Friday, April 22, 2005

How to add a blog entry on MSN Spaces using Email

From Abhishek Kant's Web Blogs

How to add a blog entry on MSN Spaces using Email

Figured with the launch of MSN Spaces you should have a way of blogging via email as well. Blogging via email has 3 immediate uses:

1. If your corporate environment doesn't let you access the internet. however, you can send email outside the organisation.

2. Sometimes Internet connectivity is just too bad / slow that you would prefer to write an email.

3. Email is something that you can work on intermittently. Write a bit, save the email and then come back to finish it later.

So what does it take to blog using Email on MSN Spaces? Well just a little configuration... here is what you do:

1. Sign into your spaces using passport credentials

2. Click on the “Settings” text at the top right corner, below the “Sign Out” button

3. Click on the “Mobile Settings” tab text

4. Check “Turn on Mobile Publishing” box

5. Make sure that the email ID you are going to use to send the blog entries is correctly mentioned in the textbox below. Well I confirmed that any other post sent from unspecified email ID doesn't make it to the blog.

6. Provide the secret word. This prevents others from adding blog entries even if they have access to your email account.

7. The next choice let’s you decide whether you want the entries you mail to appear instantly or you want them to be kept as draft till it is manually approved by you. If you want the post instantly once mailed choose the “Publish entries immediately. ” choice button.

8. You can see the email address where you should send your entries to.

9. Compose an email and send it to the email known from the Step 8. If you had pictures attached with the email they will also appear on the blog! Even the formatting (bold, italics etc) is maintained in the post.