My Fantasy iOS Blogging Client

Blogging from the iPad is a pain for me. The current set of tools might work fine for someone who simply wants to create very basic posts without integration with any other apps, but as a power user I find myself yearning for better tools.

I’m not the only one.

Yesterday Shawn Blanc noted that:

There is one glaring hole of an app that would make my professional life
much easier: MarsEdit for iOS. Or something like it.

In response, Ben Brooks offered a better bookmarklet to improve link posts, but I’m seeking something deeper. **Here’s what I’d like to see in a dream blogging client on my iPad**:

  • The ability to pull in URL, title, and selected text for link posts – this is what Ben built with his bookmarklet.
  • TextExpander support.
  • Markdown preview support. If it could pull in custom css that would be even better.
  • While I’m dreaming, I’d like an integrated SmugMug browser since that’s my photo gallery of choice.

Shawn notes that his set of needs are “narrow and specific” and I’m also aware that what I want probably won’t appeal to the masses.

As I look over that list, maybe I just need XMLRPC publishing support built into the otherwise-excellent Elements (iTunes).

Relationships > Information

Back in the olden days of blogging, there were personal blogs, where the topics often varied a bit based on the interests of the author. That’s how Another Blogger started. Over time, posts here became less frequent and my energies became devoted to mostly-informational content elsewhere on sites such as Social Photo Talk or Picture Pundit. It’s hard to articulate why I’m dissatisfied with the angle of those sites but they’re note the content I want to produce going forward.

Metal on the support of a bus shelter in downtown PortlandIn the past six months or so I’ve noticed a shift in the content I’m reading. I’m spending less time reading informationally-focused sites and more time following the sites which are more personal and reflect the lives of interesting people. I’d rather hear the personal take on a particular subject than an article aimed at being as objective and neutral as possible. I’ve gotten to know these bloggers via their writing. The combination of information along with the personal aspects of their lives is interesting. Instead of reading a dense set of information on one topic I receive an individual’s take on a few different topics.

The personal relationships are more valuable than the information.

Hence a shift in my own blogging habits. This site has been rethemed to focus on the various facets of my life. I’ll continue to write about my photo business over at Hockley Photography but I expect more frequent articles here that will mix up a few topics of interest. Expect to see:

  • tech/blogging/social media
  • photography
  • Mac-based productivity (OmniFocus, TextExpander, etc)
  • perhaps even some parenting-related observations
  • community & event management

In addition to longer-form articles, I’ll be posting the occasional link roundup. I run into lots of interesting things and I’d like to share them. This site is about five years old; here’s to another five years of content that hopefully makes the internet more useful for someone.

Video & Slides: An Intro to Making Money with a Blog

The video and slides from my WordCamp Seattle presentation are now available:

Blog Monetization Resources

About the time that this post goes live, I’ll be presenting at WordCamp Seattle about how to start making some money with a blog. Here are some links and resources that will probably mentioned during the discussion.

People / Websites to Follow

Books

Affiliate Programs

Places to start if you’re looking for affiliate programs:

If you have any other questions about the topics we discussed, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to help you out.

Some of the links above are affiliate links.