News!! Letting Other People Write Inwards Your Blog

This article describes the ways that you lot tin allow other people to write as well as give away on your blog.  It looks at as well as the advantages as well as disadvantages of each approach.

Comments vs blog-posts, the instance for team-blogs

There are 2 primary ways that content tin endure set into your blog: comments as well as posts.

Blogger is designed, unopen to the thought that initial discussions virtually novel topics are started past times you, as well as set into posts.   Readers interact alongside you lot past times commenting on your posts - although, yes,  there are ongoing problems alongside readers non existence able to comments, it seems mainly because of their security settings.

But in that location may endure some people who you desire to endure able to do to a greater extent than than simply comment.  Increasingly people desire to do to a greater extent than alongside their comments - they desire to include links (eg to pictures that present what they mean), or they desire to integrate comments alongside their social networks (for example, as shown inward the ways that James from JS Blogstop has integrated Facebook as well as Twitter comments alongside his blog-comments.

And some groups of people desire to operate together to brand a weblog that they all write posts for, as well as are prepared to brand as well as follow their ain rules/guidelines (which aren't enforced past times Blogger) to brand this successful.

Team organisation vs Blogger tools

There are many ways to organise a squad of bloggers.

• Some blogs are run past times 1 person (the possessor or manager), who recruits people to write for them (either for payment, or as volunteers).

• Some belong to a company, as well as are operated past times an employee according to their chore description. 

• Some blogs are owned past times a committee, who delegate 1 somebody to do all the operate on them. 

• Some direct hold a squad of writers who as well as designers, who all contribute equally as well as who brand collective decisions virtually how things are done. 

And in that location are many to a greater extent than options inward between.

Unfortunately Blogger cannot laid upward permissions for all the dissimilar ways that real-world teams operate - in that location are simply also many options. Instead, you lot take to design the way your squad works, using the options that Blogger does provide.   So - what are these?

Have posts emailed to you

Microsoft Word tin solely sometimes endure successfully converted to blogger - as well as should never endure copy-and-pasted)

Wasted fourth dimension - as well as direct a opportunity of mistakes:
If an author has set a lot of essay into layout (headings, bold, italics, tables, footnotes, etc) you lot may take to recreate it all yourself - as well as some features, eg tables, may non endure well-supported past times Blogger.

Managing attached files:If a post includes a lot of graphics or videos, you lot take to have these files too, as well as charge them to Picasa (or an appropriate file-host for non-image files), as well as link to them from the post: your author volition non endure able to laid upward the links. Alternatively if your author has linked to pictures that are hosted somewhere, you lot lose command over whether these volition buy the farm on to operate inward the future.  And in that location won't endure a thumbnail picture for the post if none of the pictures are stored inward Picasa-we or Google + albums.

How to brand receiving posts past times electronic mail less painful

If you lot halt upward using this option because none of them others are suitable, you lot could inquire your writers to shipping you lot  HTML instead of a custom document format similar Word.

Or inquire them to operate inward Google Docs, which you lot tin copy-and-paste from.

Or  send PDF files: host these  inward a house that provides embed code (eg Scribd), as well as you lot maintain their formatting past times putting the embed code into your posts.

Have posts emailed to your blog

Blogger has the "mail2Post" feature, which lets you lot set upward your weblog to have posts that are emailed to a "secret" address that you lot direct hold laid up.

You take to select whether mail2Post submissions are automatically published or laid to draft, as well as the "secret words" utilisation of the mail2Post electronic mail address.

Then you lot take to nation the people who you lot desire to post how to do so, ie what electronic mail address to shipping their contributions too, as well as how to handgrip things similar pictures or videos that they desire to include.

