Blogging has gone crazy with the 70,000,000 plus blogs out there… But for a long time the tools for managing blogs were pretty basic. Now that’s no longer true. I’ve been compiling a list of the tools out there. I’ve tried most of them at one time or another with varying results. Blogging software is becoming increasingly common as people blog straight from their pcs via applications. On the scene there are now an increasing number of quality applications that you can use on Windows 98/XP/Vista. But first…

What conveniences do blogging applications have?

Well, quite a lot. You don’t need to fire up your browser, log in, click on write, save and post… it’s all available in one or two screens that you can just start, and enter the post. It works in ways most like a regular Word Processor package, and many of the buttons and tools look and behave much like that, too.

Moreover, you don’t need to log on the Internet to post, as you can save your posts offline, then login, post away and go offline again. Blogging Tools offer a lot of convenience for presenting your blog posts, provide spelling and photograph management, media integration, and so on… But not every application covers every point, so you may need to focus on one or two applications that cover most of your needs. So let’s take a look at #1…

Qumana

First on our list is Qumana which is an interesting and flexible choice. It also offers bloggers an interesting alternative to Adsense. The interface is very similar to those who use WordPress as you can see:

All the basic elements are there, including adding tags, categories, pings, trackbacks, future posting, etc. You can also modify the text styles as well as the size. Additionally, it is supported on both Windows and Mac. You can also add notes and links to a pad for future reference, called ‘DropPad’ which you can use by clicking and dragging them to the pad area. This list is taken from their website:

* PC & Mac
* WYSIWYG editor, as easy as email
* Clean interface with easy-to-understand buttons
* Spell check with ‘as you type’ option
* Insert keyword ads in one click, with preview – make money easily
* Technorati tagging
* Customize ad design
* Source view option to edit HTML
* Save posts as drafts, or edit old posts, from the Blog Manager
* Easy image uploads and image alignment
* DropPad – gather links, text, and pictures by dragging them to a desktop pad
* Offline editing
* Multi-window editing
* Seamless posting and cross-posting
* Trackback & pinging

It also supports a large number of blogging platforms ncluding Blogger/Blogspot, Drupal, LiveJournal, MovableType, MSN Spaces, TypePad, and WordPress, amongst others.

Several Ways To Monetize Your Blog with Qumana

As mentioned, Qumana also has an integrated ad browser which bloggers can use to generate revenue. Qumana allows you to insert ads without leaving the blog application. You can also modify the ads within the browser, thus:

There are only a couple of things I don’t like about Qumana: it’s not easy to edit pictures visually; it’s not particularly media friendly apart from pictures (though there is an alternate application for that), and it seems difficult to ad non-qumana ads to your blog posts… If you are not interested in generating revenue from your blog via such in-text ads, or you use a separate service like Adsense, then this product may not be what you are looking for. If you’re interested in using Qumana ads, but have a preferred blogging tool, then you can try their Firefox and IE tools.

Next week we’ll be taking a look at #2 in our series… so till then.