I like Moveable Type for a lot of reasons – I like the spiffy interface, I like the standard template which looks elegant and is yet simple, I like the fact that it can be accessed from anywhere and I like the fact that multiple users can post to the same blog. But there are also many things that I don’t like about it – I don’t like the fact that you have only a few HTML code snippet buttons (bold, italic and URL if I recall correctly) and there is no way to assign custom snippets so that I can add my own frequently used HTML code to buttons instead of typing it out all the time; I hate the fact that there is no spell-check or thesaurus; I don’t like it that all my entries, site settings and templates are on a server and if the server goes down or is shut down, I lose all my entries and settings; I don’t like the fact that I can’t post the same journal to multiple sites and so the list goes on. I guess in choosing any software, you sometimes have to weigh the pros and the cons and decide what is really important to you to get a certain job done. But if you are a coder, you also have the option to write a new app of your own that has all the features you want or to code an enhancement for an existing app that will do what you want :p
Now, I already have a blogging application out there and I certainly don’t want to write or maintain a server-side blogging utility like Moveable Type or Grey Matter. But … what if it is possible to write an application which will connect to a Moveable Type, Grey Matter or Blogger blog and allow you to post entries and to retrieve existing entries to be stored offline? This will give you a system which will have quite a bit of the missing features that I talked about *and* give you the flexibility of posting from anywhere as long as you have web access. I have been giving this matter a lot of thought and I think the idea is worth exploring and so I intend to do some research to see if it is possible. I know it should be eminently possible with any blogging utility that supports the Blogger API but I am not even sure that Moveable Type or Grey Matter do support the Blogger API.
I have actually been thinking of a plug-in based blog management system which will allow a user to add a plug-in for any blogging utility of their choice and be able to connect to that particular blog and post their entries or to synchronize their entries. This way, you will always have a backup offline be able to recover fast from any disasters. Not only that, you will have a tool which allows you to compose your entries offline (with a lot of bells and whistles such as a spell-checker) and then go online only to post your entry. Of course, all of this is still in the realm of conceptualization since I don’t know if any of it is possible but let’s see where it goes …
The one thing I like about Moveable Type is that groovy little calendar on the left. Other than that, they can keep it. I like the simplicity of Blog. I like the fact that Blog is very customizeable. I also like the spell chunker with Blog. :O) I often thought about working up some HTML for a little calendar to help people navigate my drivel rather than post links to different months at the bottom of my blogs, but I just don’t have the skills. W/O having a WYSIWYG editor in Blog I’ve been forced to learn basic HTML. At first, sure it was a pain – but now I’m glad I had to. I still have a lot to learn too. I really like the suggestions that others have put forward about modules for Blog. I’d like Blog to remain relatively small – I’d hate to see it turn into some huge bloated program just to keep adding features to it that most of us will probably never use. I think the modules idea is great Fahim, I hope you’ll consider that route. Even a WYSIWYG module would be nice – I’d even use it. ;O)I really enjoy Blog, and I’m glad the numbers of users are increasing.
Cool – ever since I switched away from Blog to B2, I’ve been hoping you’d make Blog into a BloggerAPI client…That’d have me back in a heartbeat.
It would be a great way to do an automatic backup – posts on the server and the client(s).
BTW, I agree with Steve..the Calendar is absolutely cool! It would certainly make my webpage more friendly for searching old archives.
On the other hand, I’m probably the only one who does! 😉
#1 so glad that steve said “bite me” in his blog, ( woo hoo, i’m not the only one)
#2 yeah, I hooked up with blog cuz it was small and easy, in fact I’m still not officially upgraded and don’t use half the features….. I like it, i want a calendar though and the karma thing like GM is sorta interesting, i like the fact of “karma votes”.