News!! Choke Your Posts Correct Earlier You Lot Pose Out Them To Your Rss Feed

This article is almost the human relationship betwixt your RSS feed together with the Publish button, together with ways of using Blogger to cut down the chances of readers seeing something that you lot didn't desire to issue yet.

Your RSS feed together with the Publish push clit

I've previously described why RSS is of import for bloggers who attention almost edifice an audience.

But it's also of import to realise that:

• Some of your RSS subscribers exclusively run into the first version of each post that you lot publish, non the most late edited one.

• Even if you lot delete a post from your weblog before long after publishing it, the published version is soundless inwards your RSS feed together with volition hold out seen past times people who read it.
  (I've heard that around feed-aggregator / reader tools create delete items, yet around eg Google Reader, don't.)

Personally, I took a long fourth dimension to empathise the consequences of this:  When I started blogging, I Published early-and-often spell I was writing each post, together with hence I could run into what it "felt" like.   (The Preview button, because it shows you lot the "look" but non the latest content, together with editing the content was of import to me.)  This meant that subscribers saw real early, drafty versions of my posts, together with hence many of them decided to unsubscribe pretty quickly.

Even after I understood, I soundless occasionally striking Publish past times accident.   And my writing wasn't good, because I discovery it difficult to proof-read properly inwards the post-editor.

So far I've flora 2 ways of using Blogger that tin address this problem.

Option 1: Turn the blog-feed off, except when you lot issue the in conclusion version

Posts are exclusively sent out inwards your blog's feed if the feed is turned on.  So every fourth dimension you lot desire to function on a post:

• Turn the feed off (Settings > Site Feed > Allow Blog Feeds = None)
• Work on your post, Publishing it every bit you lot like
• Save the Post every bit Draft (so it's condition is dorsum to draft again)
• Turn the feed on (Settings > Site Feed > Allow Blog Feeds = anything except None)

Or you lot could travel along Allow Blog Feeds = None, plow it on every fourth dimension you lot issue a post for the get-go time, together with plow it off i time to a greater extent than afterwards.

This is peculiarly skilful approach if you lot accept a lot of email subscribers via Feedburner - because that tool is currently (Dec 2010) sending out an update every fourth dimension a post is published or updated, instead of precisely for every "new" publication (ie i that changes the post-status from Draft to Published).

However it's real manual, together with there's ever a endangerment that you lot powerfulness forget to plow the feed on or off at the correct moment.

Option 2: Prepare posts inwards a variety blog

This is my preferred approach, together with right away at that topographic point are at to the lowest degree 3 dissimilar "blogs" for each weblog I that run:

• The blog  (what information technology professionals telephone call upward "production")
• A documentation blog, where I travel along my notes almost how it's lay together
• A pre-publication blog, when I travel along posts that are beingness worked on.

The weblog itself is ready to populace (or restricted to a express audience if that's appropriate).  The others are ready to:

• Private   (Settings > Permissions > Blog readers = Only Blog Authors) 
• Not listed (Settings > Basic > Add your weblog to our listings = No)
• Not indexed (Settings > Basic > Let search engines discovery your weblog = No)
• Not listed on my Blogger Profile (Dashboard > Edit Blogger Profile > Select blogs to display)

At diverse times, if I'm preparing for template changes or adding novel features, I may also accept test-blogs.  These are ever ready to Private too.

When I'm preparing a post, I function on it inwards the "pre-production" blog, together with tin Publish it every bit many times every bit I like.  Then when it's complete, I only copy the post from the pre-prod weblog to the existent one, together with issue it once.  

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 large create goodness is that if I larn an thought almost a potential post, I tin precisely larn to the pre-publication weblog together with brand a real quick banknote almost it:  the writing together with interrogation character doesn't matter, because I'm the exclusively individual who sees it.

The i thing I necessitate to create is to always cheque together with re-check the weblog I'm almost to post in, every fourth dimension I striking "Publish":  the hateful solar daytime after I get-go released this post was the get-go fourth dimension inwards ages that I accidentally published a draft post to this weblog (subscribers volition accept seen it come upward through the feel) .... real embarrassing indeed!  

Have you lot flora other ways to avoid problems similar this?  

I'd dear to withdraw heed almost what industrial plant for you.

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Related Articles:



Copying a post from i weblog to another.

Why RSS is of import for bloggers who attention almost edifice an audience

Using Feedburner to create out electronic mail subscribers

Restricting who tin run into your blog

Understanding Google Accounts

Planning changes to your weblog inwards individual - using a examination blog

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