Word Processors

Why pay for expensive word processing programs when you can get high quality and open source alternatives for much less? Here are a few programs to try.

1. yWriter: This word processor is designed especially for writers. Created and maintained by a novelist, writers will enjoy the features that are specialy tailored to their needs that help writers stay organized and focused.
2. OpenOffice Writer: Part of the incredibly popular OpenOffice suite, this word processor is a great alternative to more traditional options like Microsoft Word. Writer is just as fully featured and easy to use, making it a powerful choice for writers.
3. wikidPad: This tool is a wiki-style notepad that allows users to to quickly and easily jot down their ideas and notes. Perhaps one of the best features of it is that it allows you to easily cross-reference information, helping you more easily draw plot points and facts together.
4. NeoOffice: Similar to OpenOffice, this open source suite contains a word processor that allows Mac users to enjoy great functionality and ease of use when typing up manuscripts or anything else.
5. TiddlyWiki: Another wiki style notebook, TiddlyWiki allows users to take notes or jot down ideas anywhere they have an Internet connection. Users can easily link and organize their thoughts using the program.
6. NotePad++: An open source version of Microsoft’s NotePad, NotePad++ has more features and functionality for users built right in. For writers looking for a very simple way to get their ideas written down, this can be a good, lightweight choice.
7. Scribus: Scribus has much more than just word processing capabilities, it’s also a great open source desktop publishing solution. Whether you’re printing your own writings out or want to organize documents for online viewing, Scribus can be perfect tool.
8. RoughDraft: Created with writers in mind, this free tool is a great way to organize a story or screenplay. Writers will enjoy formatting, instant backups and automatic generation of cover pages.
9. AbiWord: One of the most popular open source word processors, AbiWord can be a great alternative to Microsoft Word. It’s available in a number of languages and for a wide variety of operation systems for writers of all kinds.
10. Kword: Create great literary works using this fully-featured word processing program. You’ll be able to write and organize your writings easily in the program’s frame-based setting.
11. Bean: Bean is an incredibly lightweight word processing program for Mac OS X that can make it easy to type up and edit your writings.
12. WordIt: This small word processor is ideal for students or business writers. The program is simple to use and provides advanced features like PDF exports.

Reference

Everyone needs a little help with spelling and grammar now and again, and these programs can get you on the right track.

1. JaLingo: This OS independent program allows users to easily look up words in a dictionary right from their desktop, whether they have an Internet connection or not. It has a sleek and easy-to-use interface.
2. StarDict: StarDict is available on multiple platforms and allows you to easily look up words in a desktop dictionary, even if you are way off in your initial spelling.
3. GNU Aspell: Get the best of the best of spell checks with this open source spell checker that can be used independently or with another program.
4. WBOSS: This open source script allows users to paste text into the website and find any spelling errors so they can be fixed before you publish your work.
5. WordWeb: Writers can take advantage of this free and easy to use dictionary and thesaurus program to help ensure their writing is clearly spelled and isn’t repetitive.
6. GNU Style and Diction: Once you’ve checked that your spelling is all right, style and diction are next up. This program makes it easy to check to see if your writing is overly wordy or contains common cliches.
7. Bibus: If you’re writing nonfiction, you’ll likely need to cite your sources. This program makes it easy to organize and maintain your citations without extra work.
8. Graviax: Give your grammar a once-over with this free open source tool. It goes through your writing to ensure you’re using words correctly and forming complete sentences.
9. Research Assistant: If you’re doing research for your next project you can organize your findings with this helpful research assistant. You can keep all your information in one place so you can easily access it later.

Organization

Working online isn’t always conducive to organization. Here you’ll find some helpful open source resources to keep you clutter free.

