But that’s not necessarily the best way. And it’s not the most convenient, either, especially if you have more than one blog. So, what is the best way? That depends on your needs. But a good choice is a browser extension called ScribeFire.

Let’s take a look at ScribeFire and what it can do.

A little about ScribeFire

ScribeFire is an extension for Google Chrome (it also works with Chromium, Chrome’s Open Source cousin), Safari, Firefox, and Opera. It adds a WYSIWYG blog editor to your browser that supports posting to most blogging platforms, including WordPress, Blogger, Movable Type, Posterous, and Tumblr.

Instead of logging into each blog, you can just pop open a ScribeFire window, type a post, and then publish that post with a couple of clicks. You can also save drafts on your computer to post later.

Now that all the background information is out of the way, let’s walk through how to work with ScribeFire.

Getting set up

The first thing that you’ll want to do is install ScribeFire. Just follow one of these links:

• Google Chrome/Chromium
• Safari
• Firefox
• Opera

Once ScribeFire is installed, click the toolbar icon to open it. Then, click Add a New Blog. In the window that opens, enter the URL to your blog, select the type of blog it is from the Blog Type dropdown list, and enter your user name and password. After that, click Finish.

Now you’re ready to go.

Writing posts

You’ve set up your blog or blogs. You probably want to start posting. To do that, select the blog for which you want to write the post from the BLOG list in the top-left corner. If you’ve only got one blog, then it’s already selected. Then, click Start a New Post. The WYSIWYG editor opens. Just start typing.

You can add various types of formatting to your post, like bold and italic text, indents, or highlighting. You can also add links, images, and YouTube videos as well as lists. You can’t add tables or actual headings in WYSIWYG mode, though.

But if you know some basic HTML, you can add a bit more formatting. Just click Switch to HTML Mode. In the HTML editor, add HTML tags (including the ones for headings and tables).

You can also add tags to your post by typing them in the TAGS field on the left of the ScribeFire window. You don’t need to do that, but it can help the folks who read your blog find posts on a specific topic faster.

Once you’re done, click Publish to send the post to your blog. Or click Save Progress if you’re offline or still have some work to do later. ScribeFire saves your work to your hard drive and opens the unfinished/unpublished post the next time you start it up.

Moving your data between computers

If you’re using ScribeFire on more than one computer — say, your desktop and a laptop — and you have several blogs, it’s a lot of work to re-enter the information for each blog. Instead, you can back up your data. Click Transfer your ScribeFire data to/from another computer.

Then, do one of the following:

• Click Export. A new browser tab containing some information opens. Copy and past that information into a text editor, then save it to your hard drive or something like your Dropbox account.
• Click Choose File. Find the file that you saved, and then click Open. You’ll be prompted to close and then reopen ScribeFire.

ScribeFire is an easy-to-use and flexible tool for blogging. While it’s not a fully-featured as tools like BlogJet, ecto, or MarsEdit, ScribeFire is more than capable of handling most of your blogging needs. And you can’t beat the price.

Photo credit: svilen001

The post Write Blog Posts From Inside Your Browser with ScribeFire first appeared on Techerator.

In this guide I am going to show you how to enable, install, and use custom user scripts in Opera 11.

Adding User JavaScript to Opera

Step 1: Open Opera and enter about:opera into the address bar.

Step 2: If User JavaScript is enabled, a User JavaScript folder entry appears under the Paths heading.  If it does not, you need to enable User JavaScript in the next step.

Step 3: Navigate to Menu > Settings > Preferences… in Opera.

Step 4: Select the Advanced tab.

Step 5: Click Content in the left menu and press the JavaScript Options button.

Step 6: Select the folder where you wish to store your new user JavaScript files and click OK on the next two windows.  If you enter about:opera into the address bar like in Step 2 you can now see the User JavaScript folder under the Paths heading.

Next, we need to download and install some JavaScript.  Navigate to Userscripts.org and find the JavaScript enhancement you wish to install.  Once you find the script, right-click the Install button and select Save Linked Content As… and save the JavaScript file into the folder you specified in Step 6.  I would recommend giving the JavaScript a name other than the default provided so you can easily distinguish between JavaScript files.

What are your favorite user scripts for Opera or any other web browser?  Let us know by commenting below!

