OK, if you’re not a blogger then this is a fairly dull post. I’d suggest you skip it. If you are a blogger, then here’s my take on some off-the-shelf stuff I’ve added to the blog recently and what I think of it.

Disqus
I added this because Fred Wilson invested in them and I figured the guys at Union Square Ventures aren’t stupid so they must be onto something. It effectively replaced my previous comments section and it is a bit like a comments section on speed. There are as many ways to sign in as you could want, and it shares the comments in it’s own forum so more people are likely to pick up the comment and/or post. Great.

Blogrollr

Again this is Fred Wilson’s fault. He has it on his site and I think it was built by a guy after he requested the functionality on his site. It’s a great idea: to be able to show people what you’re reading so they can see where your views are being formed and they can find things they might like to read. Unfortunately, as a Firefox pluggin it’s not perfect for me as I read a lot of blogs through Google Reader on the iPhone via RSSso Blogrollr doesn’t pick up what I’m reading. Also, it hasn’t yet been updated to work with Firefox 3.5 and so even when I do read online, it’s not picking up what I’m reading … although I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until that’s resolved.

Mippin
Yes, you see that flashing little box on the right hand side (up a bit … the orange flashing thing). That’s Mippin. And yes, it’s quite irritating on the blog when you’re reading it on the PC. But, when you’re reading it on a mobile (and I have to admit I’ve only tried it on an iPhone) it’s great. The only issue with it is that rather than checking the device for you and switching between mobile and PC mode, the reader has to find the small annoying flashing box and click on it to change the format. And on a phone it’s quite easy to miss it (even though it flashes!). It’s a great idea but still has a bit of a way to go.

Zemanta

Zemanta on the one hand is awesome and on the other quite infuriating. I came across it on Nic Brisbourne‘s blog and so thought I’d give it a whirl. It effectively reads what you’re writing and suggests photos, links, articles and tags that you might want to add. As a concept, this is awesome. It lets you focus on the content and gives you all the good stuff that really enriches your blog. Unfortunately, it’s not as smooth as it sounds. I’ve found the photos are a bit clunky when they’re added (although no where near as clunky as going to Flickryourself and getting them). I also have an issue that the photo from Zemanta won’t show up on my home page and so I still have to go and upload it for it to appear there (if you have a fix for this I’d be very grateful!). Also, the word links are often missing key phrases you’d like to link.  On the other hand, the articles links and suggested tag links are great. Like several of the other tools above, I think this is a brilliant idea and already a huge improvement on the status quo but it still has some way to go.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: minifig

Related articles by Zemanta

• Zemanta – The easy way to blog (toolsforjournalists.blogspot.com)
• 15 useful Firefox extensions for bloggers (news.cnet.com)
• Blog roll widgets (pharmastrategyblog.com)

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