Blogging to go : MoBlog

Posted by: ssschmidt on May 15 2008

In a previous article, I wrote about LiveJournal, and LJ Mobile.  But not everyone has (or wants) a LJ Blog.  Some people are happy with Wordpress, Blogger, or Live Spaces.  So,  thanks to Sampath Dassanayake (Web site), there is a (FREE) mobile alternative for the above 3 blogging platforms.

From the developer’s web site:

moBlog is a .NET Compact Framework (.NETCF) 2.0 dependent application. Hence you will need to have .NETCF 2.0, which is a free download from Microsoft installed on your device.  It will work on any Windows Mobile 2003 / Windows Mobile 5.0 (WM5) / Windows Mobile 6.0 (WM6) devices.

MoBlog supports both WM Professional (Touch screen), and Standard (Non-touch screen).

Does your device have what it takes?  Sound interesting?  See you on the next page.

From the developer’s site

moBlog is a mobile blogging application for Windows Mobile (WM) devices. moBlog currently supports Blogger, WordPress.com and Live Spaces. Support for LiveJournal and MovableType/TypePad is also on the cards.

moBlog is optimized to run on WM devices using minimum resources. It is an application that you can use in off-line mode, where you can do your writing and editing disconnected to the net. A connection is only required when you initially setup your blogging accounts and when you want to update your blog with the new content. moBlog allows you to save the blog posts locally while they are still being written and edited (I do understand that sometimes you may not be able to finish a blog post in one go), and once it is published, the local copy is automatically deleted from the device in order to free up the storage space (storage on devices are scarce).

Installing MoBlog is as simple as copying a cab file to your device, then running it.

As you can see, very little space is required for the program.

Following installation, when run for the first time, this is what you will see.

A proxy configuration page is provided for those who require it.

The first step is to create a new profile.

As you see, Blogger, Live Spaces, and Wordpress are supported.

Once you have entered and retrieved (established your settings), you can then choose which profile you wish to use, and then the Blog name (Multiple are allowed)

Posting is as simple as pie. (not the browser). Note the difference in the Header screens above.  The Left one is for Blogger.  The right is for Live Spaces & Word Press which support Categories.

The body of the post can also have images inserted, as well as text formatting.

Once you are satisfied, you can preview, then you are given the opportunity to Save or Publish.  Once published, the post will be deleted from your device to preserve memory.

I have successfully posted to all three blogs, and it works wonderfully. (Although I can’t see myself writing anything lengthy (like this article). Configuration of the user accounts is a bit tricky, so I’ve listed the needed info to get you started.

For Live Spaces:

Your user name is http :// username.spaces.live . com and your password.

For Blogger:

Your user name is your full gmail address including @gmail.com

For Wordpress:

User name : http:// username . wordpress . com  Blog Login (only for wordpress)  is http://username.wordpress.com

My hat is off to Mr. Dassanayake, for providing this versatile free platform for mobile blogging.  Looking forward to future updates!

You can download the files here.

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