Ever been lying in bed, and suddenly thought of something marvellous/witty/funny that you wanted to blog about, but were too lazy to get out of bed and fire up the laptop?
That's where the Wordpress app for BlackBerry comes in handy. Blog in bed, using your 'Berry. Blog anywhere, using your 'Berry. Here's everything you need to know, to get started.
Just a heads up, before you get going:
- The app is for WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs, version 2.5.1 or newer; (so if you have a yourblogname.wordpress.com or yourblogname.co.za, you'll be able to use the app)
- This app should work with any of the newer BlackBerry devices such as the 8700, Pearl, Curve, Bold, and Storm.
- BlackBerry operating system requirements are OS 4.2.1 or newer.
- For self-hosted WordPress sites, you'll need to fiddle with a few settings, on your blog dashboard, to make it work. Click Settings and then Writing, and make sure you have XML-RPC enabled - it's as simple as clicking a check box.
So once you've downloaded the Wordpress app and rebooted your BlackBerry and opened the app, you should see this:
If you're new to Wordpress: you'll click that option, and follow the sign up instructions.
If you already have a Wordpress blog: select the first option.
Next, you'll need to set up the connection with your own blog, and you'll do this by selecting the Add Blog option from the menu. Here you'll need to enter your blog URL, your admin username and password as well as set a couple of options (which can be changed later) to resize any uploaded photos and how many recent posts to synchronise with your BlackBerry - it's recommended that you choose to resize photos automatically, as this makes posting quicker. You should also set a relatively low number of posts to sync between your BlackBerry and Wordpress - 10 should be more than sufficient.
Once you're happy with the settings, click OK to continue, and your blog will synchronise with your BlackBerry.
Ready, Steady, Blog!
Once you've added your blog, and fiddled with the settings, you should be taken to a menu that looks like this. This menu is your mobile dashboard:
- click Posts to edit previous posts, or add new ones.
- Click Pages to edit your blog's Pages, or add new ones.
- View, edit and reply to comments, using the Comments tab.
- Phone Media should be where you can add media stored on your phone, to your blog posts.
- Stats will give you a basic view of your usual Wordpress statistics.
- Options is where you can configure your blog settings.
- Refresh will re-load everything, with updated content/comments/settings.
Posting and Editing:
As Posts and Pages are very similar, we'll look at adding a new Post - the procedure for Pages pretty much the same, so once you've got one waxed, you'll be sorted with the other. On your mobile dashboard menu, select your blog, and then select Posts.
A list of posts will be shown along with a row of icons to that indicate the ability to write new posts, view drafts and synchronise your blog. The pencil icon is what you'll want to select to create a new post.
Clicking the pencil takes you to a new screen, headed "Write". The new post button leads to a screen headed Write. Here, enter your title, add your tags and select from existing categories, and start writing your blog post.
You'll see, under your Categories menu, a Status bar. This is where you'll control publishing.
- Local Draft: means the draft is only saved on your BlackBerry
- Draft: means a copy is saved on your actual blog as well
- Pending Review: means your editor or administrator (if you're part of a group blog) needs to review your post before publishing
- Published: change your post status to this, when you're ready to publish the post.
Once you're done, and you've changed the Status of the post to what you want it to be, select Submit from the menu, and it will be submitted to your blog's server.
Did you know?
- It's possible to password protect posts, from the mobile app. Simply click on Settings, whilst you have the blog post draft open, and set the password.
- You can also use the app to write an excerpt. This is handy, if you're using a magazine-style layout, that shows snippets of your blog posts on the home page. Also handy if you have your RSS settings set to partial feed, as this allows you to control what the RSS Reader displays.
- The app will check your spelling for you. Simply select Check Spelling from the menu.
- You can set your blog notifications, right there, on the app. Choose to be notified when there's a new comment, or follow up comment, and select which blogs you'd like this for.
Adding media:
Adding photos into your blog post is simple. Under the Post Content section, push the BlackBerry button, to open your menu, Media will be at the top of the menu, and once you've selected it, choose whether you want to add a Photo or Video. Then you choose where you want to upload it from - either take a picture right then with your camera, or upload from your media card or device memory.
You can re-name your photo, add a caption, add a description and set the positioning (i.e: display at the top or bottom of your post), by entering the Properties menu, once you've uploaded the picture. (Click BlackBerry button, select Properties) Adding video is a similar process. There's an option to display them all at the top, or all at the bottom, depending on what you prefer. Obviously, getting images indented into your text is something that you'll have to fiddle with on your computer, but the basic functionality is there, and is a vast improvement from not being able to post any media at all, from the app.
There's also a Remove Media button, if you change your mind about any content.
Once you've added all the content you need, written all the text you wanted to write, and checked your spelling, you can preview before you publish. Hitting the Preview button on the menu is the same as previewing a blog post on your laptop. And once you're satisfied, change the Status to Publish, and select Submit.
Comment love:
Comments left by your readers can also be viewed in the app and are accessible through the main blog menu, and by selecting each comment individually, you can use the menu to mark a comment as spam or you can choose to delete it or approve it. There's also a Multiple Mode that allows you to mass approve/delete comments.
It really is as easy as that:
Mobile blogging is convenient, secure and loads of fun. It's also incredibly easy to set up, and it's just as easy to get addicted to the quick-fix offered by being able to have your say wherever and whenever.
So. Have you Wordpressed yet?
