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Tuesday 30 April 2013

Blogsy - App Review

There are three ways to use Blogsy:
  • Create great blog posts including pictures and totally customisable text
  • Use html to directly create blog posts
  • Send customised e-mails.... like choose font, colour, and size.

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
It's worth noting that Blogsy is only available on the iPad.
There are a large number of 'how to' videos provided with/within the App; 19 to be precise, as well as a very comprehensive how-to guide, and a FAQ section. Before you start using Blogsy in earnest, I would suggest you tackle either the How-To Videos, or How-To Guide. This is not to say that Blogsy isn't intuitive, it's just that there is so much of it that you could well miss out on some great features. Just as an example (and it is one of many), you will find out how to embed Tweets in your blog; I've been doing that for a long time but wish I'd seen an easy explanation like the one provided in Blogsy; that would have saved me hours of work and frustration.
This includes providing a video when there is an update to notify and demonstrate the salient points; very neat.
At its simplest, Blogsy provides you with a blank canvas with tools at the top (bold, italic, underline, alignment, bulleting, font (colour, size and background)), augmented by links down the right hand side to pictures, Facebook, YouTube, and many more, as well as email. This last one (email) is magic as you can finally send emails with everything formatted just how you want, including links that look good and work.
If you are into html then, a simple three finger swipe brings up your work in html, complete with appropriate keyboard.
Blogsy really needs much more than a few hundred words for a proper review. The attention to detail is truly amazing… just as an example, look at the logo (you might need a magnifying glass); truly amazing.
If you are into blogging then I suggest you give Blogsy a try; you won't be disappointed.

Cost
This is a modestly priced App, and very well worth the money. There is also 'à la Apple' advertising on your posts (unless you change the option); they will include "Posted with Blogsy".

Indispensability
It's really a question of how sophisticated your blog posts are. If they include lots of fonts and styles and photographs and pictures then Blogsy is indispensable. It could also be that you are currently limited, and Blogsy will open the world up to you. Additionally, if you need to be able to format emails as you choose, and use an iPad then, Blogsy is the solution.

Dependability
Absolutely no problems reported during testing.

Security
You need to give Blogsy access to your blog(s), so ensure that your iPad is secured by password, as a bare minimum.

ACIDS Test Rating:
Worth it just for e-mails!

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.
                                                         
You can get Blogsy here and support for the App here.

18 comments:

  1. Thank you for reviewing Blogsy.

    I really like the way you talked about the how-to videos. We try to let people know they should check them out to get the most out of Blogsy but your words express that point so much better.

    And if anyone has a question or needs help we answer all emails. info(at)fomola(dot)com

    Cheers,
    Lance

    ReplyDelete
  2. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.2.2 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    [Fixed]
    1. Partial Image Embed Code - If there is a partial image embed code in the HTML then when you try to publish your post Blogsy will just close. This will no longer happen after this update. Until this update comes out you can resolve this problem by flipping to the HTML Side and deleting any partial image embed codes.

    2. Tistory Blog - If the publish date is set to automatic then the categories do not get posted with the blog post when the post is published. This only effects Tistory blogs. Until this update comes out you can set the date of the post and the categories will get published with the post.

    [Changed]
    1. German Language - "Automatisch" changed to "Autom."

    ReplyDelete
  3. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.2.3 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    This is Bug Fix update.

    1. Tumblr Authentication Problem: If you tap on the Tumblr button to set up your Tumblr blog you get a “Failed Request” message. This is caused because Tumblr changed the API so the “Out-of-band” value of the “oauth_callback” parameter are no longer supported. We have updated Blogsy to reflect this change so when this update comes out users will be able to set up their Tumblr blogs.

    2. SquareSpace 5 not working: You can’t set up our publish to a SquareSpace 5 blog with Blogsy. This problem is caused because SquareSpace changed the XML-RPC URL from “http://www.squarespace.com/process/service/PostInterceptor” to “http://five.squarespace.com/process/service/PostInterceptor”. We have updated Blogsy to reflect this change so when this update comes out users will be able to set up their Tumblr blogs.

    3. URL Scheme Bug: When you use the URL scheme to send post content to Blogsy Blogsy currently overwrites the content you have open in Blogsy instead of starting a new post. This update fixes that so it will move any post you currently have open to the local draft list and start a new post using the content you sent to Blogsy. Until this update comes out please go into Blogsy and tap on the plus button “+” then “New Post” to start a new post before you send content to Blogsy through the URL scheme.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.2.4 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:


    1.Facebook Album Problem - Facebook changed thier API which caused an issue in Blogsy. The details about this can be found in the following blog post (http://www.fomola.com/blog/facebook-api-change-effected-blogsy/) We have changed Blogsy to match the change in the Facebook API.

    2.Blogger Page Local Draft Problem - If you use Blogger and set it as a Page then choose "Post & Keep Local Draft" when you post it to your blog then the local draft has problems. And if you start a new post then Blogsy gets cleared from memory this can cause your local draft to appear cleared when you return to Blogsy. This update fixes that problem.

