Help with blogging in Word

Blogging gives you the power of publishing without relying on media outlet channels or traditional print publications. This article shows how to write blog entries in Microsoft Office Word and then send them directly to selected online blog sites.

What do you want to do?

Choose a blog publishing service

Start a blog post

Register a blog account

Add content to a post

Add a hyperlink to a post

Add an image to a post

Edit an existing blog post

Troubleshoot problems with blog entries in Word

Choose a blog publishing service

Although you can start creating content for your blog at any time, you must sign up with a blog publishing service before you can post content. These providers support publishing from Word directly to your blog:

• Sharepoint blog
  To create a blog, you must have permission to create sites. For more information, see your site manager or administrator.

• Telligent Community (Community Server)
  Follow the instructions on the home page to buy your own hosted community site. The service is available at different prices for different levels of service.

• WordPress
  Word supports blogs on WordPress.com (a free service), as well as blogs on a custom WordPress site. For a blog on WordPress.com, follow the instructions on the home page to create your own space. For a blog on a custom WordPress site, ask your site manager for help on how to set up a blog page.

• TypePad
  Follow the instructions on the home page to buy your own hosted blog site, including features that make design, posting, web integration, and community management easier. The service is available at different prices for different levels of service.

You can use other blog publishing services, but you will need to know some deeply technical information (such as the URL for the provider's API), which may not even be available for that provider.

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Start a blog post

The easiest way to blog from Microsoft Office Word is to use the Blog post template when you start a new document. Word walks you through the one-time setup process so that you can publish documents as blog posts.

1. In Word 2010, Word 2013, and Word 2016, select File > New > Blog post.

   In Word 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click New. In the New Document window, click New Blog Post.

2. If you have not yet registered your blog account with Word, the Register a Blog Account dialog box appears. Do one of the following:

   • Click Register Now if you want to link Word with a blog service provider. Go to Register a blog account to finish this process.

   • Click Register Later if you only want to write a post and do not want to register an account at this time. Go to Add content to a post to continue writing your post.

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Register a blog account

After you click Register Now in Step 2 of the previous section, you can configure Word to post to your blog:

1. In the New Blog Account dialog box, select your blog provider.

   If you don't see your blog provider listed, click Other.

2. Click Next.

3. Enter your account information. Make sure your user name and password are correct. They should be the same name and password you use to log on to your blog account.

   Tip: Make sure CAPS LOCK is turned off. Some things (such as your blog account password) are case sensitive.

4. If you plan to include pictures in your blog posts, click Picture Options and indicate where to upload photos.

5. Click OK.

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Add content to a post

The window that appears when you select the Blog Post template normally has two tabs: Blog Post and Insert. When Blog Post is selected, you can use tools for working with your blog, working with the clipboard, entering basic text, applying styles, and others. When the Insert tab is selected, you can add photos, hyperlinks, and other items to your post.

1. Type a title for your post at the top of the document where indicated.

2. Click below the title to begin entering the text for the body of your post.

   After you type the entry, you can click the Spelling tool to run the spelling checker. If you choose, you can change the typeface, size, color, or alignment of the text the same way you would modify the formatting of a traditional document.

   To categorize your blog post (so that others can find it more easily), click Insert Category.

3. To publish your blog post, click Publish.

   To post a draft of your blog post so that you can preview it before it goes live, select Publish > Publish as Draft.

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Add a hyperlink to a post

1. Select the text that you want to use as a link.

2. Click the Insert tab.

3. Click Hyperlink.

4. In the Address box, type the URL to which you want to link the selected text.

5. Click OK.

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Add an image to a post

1. Click the location where you want to add the image.

2. Click the Insert tab and then click Picture.

3. In the Insert Picture dialog box, navigate to the folder that contains the image that you want to include. Click the image and then click Insert.

You can use the picture tools on the Ribbon to change the appearance of the image, such as adding a border, using special effects, or controlling how text flows around the image.

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Edit an existing blog post

You can save your entries as Word files on your computer and then edit them later.

1. On the Blog Post tab, click the Open Existing button to see a list of all of your posts.

2. Click the title for the post you want to edit and then click OK.

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Troubleshoot problems with blog entries in Word

If you experience problems with setup, creating content, or publishing, see the following sections for possible solutions.

Word can't register your account

Make sure that you typed the correct URL for your blog page:

• For Office 365 and SharePoint sites, the web address of your blog page is a URL that contains only the address of your blog page with no additional information. For example, if the URL of your blog page is http://www.contoso.com/myblog/default.aspx, type http://www.contoso.com/myblog in the Blog URL box.

• For Telligent Community, your blog post URL is your blog address plus /metablog.ashx. For example, if your blog address is http://blogs.contoso.com, type http://blogs.contoso.com/metablog.ashx in the Blog Post URL box.

• For WordPress, your blog post URL is the URL of your WordPress xmlrpc.php file, which is usually in the root folder of your site. For example, if your site is www.contoso.com, type http://www.contoso.com/xmlrpc.php. If you installed the xmlrpc.php file in a subfolder of your site, include the subfolder in the URL. For example, if your copy of xmlrpc.php is stored in a subfolder called /utilities, type http://www.contoso.com/utilities/xmlrpc.php.

• For other providers, ask your provider for the blog post URL and metaweblog API.

Problems with publishing images

• If you use an FTP server to host your pictures, check with your service provider to learn how pictures are hosted. If your provider doesn't host pictures directly, you may be able to use a picture library on the web (also known as a photo album or picture gallery) to host the pictures in your blog.

• If can't publish pictures and you could before, you may be out of storage space. Delete some unneeded files on your server and try again.

• If you're using Office 365 or SharePoint, make sure a picture library was created with your blog page. If the library was accidentally deleted, re-create it and try again.

• If you're using some other blog service provider, it may not support uploading pictures. Contact your provider for help.

• If you typed an upload URL for your pictures, make sure the URL is correct.

Problems with publishing posts

• If you assigned a category to your post, your blog provider might not support categories. Reset the category to None, and try again.

• Your blog provider may require titles on posts. Make sure the title isn't blank, and try again.

• You may have saved your post in the Word 97-2003 file format. If the file extension on the file name is .doc rather than .docx, Word cannot publish the post. To convert the file:

  Word 2013 and Word 2016: With the document open, select File > Export > Change File Type > Document. Click Save As to save the file.

  Word 2010 and Word 2007:

  1. With the document open, click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Convert.

  2. Press CTRL+S to save the file.

  3. Click the Microsoft Office Button , point to Publish, and then click Blog.

  4. Select the original title of the post, press CTRL+X to delete it, and then press DELETE twice to remove the horizontal line and extra space.

  5. Click Enter Post Title Here, and press CTRL+V to paste the title into the content control.

  6. On the Blog Post tab, in the Blog group, click Publish.

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