Nov
20th

Use Google Docs with WordPress?

You’ve heard me whining about the WordPress admin panel, it’s pretty gruesome for the newbie blogger and really needs a face lift. It’s the most common complaint I receive when I get folks up on the platform. Some competitors are listening… SixApart just launched VOX with a very nice user interface. Wordpress seems to be getting the message as well, partnering with KnowNow on a new Enterprise Version of Wordpress.

One of my last entries spoke to losing my entire blog post a few minutes prior to posting it. One of my techy gurus, Dale McCrory, at work asked why I wasn’t simply using Google Docs to post to my blog. Huh? Really? Yes! Really!

With Google Docs, you have the ability to post your document directly to your blog! Here’s how:

1. Click “Publish” and “Post to Blog”:

Google Docs Publish

2. Then select your blog type from the interface. Or, if you host your own Wordpress site, here’s how you can configure it:

Google Docs Publish to Wordpress

Google Docs has an ‘auto-save’ function so that you won’t lose your work! Pretty nice!

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8 Comments »

Comment by no imageAndy (SezWho)
2006-11-23 04:56:17

I will have to give this a try. I’ve only been trying out Google Docs this past week, so am still feeling my way through what it is capable of providing.

I already use the GSpace plugin for Firefox so I can use a GMail account for online file storage. And have you tried the Performancing extension for Firefox? That’s a pretty cool way of posting to any blog, and avoids the need to log in to your admin area, click through to write a post, etc…

A lot less laborious. And the Tiger Administration plugin provides a much funkier and useful interface for WP admin than the default, which is frankly boring and flat. x

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Comment by no imageDouglas Karr (SezWho)
2006-11-23 18:47:19

Hi Andy!

I’ve just started utilizing Docs and really like it. I still have a tough time not using WordPress to post though… I like putting pics, tags, trackbacks, etc. into my posts.

I also have the Performancing extension and I have the same problem, I can’t do the rest of that cool stuff. The Tiger Administration is something I’ve been using for a while and I really like it.

I wish I could take a couple of months off and rebuild the admin for WordPress. I think SixApart is onto something with Vox, they’ve simplified the blogging admin considerably. WordPress is in cahoots with ‘KnowHow’… so we’ll see if that leads to a better admin.

Thanks for commenting!
Doug

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Comment by no imageAL (SezWho)
2007-01-26 05:50:00

I don’t know about the Performancing extension. I used it once, it produced some weird formatting stuff and kinda broke out of my blog’s standard CSS. They’ve changed the name now though, ScribeFire I guess, and the company’s looks like it’s losing big time.
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Comment by no imageE (SezWho)
2007-01-27 11:43:40

This isn’t working for me. When I press Test it says “We have encountered an error, which we will investigate immediately. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
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Comment by no imageDouglas Karr (SezWho)
2007-01-27 11:49:41

It looks like an error on their side, E. Be sure you have the correct address to your xmlrpc.php file… other than that, it’s probably a technical issue on the Google side.

To test your xmlrpc.php location, just put it in your browser:
http://www.douglaskarr.com/xmlrpc.php

You should get an error stating: “XML-RPC server accepts POST requests only.” That means that it’s up and ready! This is the same file that accepts trackbacks as well.

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Comment by no imageE (SezWho)
2007-01-27 11:57:38

Yeah, I see that page fine. Got it set up for MovableTypeAPI and everything. I remember trying this a few months ago and the posts would sometimes go through but it would always return an error. So it continues to say “This document has not been published to your blog” and returns an error even if the blog (sometimes) gets published. :-/
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Comment by no imageKen (SezWho)
2007-02-07 13:24:18

I’m also having the same “We have encountered…” error message show up. Some people have upgraded or reinstalled WP and had it work. So far I have not, no matter what I try.

Some people who have had luck:
http://groups.google.com/group/Something-in-Writely-is-Broken/tree/browse_frm/thread/5f14bff6fd4e7624/1e9f0808b9d0a0e6?rnum=1&hl=en&q=wordpress&_done=%2Fgroup%2FSomething-in-Writely-is-Broken%2Fbrowse_frm%2Fthread%2F5f14bff6fd4e7624%3Fq%3Dwordpress%26hl%3Den%26#doc_e2b7839b25ca9cdf

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Comment by no imagePassegua (SezWho)
2007-02-24 19:17:20

I get error whenever I try to set up publishing to wordpress.

I double check everything but it doesn’t work!

why?

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