1. Sonar: Getting published can be an uphill battle, but Sonar can make it a little easier. It helps you to track your submissions and who you’re waiting to hear back from.
2. Celtx: If you’re writing a screenplay or another kind of specially formatted story Cletx can be an incredibly valuable tool for keeping all your writing straight.
3. StorYBook: When writing a long story, it can be harder to keep storylines straight or get a general overview of what you’re writing. StorYBook takes care of that by helping you keep all your data in order so your story will be more coherent, organized and easier to write.
4. EverNote: EverNote can be a great way to capture, store and organize information that you’re using in your writings. Best of all, you can use it from anywhere, even on your phone.
5. SAMM: Another submissions tracking program, SAMM makes it easy to keep on top of where you’ve sent your writings and what they’ve said in response.
6. LyX: Organize and format your writing with this convenient tool. It works to create easy-to-read scientific and mathematical documents as well as screenplays and novels.
7. TreePad Lite: Writers can keep track of their notes, emails, texts and reference materials with this all-in-one organizer. Looking like Windows Explorer, the program is easy to use and can be a great way to keep everything you need for writing in one place.

Helpful Tools

Everyone loves a tool or resource that makes doing their job a little easier. Try these and see if they can help streamline your work.

1. Prompts: Need a little help getting inspiration? This program can provide you with some helpful prompts to get your creative juices flowing.
2. Launchy: Make opening all the programs you need to start writing super easy with Launchy. With just a few keystrokes you can start your word processor, web browser or anything else.
3. ASuite: Take all your important documents with you on your USB drive or iPod with this helpful application. It launches files, folders and webpages from anywhere you need to access them.
4. txt2tags: If you’re putting your writings up on the web, then you may well need to code them before they can go up. This program makes that super easy by adding html tags to your text documents.
5. Inkscape: Unless you’re publishing a boring, lifeless blog or webpage, you’ll want to have some images or drawings on them. This program can make it easy to create original drawings or map out parts of your stories.
6. Tellico: Tellico is a program that works to help you manage a collection, whether it’s of your short stories or of your favorite novels. It can help you keep track of anything writing related that requires database maintenance.
7. Freemind: Brainstorm new ideas with this great open source mind mapping tool. You’ll get your great ideas down so you won’t forget them, and the format may help you come up with even better ones.
8. PDF Creator: Don’t pay for a program that can generate PDF files: use this convenient tool instead. You’ll be able to create PDF files of all your best writings to show off to others and get published all over the Web.
9. ZManda: Make sure you don’t lose your important files and writings by backing up all your information. ZManda makes it easy to create daily or weekly backups of all your stuff.
10. Word Count Plus: Sometimes you need to know just how many words you’ve written, especially if you’re going for quantity. This simple tool can give you the answer and let you know if you’ve met your quota.
11. Docvert: If you have old files saved in a Windows format and want to convert them to work with some open source programs more easily you can do so with this handy tool.
12. EyeOS: Wanna bring your desktop with you? You can with this great mobile desktop. You can use your word processing programs from anywhere, letting you get inspiration even when you’re not at home.

Web Tools

Online writers need to not only be able to write well but to be able to publish quickly and easy to the Web. These tools can help you get your writing up where people can read it.

1. Amaya: Amaya is a Web editing program that allows you to update or edit content directly on the Web, though it serves a dual purpose as a Web browser as well.
2. MediaWiki: Easily publish and edit your webpages online without even using an FTP program with MediaWiki. MediaWiki is the software that powers the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and allows you to easily share and create content online.
3. Sun Weblog Publisher: If you’re looking for a way to make publishing your blog super easy, then this program from Sun has you covered. Working with StarOffice and OpenOffice, this extension works with WordPress, Blogger, Roller and other blogging platforms to quickly put your content on the Web.
4. TrueCrypt: If you want to send material to a friend or boss for editing but want to ensure it stays private, use this encryption program. It works to secure almost any kind of file and keeps them away from prying eyes.
5. FireFTP: Those using the Web for storage or to publish a website will likely need to make use of an FTP program sooner or later. This program works directly with Firefox to make it easy and simple to get content up on the Web.
6. GIMP: If you plan on putting images on your site you might want to have an image editing program. GIMP can handle everything from a simple crop to much more complex photo manipulation tasks.
7. FileZilla FTP: One of the most popular open source FTP tools, this program will allow you to efficiently move your writing content to the Web, making it easier to publish and share your work.
8. WordPress: If you’re into blogging at all you have to have heard of WordPress. This open source software allows users to create and maintain a fully customizable blog.
9. Mozilla SeaMonkey: Want an all-in-one tool for your Web editing, browsing, chatting and email? SeaMonkey does that and more making it a great go-to for simple updates to your blog or for a little informative reading.
10. NVU: If you’re in the market for an open source alternative to a product like Dreamweaver, then NVU could be just what you’re looking for. A fully featured Web authoring system, NVU makes it simpler to create great webpages to display your writing.