Pros:

• Saves you lot time
• Lets people post fifty-fifty if you lot aren't available to Publish
• Writers tin operate inward a familar tool, as well as solely take to endure on-line spell they're sending their content

Cons:

• Attached photos don't ever work, your writers don't command where inward the post they are put, as well as you lot don't command where the motion painting files are saved
• There is no way to automatically add together Labels to posts (you take to add together them manually later)
• Content that you lot don't desire may endure set on your weblog if a hacker guesses your secret-words-address
• There are no guarantees virtually formatting (bold, italics, bullet-pointed lists) existence shown correctly: a lot depends on the writer's electronic mail customer settings
• You cannot nation who the post-author was from the Blogger dashboard
• If you lot laid incoming posts to draft, Blogger has no way of notifying you lot that in that location are novel posts waiting for you lot  r blessing - you lot take to detect that they're there.

Making it work

The terminal few problems tin endure avoided if you utilisation email-forwarding as well as mail2Post together. This also lets you lot add together rules / filters within Gmail, as well as thence reduces the direct a opportunity of automatically publishing something inappropriate, as well as you lot tin laid upward notifications to yourself virtually posts waiting your review.

Grant Author rights within Blogger

Each weblog tin direct hold 1 or to a greater extent than administrators (who tin do anything), as well as or to a greater extent than authors, who tin solely write novel posts, as well as edit their ain existing posts. Authors as well as administrators are considered to endure members of a squad blog, as well as each weblog tin invite upward to 100 people to endure members.

Pros:

• It's fairly easy to make someone into an author
• The author tin use Blogger's tools for formatting their post, as well as for adding pictures as well as videos.
• Labels tin endure applied before a post is publihsed
• Posts tin endure scheduled into the future
• It's slow for authors to format links nicely (eg "this article on Blogger-HAT" instead of "www.blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/XXX")

Cons:

• You cannot forcefulness writers to ever let you lot review posts before they're published: you lot tin inquire them to relieve posts as draft, but there's nil to guarantee that they volition do so
• You cannot guarantee that authors volition ever use your preferred styles as well as formats
• Authors take to learn to utilisation Blogger: nosotros all know it's non that difficult - but I volition guarantee that some people recall it is!
• You cannot halt writers from editing their before posts
• Authors tin solely edit their own before posts, as well as non those of other wrtiers. (This  could endure a work subsequently if some authors movement on you lot direct hold new-team members: solely administrators tin edit the operate of now-departed authors.)
• You cannot command where your writers host pictures as well as videos: the post-editor lets them link to whatever location. this agency that an author keeps all their photos inward Flickr volition write posts that don't direct hold a thumbnail motion painting (because these pictures must endure stored inward Picasa-web-albums

Making it work:

Members of your squad take to endure real clear virtually how you lot operate together, as well as what the consequences are if someone breaks the rules.

Grant Administrator rights within Blogger

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 weblog administrator has amount rights over a blog: they tin modify the template, delete the blog, add together other administrators, laid upward mail2Post, delete posts, etc - simply similar you lot can. Giving someone administrator right is the ultimate pace inward letting them write for your blog.

Pros:

• This has the same advantages as giving someone author rights - as well as granting administrator rights is simply a pocket-size extra pace in 1 lawsuit someone is an author
• And administrators tin edit the operate of other authors too, which may endure an payoff or disadvantage depending on your circumstances.
• Having a sec administrator tin endure a practiced safety precaution, inward instance you lot acquire sick or lost access to your account.

Cons:

• Someone alongside administrator rights has amount command over the template as well as posts inward your blog: they tin do everything you lot tin do.
• They tin also take other administrators - pregnant they could take your admin rights!

Making it work:
You take real clear rules virtually who is responsible for what - as well as  a real trusting human relationship alongside the other administrators.

Mix-and-match

Making someone into an author on your blog

Making someone into an administrator on your blog

Setting upward mail2Post / Post to profile on your blog

mail2Post: knowing who posted what

Using tables to present information inward your blog

Converting from MS Word to Blogger - via Google Docs

File hosts:  places where you lot tin maintain files that are used on your blog

How is the thumbnail motion painting for each post chosen

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