Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Really Random Tuesday #64: A Winner, a Geeky Question, and The Summer of France

Sometimes I toy with the idea of listing book winners in my blog's sidebar, but for the time being, I'll continue to announce them in these Really Random Tuesday (RRT) posts.  Welcome to edition #64!

And the randomly chosen winner is... Brian Joseph from Babbling Books, a terrific book blog I discovered a few months ago.  Congratulations, Brian! (Is it just me or do you also often type "Brain" instead of "Brian" and then need to correct your spelling?)  He's won a copy of Leave of Absence by Tanya J. Peterson, which I read and reviewed earlier this month.  If you didn't win this time, please take a look at the other book giveaways listed on the right side of my blog. 


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I have a "geeky" question for those of you who use Blogger.  Do you type up your posts in Compose or HTML mode?   I usually "compose" my posts, but switch to HTML when I need to have things in code.  It's nice to have this option.  Sometimes I want to copy code, like code for a photo or graphic, and I can get it neatly in HTML form.  And sometimes the only way I can fix spacing issues is by going to code mode, rather than compose mode.  I don't know if WordPress also offers both of these options.  And speaking of WordPress, I know some of you have switched from Blogger to WordPress and vice versa (I think).  I've never really considered changing to WordPress, because I've been on Blogger for five years, from the start of this blog, and feel as if I know it inside and out.  It usually works very well for me, except for occasional glitches.  Also, Blogger has made some positive changes fairly recently, such as offering a larger window for typing up posts (we used to have only a small rectangle for this), and it's quite user friendly.  If you use WordPress, I'm guessing it's relatively easy to use, for the most part.  I know so little about the mechanics of WordPress, but apparently it's the most popular platform for bloggers worldwide.

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Que faites-vous cet été?  Next month, I'll participate in The Summer of France book tour.  The book looks and sounds romantic, n'est-ce pas I just received my book in the mail yesterday (on Mailbox Monday), and I'm looking forward to reading it.  The author, Paulita Kincer, has traveled to France numerous times.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related matters you can think of.  If you have miscellaneous book news to gather up and are inspired by this idea, "grab" the button for use on your own blog, then add your link to the "master" Mister Linky on the Really Random Tuesday page.

Your comments are welcomed.  Thanks for reading! 

17 comments:

  1. I am speechless! Thanks for the contest and thanks so much for your all too kind words!


    I usually use Compose in Blogger and have only used HTML once or twice when I needed to get something in there.

    My email is Emperorbjt@optonline.net. Please let me know if you need anything else.

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  2. Congratulations Brain, I mean Brian!

    Wordpress has what they call visual and text options but they sound the same as what you're talking about. I generally use visual but do go into text to modify html from time to time.

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    1. Good one, Kathy! :D

      It sounds as if there are many similarities between Blogger and WordPress, which makes a lot of sense.

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  3. *yay* Brian, happy reading and congrats :)

    I do the same thing Suko, I type in both Compose and HTML modes, but the darn Compose mode is a pain. I accidentally deleted an entire review post one time. As I flipped from HTML to Compose, I tried deleting a large space in between sentences, and the entire rest of my review disappeared :( I wanted to cry.
    I have thought about WordPress but I'm a sucker for routine and I don't think I'd leave Blogger anytime soon.
    Happy Tuesday :)

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  4. Thanks for highlighting your participation in The Summer of France virtual book tour at France Book Tours.
    Thanks for mentioning Babbling Books, another good book blog to follow...
    I had started with Blogger a lonnnnnng time ago, and I was not happy with their security, so I switched, but since then they really improved.
    Anyway I'm extremely happy with wordpress[.com], and yes, you do also have both options when you compose a post, either Text or HTML. I do as you do, use HTML to tweek when needed, also to insert Google forms for giveaways!
    When you compose a new post, I love their option to use another post already posted, as a template. that saves me lots of time!

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  5. I use both html and compose mode to write up my posts. I've been with Blogger for over 4 years now and I feel no reason to change. The Summer of France looks like the perfect summer read.

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  6. Well done to your winner, I'm away to visit his site now.
    That is I'm away to visit after I have answered your question about Compose or HTML mode.
    Hmm, not sure to be honest, as you can see I'm no geek as for as computers go. I just click on the 'new post' box and I'm away. I'll be sure to come back later when I have the answer.

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  7. Congrats to Brian. I use Blogger and sometimes wonder if I should have started with Wordpress. I've noticed some bloggers switched to Wordpress. I only use html mode to insert html and then check it in Compose. It is much easier to write in Compose mode. I just saw your link for "Looking For Me" giveaway and will hop over to Peeking Between The Pages. Thanks!

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  8. As Pat points out, it's easier to write in Compose mode, because the code is invisible, but Code mode is helpful for "tweeking", as wordsandpeace points out.

    Thank you for all the great comments!

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  9. Congrat Brian, happy reading.

    I don't know what I use, probably compose on Blogger.

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  10. I've been on "blogger" since I started 5 years ago as well, and really have no complaints. I use compose mode most of the time unless I need to add a code like for me Tuesday "Mr. Linky". I'm a creature of habit so I don't think I'll be changing ever...LOL

    I'd like to try the My SUmmer in France read in June as well. Hope we are not away.

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  11. I have the same problem - I like to type Brain instead of Brian as well.

    I've been with Blogger for six years now and have no reason to change. I also see lots of blogs in Wordpress and different bloggers changing platforms or to a total website of their own. I don't like change, and feel like I really know Blogger so I'm sticking with it!

    I also compose my blogs in the compose mode, but do switch over to HTML if I'm putting some code in for some reason. Code mostly scares me so I ignore it if possible :-)

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  12. Welcome in France, Suko ! I just live two hours from Aix, a really beautiful town. My parents in law lived there and I think I'll too in a few years.

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  13. I use WordPress and type exclusively in HTML mode. I never use the visual editor because... well... in my template it's horrible. Nothing looks like the final version and it's difficult to imagine the final layout. Since I know how to code in HTML, it's easier for me to do so and keep checking the preview window. I created a series of templates so I don't have to do design/color/image sizes, etc every time.

    WordPress can be as easy or difficult as you want to make it. They offer lots of features and almost no spam. There are a few frustrating limitation, especially the inability to use scripts, but I understand why. I would definitely recommend WordPress, but I'm biased and have been using it since 2006. I tried blogger in the very early days and wasn't impressed. I'm sure it's much better now but I haven't been back.

    Ok, enough babbling. And congrats to Brian on the win.

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  14. Its taken me a while but to answer your question I always use Compose and never HTML.

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  15. Wordpress has pretty much the same thing with visual and text. Normally I use visual unless I need to center something or I'm copying in a guest post, etc.

    On a different note my bookclub picked The Summer of France as our June read. It sounds really good.

    ReplyDelete

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