Everyone loves finding new sites with great content, so I’ve made it a little easier. Here is a collection of new websites and blogs with quality content. I’ve chosen these blogs based on the quality of their posts & resources and not the design. At the bottom there is all of the RSS feeds, so you can keep yourself updated with all of the sites featured.

1. Design Shard

From what I can see, this site only went live on July 25th, and it’s already had some popular content. I suggest you check out the 300+ Free Hi-Res Grunge Textures, as it’s my favourite at the moment.

2. My Ink Blog

A very well organized and well focused blog with some brilliant tutorials, links, resources and articles. So far there has been a lot of great posts, and I don’t see any signs of this changing. I was really impressed with the tutorial on Designing with Swirls & Flourishes, really top notch tutorial.

3. PSD Fan

Quickly becoming one of my favourite tutorial sites. The site offers not only tutorials, but resources, which are both of very high quality. Looking at the amount of content it’s hard to remember that it’s only 2 months old. My top pick: Design a Unique Grungy Website Layout, a tutorial on a whole new level of great!

4. Kreativeuse

This site is probably the most useful in terms of keeping up to date. It’s sort of beginning to replace my RSS feeds, I now always check this site first as it’s always got regularly updated web/graphic design news. Launched on the 5th of July it’s quickly become one of my favourite places to browse, and our Icon set was their first ever post. Highly recommended!

5. ShareBrain

Another regularly updated blog, which is brilliant! Especially when you consider how good the content is, I particularly enjoy their interviews. The ones with Jon Phillips & Steven Snell were my favourites. Keep your eye on this blog for sure.

6. Design Blurb

This site was recommended to me by Andrew Houle and after browsing through the content I was impressed. And they even have their own collection of “New Design Blogs,” which was a bit of a bummer as I thought I was onto something which I hadn’t seen before. Anyway, great blog & content, check it out.

7. HongKiat

Now I know for a fact this one is not new, but it’s new to me, so I felt it deserved a feature. It is a brilliant site bringing you the best Tech Design & Blogging related content which I’m very new to. The thing I like most on this site is the wide range of content topics, there’s always something new and different. I really love their 50+ Nice Clean CSS Tab-Based Navigation Scripts – Be sure to have a look.

8. Graphic Design Blog

There’s a good number of posts on this blog, and I like each and every one of them. I’m looking forward to seeing more!

9. Observin

I couldn’t include this one for the design alone (as much as I wanted to), fortunately the blog posts & resources that I’ve seen so far made me want to include it for another reason, the content. To see what I mean just have a gander at the free Old News Theme. I predict great things for this blog, its one of my favourites at the moment.

10. Digital Artists Toolbox

I stumbled upon this website through the brilliant 41 Amazing Tilt-shift miniature faking photographs post and I’ve been checking back ever since. A wide range of content topics, from resources and freebies, to interviews and amazing collections. One to watch for sure.

11. DesignO’Blog

Niki runs a blog which again has a wide variety of content, although being focused around design and the internet I love blogs like this, she clearly has a great eye for interesting stuff and a good sense of humour, also offers some very useful content. Great blog to follow.

