Blogger Beta: Edit, and Manage, On The Fly

Here we have a winner.

I can't count how many times I've been distracted by blog updating, where I have gotten into the habit of keeping an open window (Firefox tab) open for each blog that I'm working on. One window to make the changes (edit content or make setting changes), and another window to view the changes. And if you have multiple blogs, and / or multiple blog posts that you're updating (maybe making a forward / backwards pair of links), you can really rack up a collection of windows.

Of course, you have the Pencil at the end of each post (if enabled) for edit on the fly. This would put you into post editor mode. But after you publish your change, and want to view the result, you would select View Blog, and it would open another window (tab). Arrrgh.

But with Blogger Beta, to add or change a post, or make a settings change, select Customize from the Blogger navbar. Want another blog in your library? Select Dashboard from the Customize view, and get a menu of blogs. When you're in Customize or Dashboard view, and you want to see the blog, select View Blog.

That's all you need to do to switch back and forth.

I know I'll find things I don't like. But unless it's something really broken, I can't imagine not wanting to upgrade all of my blogs immediately.

And, by putting something useful in the Navbar, there is a real reason for having the bloody thing there in the first place. How many folks are going to be asking

How do I hide the Navbar?

now? Not me, anyway.

Colour me impressed.

(Edit 8/20): Have you ever just added a post, looked at it in real form, and immediately known that it needed editing? Have you ever not? With Beta, when you finish typing a post (edit or new), you hit the Publish button in the Post Editor. This takes you to a screen with several choices

• View Blog
• Edit post
• Create a new post

Select View Blog, and there are your changes. Decide to change something, hit the Back button in your browser, you're back at the previous screen. Select Edit Post. Now you're back in the post editor, in the same post again. No refreshing the post list (for a new post), no searching the list (period). Just back where you need to be.

Just one more detail. Probably not the last though.