I hope my previous post about Windows Live Writer has convinced you to switch to this offline blog post editor. It’s my MOST important tool in blogging and has been truly helpful in making me want to write more.

Since I’ve been vocal about how much I love WLW, people have asked me to write a guide on how to set it up. I’ve put that off long enough so here’s a tutorial on how to setup Windows Live Writer for your blogging needs. This is part 2 of my series of posts on WLW, by the way. Stay tuned for the rest.

Requirements:

• WLW, obviously, only works for Windows operating systems (XP, 7 and Vista).
• A WordPress or Blogger blog. At least this tutorial is a guide for both platforms.
• An internet connection is needed for the initial setup. After which, you can start writing offline.
• Since WLW isn’t really a memory-hogging program, you don’t need a kick-ass computer to install and use it.
• If you are a WordPress user, make sure you have enabled XML-RPC publishing in your settings. Once logged in on your WordPress blog, go to Settings –> Writing –> Scroll down to Remote Publishing and then check “Enable the WordPress, Movable Type, MetaWeblog and Blogger XML-RPC publishing protocols.” as shown below:

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Below are the download links again for Windows Live Writer.

• For Windows XP users
• For Windows 7 and Vista users

(more…)

I started my personal blog Just Another Pixel in 2008. Back then, I was only using Blogger’s post editor. Though I’ve gotten used to the whole interface, it was just too limited and small for me to compose my blog posts in. Thank goodness I found a better solution – Windows Live Writer (WLW). I never looked back.

If you haven’t heard of Windows Live Writer yet, it is an offline / desktop blog post editor developed by Microsoft Corp.. It’s user-friendly and can handle almost everything a blogger can throw at it. If you’re not yet using this, I’m hoping my series of posts about this amazing blog post editor will convince you.

KEY FEATURES

Windows Live Writer can be used to compose and edit blog posts for Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint, Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, LiveJournal, Telligent Community, PBlogs.gr, JournalHome, the MetaWeblog API, the Movable Type API, Blogengine, Squarespace and those that support RSD (Really Simple Discoverability)*.

I use it for all my WordPress and Blogger blogs. And, to be quite honest, Windows Live Writer has made me want to blog more because of all its features that makes it quick and easy to compose a post and publish it to your blog/s.

Here are the key features of Windows Live Writer:

Blog Theme Integration

When you add your blog account, it will import the theme you’re currently using. This makes it look like you’re writing your post live directly on your blog so you’d already have a preview of pretty much how it’ll look like when published. Here’s a screenshot of a blog post I was writing for Certified Foodies.

Though the header is not positioned properly, you can see that the colors of our post background, the font, and almost all the elements of our blog theme are already there.

(more…)

One of my many services at my internet cafe and printing business here is printing invitations. I used to design scrapbook pages for friends and I also ended up creating custom invitation designs for friends and relatives so I thought I should be making money out of it since I feel like I have a knack for coming up with layouts most people enjoy, especially parents.

I have learned to use Adobe Photoshop on my own, reading tutorials online and applying what I’ve picked up right off the bat. Most people would think I learned all these design techniques in school, but really, I barely learned anything from the school I graduated from and I had to do it all by myself, including web and blog design. Something I’m truly proud of about me. (If I can do it, so can you! )

(more…)

I know this might sound too nerdy, but I’ve got a total of 6 blogs. The reaction I get whenever people hear the number is pretty funny. I always explain that I don’t really update all of them as often as they think and that they focus on different topics / niches. I didn’t want to maintain a single blog where I write about everything under the sun because of many reasons, including SEO and targeting a specific crowd or group of readers. And so I wanted to just share with you why I started each of them in the first place.

Just Another Pixel

This is my oldest blog. It’s been around since 2008 and it’s my personal blog. I have intentions of turning it into my own lifestyle blog, but will also be the home for my write-ups on my upcoming travels.

However, my bro and I, after the success of our first joint food blog, are also thinking of starting our own travel blog. We have a funny and wonderful idea for the theme of that travel blog. While that’s still in conceptualization, Just Another Pixel will be where I write about my upcoming trips, something I’m really excited about.

Now, if only I can already start working on its design!

Pinay Online Money Maker

This was my second blog. I started it, obviously, with the intention of sharing my experiences and tips in making money online. I know that it’s not as updated as before since my other blogs, and my offline and online design jobs are taking most of my time, but I still get a decent amount of traffic here because of those who want to learn more about making money online.

I’m honestly shocked that there were a lot of times when bloggers I meet tell me that they follow this blog. I guess that’s why I wanted to continue with sharing my own experiences – because this blog has really helped others.

Certified Foodies

Among all my blogs, this has been my main blog. I share this food blog with my brother Kenneth of Ken Avenue.

Our main purpose with this blog is to share recipes initially. But, now, it’s a full-on food blog where we write about features and reviews on different restaurants and products we’ve tried. Anything that has to do with food or cooking goes here.

This blog has been voted as the #1 Emerging Influential Blog for 2011 and one of the Best Food Blogs for 2011 at FriendsEAT.com. We’re super touched by the support we got so we hope to keep this blog as accessible as it is now.

(more…)

Over a week ago, I was invited to the launch of 5 new Canon PIXMA photo printers. Being a Canon printer user myself (I currently have 2 in my computer shop), of course, I didn’t pass up the chance to find out what’s new.

First off, let me tell you why I am a Canon printer user. It’s all about the printhead. I love the fact that if the head fails, I can easily replace it without having to take all the parts out or without needing to replace the whole printer completely. This is extremely important for a business like mine where they take on the challenge of printing a ton of documents weekly. Most of my customers print their resumes in multiple copies (in preparation for applying to various ERP Jobs probably), photos they got from Google for their research or assignments, etc. My Canon printers don’t just save me money, but they make me more efficient ‘cause they’re heavy-duty compared to other printers I’ve tried.

Here are the 2 Canon printers I use:

I am IN LOVE with my Canon PIXMA MX416 printer. It’s a scanner, copier, fax machine and printer in one! Plus, you can send print jobs to this baby wirelessly! Cool, eh?

I got rid of my old all-in-one printer because I needed a copier that can handle long or legal-sized paper / documents. This printer has a feeder at the top so you can use it for copying those long documents or if you don’t want to manually open the scanner’s cover for every document you’re copying. Just leave them all on the top feeder and wait.

This other printer I own, a Canon IP3680, is no longer available in the market the last time I checked. It’s a photo printer and have been really good to me. Now, I use it primarily for document printing because it no longer feeds photo paper properly, probably after moving it around during typhoon Pedring.

But, this printer has delivered to its promise. After a couple of adjustments with the color settings, it printed out photos just like how I see them on the screen. I wish to buy a new  photo printer very soon so I can achieve that photo print quality again.

Anyway, going back to the launch event of Canon’s new printers, Allen Chang, marketing manager of Canon, proudly shared with us that the brand have grown since 2007. They are now leaning towards products that are environment-friendly and energy-saving, but still with sleek features such as high-definition quality and even wireless printing. These were the new PIXMA printers that were introduced to us that night:

Canon PIXMA MP287

It’s a very compact all-in-one (AIO) printer. The design reminds me of my old AIO printer from a different brand, but I love Canon’s because of the texture and overall look. I love black, that’s why.

It’s also very affordable. For only Php 3,495, you get a fully-functional all-in-one printer for you to scan, copy and print your documents.

(more…)