12. Brush King

I’ve always gone for Quality over anything else, which is why I’m really liking Brush King. The collection of Photoshop brushes they’ve got at the moment are truly impressive, it’s clearly being run by someone who can spot quality brushes. My top pick, Flowers First.

13. Script & Style

This new website put together by Chris Coyier which aims to bring you the best user submitted community news. So far so good, I’ve read a lot of interesting stuff which I found via the site. So be sure to give it a good old rummage though.

14. Dev Snippets

I love it when sites like this come along, I’m not really huge on web development, but I realise how useful these are and I like to browse demos of things like this to find things that would be useful for future projects. They’re also running a great contest too.

15. Pattern Tap

Pattern tap is a great idea, its a new site which allows you to find specific collections on certain web elements. I think it makes finding inspiration that little more effective, as usually it’s certain elements that I get stuck for inspiration on, rather than the overall concept.

16. We Are not Freelancers

These guys have got a really nice blog up and running, and its showing no signs of slowing down. The design (although this post is not about the design) is just absolutely amazing, I love every aspect of it. The posts that I’ve read have been very well written and informative, so all in all a welcomed addition to my RSS reader.

17. Design Feedr

Design Feedr is a blog which aims to showcase collections of top quality inspiration and resources. They have a great eye for what looks good and similar tastes to my own. One of my favourite posts of theirs is the Masters of Digital Paintings collection which I really love!

18. Inspiration Up

There’s that word again; Quality. I really like this site because they seem to think a little more than certain CSS galleries about their entries, so overall I’d say there is a better quality of sites on display.

19. The Dieline

Here is another site which I know is not new at all, but I’ve only recently been introduced to the amazing collection of packaging design inspirations that they offer. If you have not yet come across this site, prepare to be amazed.

20. Color Burned

A talented designer sharing various sources of inspiration and freebies. It’s always reassuring to receive resources off a guy who you know, knows what he is talking about. I really love the guy’s work just as much as the posts he shares, so a great experience all round.

21. Booooooom

Probably not the easiest domain name to remember in the world, but thankfully the posts and quality of the work is a lot more memorable, the post on Ian Francis‘ work for example is amazing! The site is based around art, design, photography & culture etc. This is a great site to spend some time exploring.

22. Apps Mania

The basic concept of the site is a gallery of web applications, it has a small ammount of information, ratings and tags. Making it a great place to browse if you’re on the look out, or need some inspiration for, a cool new web app.

23. Doodlage

I can’t remember how I came across this site, but its been in my favourites for a few weeks and I’m really impressed with the postings. Its quite a fun little site, sharing lots of doodles/sketches/drawings and is a great source of inspiration.

24. Vi.sualize

Social Bookmarking for images. It’s that easy. A simple great idea.

25. Coded Preview

For a better way of presenting your design mock-ups you can use Coded Preview, it allows you to modify the settings such as a background image, alignment margins etc. To give you an idea of how this can help, take a look at this example; Single Image compared to Image on Coded Preview. I think its a great idea, probably the best place you could upload your designs for presenting mock-ups.

26. High Resolution Textures

Textures, a vital ingredient in so many forms of design. Textures are becoming more and more popular in web design, so that makes this an ideal website for you to add to your RSS reader. There really are some great textures on display here, and regular updates mean you’ll never be short of textures.

27. Lines and Colours

Another art and design blog. This one again has been around for a long time, since 2005 in fact. But its another of those which is fairly new to me, and I’m hoping will be new to a lot of you guys. A wide range of art is covered and as with all of these blogs I’m posting, the quality of the content is spot on.

28. Beeex

I’ve not strictly been following this site, but it keeps popping up here and there and each time I visit I am impressed, so It’s long overdue but I’ve added it to my RSS reader now. I particularly love their Ultimate Collection of Free Textures on the Web.

