Blog Authoring with Word 12/2007

As you may have noticed, assuming you have scanned over my previous posts, I am currently using Microsoft's Word 12/2007 to author my blog posts. There are a number of reasons for this:

1. I have been a heavy user of Word since Word version 2 (circa 1990). Although it was technically Word version 2 it was marketed as Word for Windows 1.0 and was for use on Windows 3.0—just to totally confuse everyone. Anyway, the point I am making here is that I have been using Word for some time now and know it very well.
2. Word allows me to easily use bullets, numbering, and indenting without having to think too much about it.
3. I can easily put in simple tables.
4. I can easily include images (mainly photographs) and position them how I want (within the limits imposed by Wordpress and conversion to HTML when posting).
5. I can colour and highlight text easily.
6. Spell checking happens as I key (as it always does in Word).
7. I can save a copy of each blog post on my PC.

I am sure there are other reasons I have overlooked, but those are the main ones I can think of. As is *always* the case with computers and computer software, Word is not a perfect solution. Take tables for example. Although they are quick and easy to include, as you can see from the following, they do not always format as expected when posted up into the blog. Here is a 75% downsized screen capture image of what the table looked like when I keyed it in Word. And following is how it posted into the blog.  As you can see:

• The centred text has become left justified.
• The sans-serif font used for the table heading has become a serif font.
• The wrapped first column heading has become un-wrapped into one line.
• The column sizes have been changed.

Such are the joys of automatic conversions to HTML. Even so, using Microsoft Word is still a good way to author and prepare blog postings. Barry.