Blog Wars: The Results | Why Help Authors Should Blog

I’m recommending All things Web 2.0 ClearBlueDei (h/t to Ms. Mellott for the update) for review for anyone who is approaching Workflow Collaboration with the DevBlog concept. The top free blogging tools which were tested, including Vox, LiveJournal, InstantSpot, Blogger, and several methods of using WordPress (self-hosted or not), in Blog Wars Part One. 

Of course this comparison also validates what I found after several years of casually testing Blogger, and explains the same strengths of WordPress which pushed me into migrating into their technology. 

Why Are We Reviewing Blogging Software? 

I’m posting links and excerpts because these are the same exact experiences that I had. The difference is that the reviewer’s motivation was strictly for blogging while I was trying to enter the Collaboration solution process. The author sums up with valid points. I highly recommend reading this information which was well researched. 

Quoted from All Things Web 2.0 Google Blogger vs. WordPress, Blog Wars Part 2: The Results «:
 

Self-host Wordpress offers the most options and is the most flexible of any of the choices. Really, it is about the only option I’ve found for being able to have total control of your own blog, outside a CMS (content management system) like Drupal, which is extremely more powerful than just a blog engine and requires a lot more knowledge and programming know-how. 

So to me, it comes down to Google Blogger for flexibility and ease of use vs. self-hosted wordpress for control and customization. And that is a choice that depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to do. 

I’ll have to ask her what she might think of the MadCap Feedback Server solutions and their Web 2.0 focus for helping people with software issues.;-) 

Blogging vs. Help Files | Tech Support via Blogging Not Recommended

Right now WordPress has their technical support blog, however I’m a bit frustrated trying to solve an issue I am experiencing between their import and Blogger’s security layer. My preference is not to use a blog for technical support, the help file format seems to work much more cleanly.

For Tech Support, open PHP forums categorize posts better IMO, unless the specific topic string is singular most readers get lost and open their own issue. Wordpress suffers through this by eating its own dog food and using a blog for Tech Support.

Collaborative Challenges to HAT Authors

The hard part is working all the collaborative Blog entries into a help file. They are all XML, and I’m wondering if there’s a way to use WordPress’ xmlrpc.php interface to accomplish that. HAT, for those of you who are not familiar, stands for Help Authoring Tool. 

Adobe Contribute works quite well with the xmlrpc.php interface, and I’m using it to write this post. The same basic functionality of Contribute can be done (headings, tags, title, etc.) within the Web GUI of WordPress with a plugin or two, but since those plugin installs blew up my blog two weeks ago, I’ve been a little gunshy. 

Why Would A HAT Author Blog, Anyway? 

Until I started approaching this Technical Communication field not as support, not as a Tech Writer, but as an analyst/consultant, I didn’t even have a self-titled blog. I reserved the name, but never used it. Too freakin’ MySpace for me; I am fairly private and maybe I’m too darn old, but I don’t need everyone knowing how I like my latte and who I have in my friends list. My life is not a reality show. 

I bet I would get great ratings if it were.  

However, as Cluetrain.org states in their manifesto to corporations, 

Markets are conversations… …
People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.  

Therefore, because I work in Communication, people should know something about me in order to add value to my services.My revenue streams are enhanced by posting my experiences and through helping others, not only as a consultant or when compensated. 

Blogging As Workflow Collaboration 

Recently I’ve been reaching my collaborative Nirvana. Using these techniques I’ve discovered makes things get done faster, better, and people save money. It’s a crazy concept, but I’m pushing collaboration and techniques to move us beyond stifling bureaucratic logjams found so often within corporations. 

I started using Blogger to track my personal project research and share it with my family. I did like the methods of posting links from within a browser, using a small button and highlighting text.I started blogging when I realized that my strengths are my social network and my reputation. 

The Tool I Want To See - Innovative Help Authoring 

My dream Collaboration tool would have the abilities of WordPress in importing blog content from multiple sources and re-utilizing it into workable / searchable content within a Help file format. I’m working on an open-source solution but I’m not a PHP programmer so it’s tertiary to my other projects, particularly since the 21st CFP is only a month or so away from completion of construction. 

Maybe this tool would simply be a bridge between a WordPress site built into the HAT. I would love the functionality of Flare used to edit my blogs. Security required for corporate clients would require onsite, behind the firewall hosting, so obviously an open standard like WordPress or an inexpensive TypePad program could be supported through their interface.

Web 2.0,WordPress,blogging,Blogger,Workflow Collaboration,Blog Wars,Help Authoring,Drupal