29. Skout

A user submitted list of design/web related resources. A wide range of categories, resources and inspirations. One of those sites where you can lose a good couple of hours and not realise.

30. Usability Post

So far the posts on this site have impressed me, the blog talks about aspects of interface design, which means not only the way things look but how they work and how the function. I’m looking forward to reading more here.

31. Knowtebook

Knowtebook brings you the best news about design, ideas, web trends, technology & more. The usefulness of each post cannot be questioned, each and every post I find very useful, so that’s why it had to make the list, this web-based business collaboration tools post is a great example of that.

32. Designm.ag

This latest project by Steven Snell is already off to a great start. A very community focused design blog with community feeds, links, a gallery and of course some amazing posts, this blog really does look set to grow bigger and bigger, and with posts like this: Favorite Design-Related Sites of 21 Designers, its not hard to see why.

33. Fudge Graphics

Since April 2008 Fudge graphics has been making some amazing posts, and I’ve been completely oblivious. It’s strange how sites like this go on with such great content without me realising. This is just another one of those sites that I love, there is a good mix of links, resources, inspirations featured artists, that sort of thing. Good times!

Get the RSS Feeds

If you are using a RSS reader you can easily subscribe to all of the above RSS feeds (where possible) by downloading the .xml file. All you need to do is then import it into your reader. I use netvibes as my reader.

Download RSS Feeds XML file ]]> http://www.tmtbox.com/33-new-design-blogs-with-great-content-resources/feed 0 http://www.tmtbox.com/top-75-best-design-resources-of-2008 http://www.tmtbox.com/top-75-best-design-resources-of-2008#comments Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:48:30 +0000 kevin http://www.tmtbox.com/?p=589

Collection of the best and most useful design resources of 2008.

Typography Resources

- 60 Brilliant Typefaces For Corporate Design [Smashing Magazine]

- 20 Free Handwritten Fonts And Resources [Fuel Your Creativity]

- 50 Incredible Fonts for Professional Web & Print Design [Noupe]

- 15 Beautiful High-Quality Free Fonts [Smashing Magazine]

- 21 Inspirational Typography Artworks from DeviantArt [Designflavr]

- Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Design [Just Creative Design]

- 45 Beautiful Free Fonts for Modern Design Trends [Six Revisions]

An aspiring blogger can be overwhelmed with the vast amount of resources, tools, and advice for bloggers available on the net. While in no way definitive – there’s simply too much going on in this space to cover it all – we did our best to bring you a comprehensive list of blogging resources, which should be equally useful to beginners as well as veteran bloggers. Enjoy.

WordPress

WordPress Themes

ThemeViewer – The number one location to find WordPress themes to make your page cool, which you will most certainly want to do.
Templates Now – A smaller collection of WordPress themes, but still worth your while to check out.
TemplateMonster – If you want more professional quality themes then this site can be useful. They offer extremely high quality themes that you can purchase
for WordPress.
WordPress Themes – a neatly categorized site with a huge selection of themes

Best WordPress Plugins

Akismet – The best blog comment spam prevention plug-in. Ships free with WordPress, but you still have to turn it on and keep it updated.
WordPress Backup – an absolute must if you want to keep your archive in case of something going wrong
WP Cache – if your blog ever experiences a burst of traffic, you’ll be thankful you have WP Cache
Sitemap Generator – everyone who cares about SEO (and that should be everyone) should have this one
Preview Pane – If you upgrade/install WordPress 2.2.x, the Preview Frame has gone missing, as the developers decided to leave it out, and it is a vital tool on checking your posts, so this plug-in restores that functionality.
Facebook Photos – A nice WordPress plug-in that allows quick access to your Facebook photos and the ability to integrate them in to any post within WordPress with ease.
Flickr Photos – Same as Facebook Photos, but for use with a Flickr account.
Related Posts – This plugin lets you display all the posts you have written on the same subject near each post. It increases the chance that a visitor will spend more time browsing your blog posts.
Feedburner Feed Replacement – sooner or later, most people switch to Feedburner for their RSS needs. This plugin redirects all the RSS feeds on your blog to the Feedburner one. Might cause problems with Technorati.
Ultimate Tag Warrior – an advanced solution for all your tagging problems.
Adsense Deluxe – a great way to manage AdSense ads on your blog.
Super Archive – Creates a great dynamic archive for your WordPress blog posts.
Stat Traq – Get detailed statistics in a very effective graphical format.
Sociable – adds all those cute tiny icons for easy social bookmarking
LightBox 2 – A fade effect that you see on a myriad of blogs you visit these days where you click the image, the background fades and then the image itself displays in full view. A very nice effect to have.