    3.Non WordPress or Blogger Publishing Crash - In rare cases Blogsy would crash when trying to publish to blogging platforms other than WordPress or Blogger. We don't know the exact steps to reproduce it as we found this information from the crash reports that are automatically sent to us. We do know that the crash has to do with the date information being empty when publishing a new post and some blogs not being able to handle that. So we built in an exception to account for this.

    4.Fetching WordPress Post Crash - In rare cases Blogsy would crash when trying to fetch a WordPress Post. We don't know the exact steps to reproduce this as we found this informaiton from the crash reports that are automatically sent to us. It has to do with certain posts that have been set to "Sticky". If the post data is invalid then Blogsy would crash. We have changed it so if the sticky data is not valid then Blogsy will not use it and Blogsy will not crash.


    [Updated]

    1.Default Upload Location Message - Updated to reflect that this setting is found in the Post Info. menu and not in the Settings menu.

    2.Removed Paste Message - Removed the message that says your HTML will get stripped out when pasting content on the HTML Side.

    3.Updated Italian translation.

    4. Updated Danish translation.

    5. Added an popup message letting users know about PUPS - Photo UPloader for blogS.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cannot get my blogsy to match with my tumblr. I have a pref email name in yahoo and could get said name for gmail. Is is such a bind but everytime I try and pair the accounts it either fails or says there is someone with that name already?!? Is this still an issue that is awaiting a fix?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure I fully understand your question. If you go to http://www.munificus.com/contact/index.html and let me have details, I'll do my best to help.

      Delete
  6. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.2.8 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    1) Flickr orientation update: As I talked about in a previous post, Flickr changed their API and this caused images that are in portrait orientation to be sized based on landscape orientation in Blogsy. We have figured out a way to program around this Flickr API change so this update fixes that.

    2) TextExpander update: Apple forced TextExpander to make changes to their programming. The results of that are that all apps using TextExpander have to be updated. This only effects iOS7 users. In Blogsy you will now find a “Refresh TextExpander Snippets” button in the Settings menu. Settings -> General Settings -> Refresh TextExpander Snippets.

    3) Squarespace 5 bug: Blogsy would crash the first time you tried to update a post to your blog. This is fixed.

    4) Translation update: Two French words were incorrectly translated.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.2.9 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    1) TextExpander – TextExpander now works with the new methods TextExpander requires. To update your snippets there is a button in Settings -> General Settings -> “Refresh TexExpander Snippets”.

    2) TextExpander – TextExpander now works on the Rich Side in Blogsy.

    3) Copy & Paste – Very rarely iOS adds some hidden code in the copy & paste content. Typically the ascii codes are from 0 to 127. But the ascii code for this hidden code is 8232. Blogs do not understand this ASCII code when publishing through the API so the blog will send back an error code. Blogsy now strips out this ASCII code if it is found when pasting something in from another app or website.

    4) Local draft images after update – When you update an app the address to the database gets changed. This means that after an update Blogsy can no longer find the display image to display it in the local draft. The post is actually fine and if you were to publish it the photos would appear in your post correctly. It's just that Blogsy is not able to display the images if the local draft created before the update had images from the iPad photo library in it. This update fixes this issue, so any updates after this one will no longer have this problem.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.3.1 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    1) The instant crash problem is fixed. This had to do with the footer being turned off by users in the previous version they were running.

    2) WordPress setup crash. If a user tries to set up a self-hosted WordPress blog this can intermittently cause a crash. If you keep trying you will eventually be able to set up your blog. This update fixes this so it will not longer crash.

    3) Turning off the footer will no longer cause a crash.

    4) Tumblr and Post Info. menu crash. If the blog is set to Tumblr then you try to open the Post Info. menu it will cause a crash. Also if you try to switch to a Tumblr blog in the Post Info. menu this will cause a crash. This is fixed in this update.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.3.2 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    1. Fixed Crash that happens when open post info menu with Tumblr Blog to some of users.
    2. Fixed WP .com Sign in bug
    3. Fixed UI problems in Dutch language

    ReplyDelete
  10. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.3.3 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    1. Fixed Tumblr Blog Set Up Issue
    2. Fixed Some junk html problem

    ReplyDelete
  11. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.3.4 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    Picasa uploading problem has been fixed.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.3.5 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    1. Flicker SSL problem has been fixed. Blogsy uses SSL for all requests like authentication, fetching photos and uploading photos from now.
    2. Flickr crash problem has been fixed that happened when Blogsy can’t fetch original size from image. This case happens on searched images due to users disabled to access original size image for other users.
    3. Disabled edit account for WP

    ReplyDelete
  13. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.4 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    iOS8 Support

    ReplyDelete
  14. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.4.1 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    [Fixed]
    1.Crash on showing pop up
    2.Crash related to side switching

    ReplyDelete
  15. The developer advises that there has been an update to version 4.4.11 of the App.

    This includes the following enhancements and alterations:

    [Fixed]
    1.Crash on showing pop up
    2.Crash related to side switching

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete

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