Google Releases New Blogger Beta and Blogger API

WebKnowHow
Friday, August 18, 2006; 02:13 AM

Weblog publishing service Blogger has been updated to include new features and a wider selection of templates.  Almost instantaneously Google, which purchased Blogger in 2003, released a set of related developer tools -- the Blogger API.

Blogger said the transition to the new version would happen gradually: currently only a limited number of people have access to the new interface and functionalities.  The new features provide more template customization options, advanced access permissions, improved RSS/Atom feed management, updated dashboard and improved speed.  Blogs can be created either via a WYSIWYG editor, or by including third party HTML or JavaScript into the template.

People who are in the know can use the development tools, provided by Google, to create client applications for viewing and updating Blogger content in the form of Google data API ("GData") feeds. GData provides a simple XML-based standard protocol for reading and writing data on the internet. The client applications can use GData to create new blog posts, edit or delete existing posts, and query for posts that match particular criteria.