WordPress Plugin repositories

Official WordPress Plugins Site – The official WordPress plugin repository is actually one of the best lists of its kind out there
Wp-Plugins – a comprehensive list of WordPress plugins
Wp Plugins DB – another large database of plugins for WordPress
Weblog Tools Collection – an often updated site bringing you the latest WordPress plugins as they arrive

Movable Type

Movable Type Styles

Style Library -If you are looking for a way to make your Movable Type blog look fresh, then look no further.
The Style Contest – A collection of Movable Type Styles created from contests to create the best styles. Only the best is here.
Style Generator – Use this if you wish to take things in to your own hands and
create your own Styles for use with Movable Type.

Best Movable Type Plugins

MT Notifier – This plug-in gives you a great amount of control of notification options for your users and helps with keeping your users connected to your Movable Type blog.
InlineEditor – No more clicking through 3 or more pages to edit your posts on Movable Type, this plug-in allows you to edit through Ajax technology right on the same page as your post.
MT Blogroll – If you want to link to your favorite blogs and sites, then you need a “blogroll” (collection of links to sites and other blogs), and this plug-in solves this problem with providing you the ability to create and manage as many “blogrolls” as your heart desires.

Movable Type Plugin repositories

Official Movable Type Plugin site – a comprehensive alphabetical list of Movable Type plugins

Blog Hosting Solutions

Dedicated & Shared Hosting Services

Dreamhost – Offers a lot for a very small amount of money.
CirtexHosting – Hosting plans starting at as little as $2.
BlueHost – Another affordable hosting solution.
HostGator – Cheap shared personal hosting.
Media Temple – Grid based hosting; known to be able to sustain lots of traffic.

Paid Blog Hosting Services

TypePad – If you are a MovableType fan, then TypePad is the premiere service to be using to host your blog.
Blogsite – An enterprise level blogging and publishing platform. Multiple blogs can reside withing one blogsite. Amazing SEO visibility.

Free Blog Hosting Services

WordPress – WordPress allows you to create and host a blog on their own servers and you can display it to the world. You don’t get as much customization and functionality as if you have it hosted on your own server (for example, advertising is not allowed), but it is still a very good way to blog without paying money.
Blogger – A service owned by Google, Blogger is a way to have your blogs hosted for free and you can post as much as you want. It allows Google’s AdSense to be used.
Xanga – iXanga is a lively community of online diaries and journals. Users create their own profiles and there are many opportunities to interact with other users.
LiveJournal – LiveJournal is excellent if you wish to blog on a personal level and join a community and share your blogs among friends.
Vox – A new contender to the arena but Vox is a very nice and powerful blogging tool; not to mention free!; You receive many social experiences with this option as Vox is based heavily on community based blogging.
Tumblr – Tumblr is great if you don’t have time to blog, but still want to share something now and again. It lets you easily post videos, pictures, links, and of course you can write there too.

Mini-Blogging Services

Jaiku – Jaiku allows you the ability to post “mini-blogs” which are short blogs (usually under 140 – 160 characters in length) about whatever you decide. Jaiku also allows you to link together content from other services and social sites that provide RSS/ATOM feeds and they can be displayed as well.
Twitter – Twitter lets you say what you are doing in 140 characters or less. Recently new features have been added that have made it into a great communication tool.

