jidd

Multiple Blog Associations

Association Motivational Poster

Go to wordpress.org and give this idea a rating/reply.

A lot of us, not all of us, but a lot, have multiple blogs.

WordPress MU is a solution, but not entirely as simple as what I’m thinking, because would if these multiple blogs exist across multiple servers, and it is impossible to combine them, or just way too much of a hassle.

We may not want an interface to control everything about our blogs in multiple places, would if we only want to be able to post to multiple blogs simultaneously?

Instead of constantly logging in, copy/paste, etc…

This could all be taken care of with a simple blog associations table.
Essentially the way all the other API’s out there interface with WordPress blogs, or really any blog interface.

You should be able to register your blogs within your blogs.
It just makes sense.
All it needs is a URI, a username, and a password (The URI and the username combined would be the index).
Maybe some extra meta if you want for title, description, etc..

Then when in your edit post page, there just needs to be another content block for “Post to another Blog”, there is all your registered blog associations in a table, and you just have to check which ones you will post to when saving the current post.

capisce?

Everything seems to be ready for this to happen pretty easily.

I might even do it with a plugin if I have the time.

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Jim Isaacs

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Comments

5 responses to “Multiple Blog Associations”

  1. Hackadelic Avatar
    Hackadelic

    Hey, again we take similar mental paths 🙂

    Before I decided to go with WordPress, I struggled a lot with myself about taking b2evolution, which has is a native multiblog engine, or drupal, which has a multisite feature. Not across servers though. (I think drupal has some this kind of support to login into several drupal sites simultaneously, but I never got around to investigate it.)

    Finally, I went with WordPress, although technically speaking, I’d put WordPress at the lower end of a sophistication scale. It was just the easiest to start with. Low entry barrier, but one also hits its limits early on.

    I lay my hopes in desktop blogging clients. At least for posting, they have huge potential. And multiblog posting is a no-issue, with many of them. Do you use one?

    Reply
    1. jimisaacs Avatar
      jimisaacs

      I don’t really use one currently, but I’ve tried Qumana.

      I understand the importance of desktop software, but you also have to take into account the trends of today.
      Pretty soon, there will be no desktop clients. Friends like Google, Apple (mobileMe), and Microsoft (live) have all assured us that the “cloud” is the way to the future.
      Unless companies or groups like WordPress can challenge those companies for these trends, I’d say they’re probably right.

      What I don’t understand is that when WordPress integrated XML-RPC, why not just do this idea too?

      Reply
  2. Hackadelic Avatar
    Hackadelic

    Interesting post you referred me to. Though personally, I have mixed feelings about giving away my blog access data to web-based services. (I even signed in for BlogIt once, but never used it out of a feeling of discomfort.)

    And they are all using the same technology as desktop blogging clients anyway: XML-RPC. Qumana never worked for me. I’ve been using BlogDesk, which is very lean, and supports posting to multiple blogs at once (unlike LiveWriter and ScribeFire, both listed in that article).

    You may be right about “The Cloud” (Though knowing MS, and their preference for bloat, I suspect I won’t like it.) Anyway, “The Cloud” does not imply that you have NO software on your computer. Even with The Cloud you’ll need at least a web browser, and with FF + ScribeFire, for example, you have a desktop blogging client. “Desktop” blogging clients and The Cloud are not a contradiction. (IMO, the technology of The Cloud could as well enable more sophisticated tools for web access.)

    Reply
  3. jimisaacs Avatar
    jimisaacs

    Yes I do agree with you there. I don’t like giving my blog info out either. When I do, I make a low-level user and new password, then use that instead. Not the administrator. This is the reason why I don’t see a problem with this idea though. They are all you blogs. You know who you are, and what your doing. Just utilize XML-RPC to communicate between them.

    About the cloud, I agree and disagree. Web applications and desktop clients are equally important now, but the entire point of Cloud Computing is to push data AND the functionality of controlling it off user’s computer and onto the cloud. Basically taking the control out of the user’s hand, is giving them a better experience, and giving the service provider easier access to solutions. This is beneficial to software developers too. Imagine no more software pirating, just licenses. Of course I understand this is much later, and desktop client software will get more connected and become web browsers themselves, before they disappear completely. My point was that eventually, people will need all their stuff in their mobile devices, and it doesn’t make sense to have installations and or data in a mobile device. Complete connectivity, where users do not have to worry about anything but access, that is true cloud computing.

    Web applications are at the mercy of the current technology, which makes them less ideal than the processing superiority of the desktop software. What happens when this obstacle is gone? What happens when a website isn’t seen as just a respond to a request anymore? A web application even now, shouldn’t be pigeon-holed either. A web application can also be a desktop application. Think of Google’s apps. They are applications that are in complete connectivity with the cloud, but can run offline as well. It’s not enough to have to run “updates”. Everything in the application is retrieved and updated on a need basis, and automatically. Google even understands the power of the desktop now, therefore enter Google Gears. That in my opinion is just a crutch they plan an tossing away when connections are strong enough. (See Google Chrome, and their secret routing device, well not so secret anymore if I’ve heard about it)

    Don’t worry about Microsoft, they are always one step behind of Google and Apple.
    So they have pretty good companies to copy and emulate. If they kill them with business tactics, they will still have adopted some good practices by when that happens.

    Reply
  4. Hackadelic Avatar
    Hackadelic

    Well that’s my point, too. With an appropriate underlying technology that enables good connectivity, be it XML-RPC now, or “The Cloud” tomorrow, there is no need to make stone-carved decisions pro or against desktop, or web, applications. You probably won’t write a novel on your mobile phone, and won’t make a dictation to your mouse, so why not just use the best application for whatever your task at hand is.

    It’s a bit like with programming languages. If the choice of programming language is not important, you can as well use the best one for the job. 😉

    BTW, for similar reasons why I don’t like giving away my blog account data, I even less like the thought that both, my application, and my data, are not under my sole control – like it is with Google Gears & Co. I don’t use unattended auto-updates, especially not with plugins. I usually like to see some release notes first before I update. So I’m still not sure that I’d like “The Cloud”.

    But this is getting a bit off topic.

    Reply

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