Here at Geeks on Tour, we think that the free Blogger.com platform by Google is still the easiest way to create and maintain a blog. It can be a personal journal, or it can be a club website, a small business, or just a place to write what’s on your mind. It can be private, public, or just for specific people. To learn how to make a blog, see Episode 190: What is a Blog and how does Blogger work? It’s already drop-dead simple, but if you turn on the setting to allow posting by email, it’s even easier.

While we’ve been on our dive trip, we’ve been without an Internet connection much of the time. Using this “Post by email” method, I can still write my blog posts when the days are fresh in my mind. Since I can compose an email with no Internet connection, I can write whenever the inspiration strikes. When I click “Send”, it will go to Blogger whenever I do have a connection.

Set it Up

Go to Blogger.com and log in to your account. Click on Settings, then Email and one of the options you will see is “Post Using Email.” How it works is with a special email address. In this case, the email address starts with ccheroes., then you fill in some text of your choosing and type it in the space where it says, “SecretWords.” For example, if you type rvusa in that spot, then the email address would be “ccheroes.rvusa@blogger.com.”

There are also options for what should happen when you send something to that email address. Do you want it to become a blog post immediately? Or, do you want it to be a draft that you have to revisit before it gets published? I set mine to publish as a draft, then, when I have Internet connectivity I’ll review the post, edit and add more photos before actually publishing.

So, here’s how it works

I use Gmail and compose a new email. The email address is ccheroes.rvusa@blogger.com. I type whatever story I want to publish. Whatever I enter in the email’s Subject: line becomes the title of the post.  I add photos by using Gmail’s insert photo button and accessing all my Google Photos. Gmail also has formatting features like bulleted lists, fonts, links, and emojis. Whatever I create in this email becomes a Blog post when I click send. Or, in my case, it becomes a draft of a blog post. I still have to go to Blogger.com to edit and publish it.

Limit your Photos

Unfortunately, the email posting process is limited in the amount of photos that can be included. The maximum size for all photos is 10MB, meaning about 3 pictures. So I still need to come in to the Blogger.com interface to add more. It still helps a lot to compose the post using my phone and email.

It is so quick and easy, I feel like I’ve been given a magic wand!