Windows Explored

Did you know you can write and post to your blog from Word 2007 or 2010? Most popular blog sites are supported, including SharePoint, which is a big help for me since I blog a lot at work and IE SharePoint creation space is so cramp and limited.

For SharePoint blogging, write and post using Word by going into the SharePoint blog and from the Admin Links in the right side of the blog page select the Launch blog program to post:

Alternatively and for other blog providers, you can go into Word and from the Office button select New and then New blog post:

After clicking OK, you will be asked to register the new SharePoint blog:

If you will be uploading images into a SharePoint blog other than the default location, click the Picture Options button to configure the location where the images will be uploaded to. The default is SharePoint blog and a new image library will be created in http://…/personal/username/Blog/Lists/Photos/.

In my case, I store my images in the picture library of the SharePoint My Site and will need to select My own server from the menu list and type in the URL.

When you are done and click OK, you be presented with:

You can now begin writing your blog. You will notice the Blog Post ribbon in the Word menu area:

From here you can manage the different blog accounts which Word has been connected to. You can also open existing blog posted to view and edit:

The blog can be saved like any other Word document and when you are ready to post just select the Publish option. When complete, you will be presented with a banner confirming the post:

Since writing this, Microsoft has moved away from Windows Live Spaces to WordPress, but it is still free.