Mobile Based Blogging

TextAmerica – A way to blog on the go. You blog with service by adding photos to your mobile blog and then later on you can add text descriptions and people
can see your world on the go.
Twitter – Twitter also has solid support for blogging from mobile devices.

Tips & Advice

Blogs about Blogging

About.com Weblogs – Professional blogger / freelance writer Deborah Ng covers a wide range of blogging topics for all levels of blogger, but is especially good for new bloggers.
Advanced Business Blogging – Two people who are really making money with blogs and new media and showing others how to.
Blogging for Business – Ted Demopoulos focuses “on practical business implications and uses of new media and technologies, including Blogging and Business, pod-casting, and other ‘Cool Internet Stuff’.”
Andy Wibbels – The author of Blog Wild! puts emphasises blogs for small business marketing, but his tips are useful for all bloggers.
Problogger – Darren Rowse is the definitive guide to making money with your blog.
MasterNewMedia – A site about independent publishing and social media which publishes articles showing how to create effective blogs and improve online marketing strategies.
Copyblogger – a great resource of no-nonsense information for bloggers (and everyone else who wants to learn how to write well)
DailyBlogTips – a place where you can find useful tips to improve the quality of your blog. Updated daily.
Blogging Pro – news, tips and technical support for bloggers.
Blogs in Education – a great list of useful resources aimed at those who want to use blogs for educational purposes.

Tips

10 Most Practical Blogs for Entrepreneurs – No philosophy, theory or personal rants/raves/ramblings here – just practical tips for business
owners.
Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog – Tips for increasing the usability of your blog for your users which can lead to new and returning readers.
Big list of blog search engines – a very detailed resource for blog search engines.
Search Engine Submission Tips – an interesting list of techniques and strategies you can use to make your blog appear in relevant search results.
How to Make Money From Your Website – a practical guide that explains the differences between the different advertising systems that you can use on your blog.
25 Tips To Optimize Your Blog For Readers & Search Engines – useful tips that help your blog stand out from the crowd.
Research, Promote And Monetize Your Online Writing: A Blogger’s Guide To Twitter – a great guide by Michael Pick that shows you how to get the best out of
Twitter.
25 Tips for Marketing Your Blog – a detailed list of tips to help bloggers optimize their site for online marketing.
9 Lessons for Would-be Bloggers – Joshua Porter shares interesting lessons he learned in 7 years of blogging.
Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes – Jacob Nielsen writes down a list of the worst things you could do on your blog.
How to Become a Freelance Blog Writer – Leo Babauta shows how to become a freelance blog writer and get rewarded.
How To Prevent Running Out Of Blogging Steam – Did you run out of words? Here is what you can do when you have to face a situation like that.
13 Tips To Get Your Blog Noticed – a list of short tips to make your blog shine among the others.

Blogging Forums & Sites

Blogger Forum – This site has a nice forum with plenty of resources for helping you on your beginnings in blogging.
Bloggst – a fairly new community devoted to bloggers, and blogging, with howtos, interviews and other resources.
True Blogging – a forum completely dedicated to bloggers, blogging resources and blog monetization.
Blogger Talk – great resource for bloggers who want to share their experiences.
Bloggeries – a community for bloggers from all over the world to gather and discuss their blogs.
Webloggers – forum on marketing blogs, software for bloggers, blogging news and mobile blogging.
The Blog Herald – a source of blog and blogging related news for bloggers.

Blog Tools and Resources

Blog Search Engines

Technorati – One of the most popular search engines for blogs; its top list is one of the most often cited metrics on the Internet.
Sphere – a blog search engine that offers a contextual widget which shows related posts from other blogs.
Google Blog Search – A very simple blog search engine. It’s basically Google Search that only looks through blogs and comments on blogs.
Ice Rocket – A Google-like blog search engine.

Blog Top Lists

RSSTop55 – the most comprehensive list of blog top lists and blog submission sites on
the net.

