Blogging with Google Docs

There are 100 million blogs on the Web. You might even run one (or more) of them. If that describes you, then you probably know that your blog's built-in editor leaves a lot to be desired. Most of them are either barebones, difficult to use, or just a bit too slow and balky.

Wouldn't it be nice to write your blog posts in a familiar environment, and then publish them with the click of a button? There are a number of ways to do that. One of the best ways is to use Google Docs as your blog editor. It's easy to use, works with a number of blog sites, and you can use it anywhere -- even if you're not at your own computer.

Log into your Google Docs account. In the upper right corner of Google Docs, click Settings. In the Settings window, look for the section labeled Blog settings. Then, click edit info to open the Blog Site Settings window. This is where things can become a bit tricky.

Why? Well, there are a lot blog sites and services out there. They fall into two categories: hosted services (like Blogger and WordPress.com), and those installed on your Web site (like WordPress and TypePad).

With hosted blogs, just click the Hosted Provider option, and choose an option from the list.

If you have a blog installed on your Web site, click My own server/custom. Then, select an option from the API list. Your choices are:

• Movable Type API
• Blogger API
• MetaWeblog API

Wondering what an API is? It's just a way for two or more pieces of software to talk to each other -- in this case, through a file called xmlprc.php that's on your server. For most blogs, you can select MetaWeblog API. If that doesn't work, try selecting Movable Type API.

In the URL field, point Google Docs to the file xmlrpc.php -- for example, http://www.mysite.com/weblog/xmlrpc.php.