The post How To Add Greasemoney and Other Scripts To Opera 11 first appeared on Techerator.

The Opera 10.50 web browser boasts some features that all internet users will enjoy.  I’ll go over some of the major features of Opera 10.50 in this article.

Faster JavaScript Performance

Having the fastest JavaScript speeds is a major factor in why Google Chrome has been successful.  With the continued move to feature-rich, web-based applications, more load is being placed on the web browser.  Opera 10.50 is setting the bar higher by boasting to have the fastest JavaScript performance yet, performing 10 times faster than the previous version of Opera.

Opera Turbo

Opera Turbo is a feature that can help decrease page load times if you happen to be on a slow connection.  Using Opera’s compression servers, web pages are compressed up to 80%, allowing your pages to load faster.  Opera Turbo also helps to decrease page load times by preventing Flash content such as YouTube videos from loading until you click on them.  Image sizes are also reduced to decrease page load times.  Opera Turbo features an automatic mode, which will sense if you network connection has become slow, and enable Opera Turbo.

Visual Tabs

Opera already supported tabbed browsing, but a new feature in version 10.50 are Visual Tabs.  Visual Tabs allow you to see a preview of the open tab, along with the page title.  Visually recognizing the tab can sometimes be easier than referring to the page title.

Opera 10.50 also offers tab previews.  Hovering the mouse over a tab will show a quick thumbnail of that tab.

Speed Dial

Speed Dial allows you to quickly access your favorite sites whenever you open a new tab.  When opening a new tab, the Speed Dial page is shown with your 9 favorite sites.  Speed Dial pages can easily be changed or removed from the Speed Dial page.

Mouse Gestures

Mouse Gestures are a way to quickly perform common web browser actions with a right-click and movement of the mouse.  Some common browser actions you can perform with Mouse Gestures include opening new tabs, closing tabs, previous page, next page, reload, home, and many more.

Opera Link

Opera Link is a feature included in Opera 10.50 that allows you to sync your Opera browser information between multiple computers.  Opera Link allows you to sync bookmarks, Speed Dial, notes, history, and searches, allowing you to have them available wherever you are.  If you use Opera at home and at work, Opera Link is a great way to keep the same browsing information synced between the two computers.  Opera Link is also a great way to backup your browser information automatically.

Integrated Email

One of my favorite features of Opera 10.50 is the integrated email support.  Opera integrated email supports both POP and IMAP email and is easily configured.  Once your account has been added, your email is automatically fetched and displayed.  Opera’s integrated email also allows composing and sending of emails with the feature rich editor.

Opera Unite

Another promising features of Opera 10.50 is Opera Unite.  Opera Unite is a set of extension applications that add functionality such as photo sharing, music streaming, and file sharing, all from your browser.  Opera Unite already features a wide list of community developed applications with more constantly being developed.

Opera Widgets

New to Opera 10.50, Opera Widgets allow you to run your favorite internet service outside of your browser.  Acting like desktop applications, Opera Widgets allow you to access services like Twitter and Facebook even when your web browser is closed.  Opera features many community developed widgets, with more being actively developed.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a fast, full-featured web browser and want to try something other than Firefox and Chrome, then I suggest you give the Opera 10.50 a try.  I’m sure everyone will find something they like about the Opera web browser.

Have you used Opera as your web browser?  What is your favorite upcoming feature of Opera?  Let us know your thoughts about Opera by commenting below!

The post Opera Web Browser: Fighting Back With Version 10.50 first appeared on Techerator.

A simple way to condense the extra space in iGoogle is to use the Super iGoogle Greasemonkey script.  Super iGoogle lets you toggle the search header, footer, and sidebar and replace them with a mini menu and shortcut keys.

Here’s how to use it in Firefox:

1. Install the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox.
2. Click the green Install button on the Super iGoogle Userscripts page.
3. That’s it – open iGoogle!

Not using Firefox?  That’s alright, Super iGoogle also supports Chrome and Opera.

You will notice the search bar is still visible in the top right corner of the screen, and all controls and original options are available under Menu.

Be sure to check out our coverage of other great Greasemonkey scripts.

The post Optimize Your iGoogle Personalized Homepage with Super iGoogle first appeared on Techerator.