Blog Statistics & Analysis

StatCounter – A completely free statistics and analysis tool for tracking your blog’s numbers.
Site Meter – Site Meter comes in two flavors, Site Meter Basic and Site Meter Premium and this service offers advanced analytics of your site statistics.
AWStats – A free and open-source alternative to track your site statistics.
Feedburner – A wide range of tools to spiff up your RSS feed, including HTML preview, geotagging, merging link and photo feeds, password protection, and one of our favorites – a customizable GIF-based headline animator. They can also insert ads into your feed and have both free and premium analytics.
Alexa – Alexa has the statistics for all of the internet and it lets you compare your blog to another.
Google Analytics – a free, full-featured (albeit a bit slow) analytics program from Google (ex. Urchin).
MeasureMap – another free tool for detailed analysis of your blog’s visitor habits

Blog Monetization

PayPal – PayPal allows you to set up a donations system on your site. Your readers can click a button that will bring them to a page where they can send you some cash.
Chitika – Contextual interactive CPC advertising. Requires more screen real estate than AdSense, but tends to have higher click-through rates and payout rates.
LinkAdage – Text links and text advertisements to generate revenue from your website by way of bidding, brokering, and exchanging text advertisements.
Txtswap – If you want to exchange text links to try and bring in more users, and in turn raise the potential to gain income, this is another service to try.
Google AdSense – Almost certainly the largest single source of income to bloggers worldwide. Pay per click and per view.
Yahoo Publisher network – pay per click ads, similar to Google AdSense.
AdBrite – Get paid for text link advertisements on your blog.
Text Link Ads – One of the leading suppliers of text link advertisements.
BidVertiser - an advertising system where you set the bids for pay per click ads.
ReviewMe – a marketplace for paid blog reviews.
PayPerPost – another marketplace for paid blog posts; often criticized, not only because of the idea of paid blog posting, but also due to the fact that they don’t require full disclosure on paid posts.
BlogBurst - get your blog syndicated by the bigtime media; best blogs get paid for their content.

Spreading The Word

Reddit – Social content site with focus on fun stuff, politics, science; sometimes, anything goes. Witty descriptions are obligatory.
ClipMarks – A service that allows you to save and share “clips” from web pages.
Digg – Social content site that likes technology-related content; especially Google and Apple related. Promoting your own blog – especially too aggressively – on Digg is not a good idea.
Blogmarks – another “clipping” service for saving and sharing links from the web.
Newsvine – Social news site with plenty of options and features
Netscape – Netscape’s social news portal, less oriented towards technology than both Digg and Reddit
Del.icio.us – If you need to share bookmarks or you want people to tell you about websites, Del.icio.us will allow you to do that.

Misc. Tools

MyBlogLog – Possibly the coolest blog community building tool around. Doubles as a simple analytics tool.
BlogRolling – Blogroll manager.
PollDaddy – cool polls for your blog.
BlogPolls – another provider of free polls for bloggers
Favicon Maker – simple service that enables you to easily create a favicon from an image.
Qumana – a desktop blog editor for Mac and Windows.
Blogjet – another desktop blog client, works only on Windows.
Blogarithm – enables you to track all your content at one place.
GeoLoc – a widget that shows your visitors’ locations on a world map.
JunkIWant – display your Amazon wishlist as a widget on your blog
BlogSticker – create stickers for your blog.
MyOpenId – enables you to identify yourself for various online service, using your blog address.
BlogFlux tools – several cool tools for bloggers.
ImageShack – free photo hosting service.

RSS & Aggregation Resources

Everything related to this topic is covered in our previous big feature, the RSS toolbox.

The following Mashable authors contributed to this article: Stan Schroeder, Livia Iacolare, Rodney Rumford, Scott Allen, James Mowery, Todd Carter, Ben Gold

see more:http://mashable.com/2007/06/19/blogging-toolbox/