for posting to a blog without firing up a browser." PCW, March "... Essential Blogging, the king of the 'how to' books... Packed with tips and code examples it is a treasure trove for the writer who wants to move beyond the standard templates bundled with each system. Comprising first-hand accounts of what blogging means to some of the community's leading lights, it is precisely what The Weblog Handbook should have been." - Nik Rawlinson, PCW, March

Product Description
Anyone can run a blog (an online journal). From personal diaries to political commentary and technology observations, bloggers are making their voices heard around the world. Essential Blogging helps you select the right blogging software for your needs and show how to get your blog up and running. You'll learn the ingredients of a successful blog, and then get detailed installation, configuration and operation instructions for the leading blogging software: Blogger, Radio Userland, Movable Type, and Blosxom. For each blogging tool you'll learn how to post, edit and delete entries; add pictures; syndicate your stories with RSS; change the appearance of your blog; and manage archives. You'll also learn about the desktop clients that make blogging simple, and get advice and read the stories of real bloggers. Written by prominent bloggers and authors of blogging tools, Essential Blogging is a no-nonsense guide to the technology of blogging.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (August 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596003889
• ISBN-13: 978-0596003883
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #871,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to blogging for the true novice, November 13, 2002

By	R. Geissman "Lodi Shopper" (Lodi, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked up this book after deciding that I was going to turn my website into a blog. I had no backround in blogging and this book is geared towards the novice. Blogging is explained and then they go in to detail on using either Radio Userland, Blogger, or Movable Type to get your blog up on the web. The order of the chapters is kinda crazy to me but you can read them in any order you like I suppose. By the time I was done with the book (2 evenings) I was up and running under Radio Userland blogging away like an old pro. I borrowed this book from the library and only had it two days and wouldn't need to look at it again as all the information included is available on the web as well.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good guide to some specific software, July 25, 2003

By	Frank Carver (Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

"Blogging" (the practice of keeping a public on-line journal to record personal thoughts, observations and links), is hot news on the internet these days. Many of the best-known names in the business keep such journals, so it's not surprising that the book publishers want to cash in.

Things in the world of blogging move fast. Minor celebrities rise and fall, new software is continually being released, new jargon is invented. It's hard for a paper book to keep up. There are some aspects of blogging which are gaining some permanancy. Unfortunately, this book only skims those topics, preferring to spend nearly 200 pages describing how to use particular (late 2002) versions of a few blogging tools.

The most incisive and thought-provoking part of the book is the last ten pages - interesting quotes from a range of bloggers. It's the only bit which shows any of the excitement and "buzz" of blogging and gets you wanting to get involved.

This is not a bad book. But it's not really the book described in its own advertsing. If you want a rough guide to comparing, installing and using a small selection of the well-known blog software offerings, this book is right for you. If you want a more thoughtful and detailed overview of what blogging is all about, why you should do it, what the terminology means, or how it works "under the hood", keep looking.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blogging introduction and manual, December 30, 2002

By	G. Crisp (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Essential Blogging appeals to the its audience as:

- an introduction to the tools of blogging
- a users manual to some of the more prolific blogging tools
- advice for those who might value the opinions of more well-known bloggers

Having been a dabbler in blogging for the past year, I find the introduction to blogging of little use. For me, the most useful contents are the chapters on Userland Radio, my blog tool of choice. The advanced chapter (ch. 6) is of specific value, as it details the mechanics of how the tool works 'under the hood', and how it can be customized. Although I only skimmed the chapters on Blogger and Moveable Type, those sections seem just as informative about their perspective tools, and should prove equally valuable to their users as the Userland chapters are to me.

The discussion of desktop blogging tools (ch. 2) is of equal value. It shows how one might use a more feature-rich editor in conjunction with the robust, content-management back-end of Userland. There is also a brief but informative discussion of the API's that make integration between blogging tools practical.

Of questionable value is the final chapter (ch. 10), which contains quotes from various bloggers opining the virtues of blogging and their own, personal experiences. Some of these comments are insightful. Some are clearly the pontifications of those who are legends in their own minds. Deciding which are which is left as an exercise to the reader.