taskbar, then select “Add Blog Account.” This reopens the wizard
you saw when you first launched Open Live Writer. Select your
blogging platform and fill in your credentials as outlined earlier.
By default, when you click “Finish” [Image B], the app switches
automatically to the blog you just added. Click “File > New” to
create a blank post. In future, be sure to select the correct blog
from the taskbar at the top-left before clicking “Publish.”5
SCHEDULING POSTS
Open Live Writer suppor ts publishing posts at a later date
or time. To do this, visit the “Edit” tab and prepare your
post for publication. Next, click the box marked “Set Post Date”
at the top-right. A mini calendar drops down, enabling you to
choose a publication date [Image C]. Click the “Time” field and
use the up and down arrows to choose a specific time. Posts listed
for publication are uploaded automatically to the “Scheduled”
section of your blog platform. This means there’s no need for
you to keep Open Live Writer running until the publication date.6
SETTING CATEGORIES
Although categorizing blog posts is not essential, doing so
is helpful for both visitors to your site and search engines,
as they make your blog much easier to nav igate. Open L i ve Wr iter
supports creating categories from the “Edit” tab. Simply click
the drop-down menu in the “Set Categories” pane on the left.
From here, you can choose “Add Category.” If you’ve previously
published a post with a category, such as “Cats,” you can set
this as a parent for your new category—“Semi-longhair,” for
example—using the drop-down menu at the bottom [Image D].7
CUSTOMIZE BLOG PREFERENCES
You can fine-tune your blog settings even further by
accessing “Blog Account” at the top-left of the screen.
Choose “Blog Options” to view your account settings. From hereDyou can change your blog title using the “Blog Name”
field. Use the “Pictures” section to choose between
uploading images directly to your blog or via FTP. If
you’ve recently changed your blog theme via the website,
click “Update Theme” to reload this into Open Live
Writer. Use the “Advanced” section to alter your blog’s
default character set or markup language [Image E].
>> If you need to make more radical changes, select
“Dashboard” to open your blog configuration page in the
browser. You can also view the comments section via
the “Manage Comments” button. Remember that not all
features are supported by every blogging platform, so
some options will be disabled.C EThe overall look and feel of Open Live Writer is ver y similar
to that of popular word processors, such as Microsoft
Word. If you need to edit an existing post for any reason,
simply go to “File > Open Recent Post,” then choose your
previous entry. Open Live Writer only supports editing
posts that were originally created in the app itself.
Highlight any text, then you can choose a new font from
the drop-down menu in the taskbar. The fonts available
should match those on your blog platform.
For more advanced editing, click the “Insert” tab. From
here, you can add tables, insert maps, and even embed
videos. You can hugely boost your posts’ SEO ranking by
using tags. To start doing this, first select a tag provider,
such as “LiveJournal,” from the drop-down menu at the
bottom of the screen. Once you’ve made your changes,
return to the “Home” tab, then click the “Publish” button in
the taskbar. Your post is re-uploaded automatically.EDITING TIPS & TRICKS
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