Sometimes, we are extremely busy or on the move and have less time to open our Blogger or Wordpress dashboard to update the blog. In this situation, you can use the option of e-mail posting. Normally, we all have e-mail access in our mobile devices. Fortunately, Wordpress and Blogger both support posting via e-mail. Let's see how to configure this option in both Wordpress and Blogger to post via e-mail.
Posting via e-mail works on a simple principle. You send the blog post to a pre-configured address and your blogging CMS periodically checks for any e-mail to process (post). Let's start with Wordpress configuration.
Although, Wordpress has in-built 'Post via e-mail' option in 'Settings -> Writing', but I prefer alternative solution, as it gives more flexibility for formatting and structuring the post.
First of all, we need Postie plugin.
Configuring the plugin
#1 - Upload the plugin to '/wp-content/plugins' folder. Activate the plugin.
#2 - Create two directories in the root directory (installdir) of your blog. Name these directories as 'wp-filez' and 'wp-photos'. Set 777 permissions for both directories. These directories will be used for temporary storage of data during e-mail processing.
#3 - Click 'Settings' and go to 'Configure Postie' page. You will be overwhelmed after seeing array of options on the page. Most of the options are pre-configured and do not require any modification.
#4 - The first option that we need to configure is 'Authorized Addresses'. In the given text box, add the e-mail addresses which you want to be treated as valid mails ids. Postie will treat each e-mail coming from these addresses as valid e-mails from admin. Keep each email address on a single line.
#5 - Now scroll to 'Mailserver Settings'. It is strongly advised to create a fresh e-mail id for posting purposes. Keep id name cryptic, for exp: er45t@yourdomain.com. Postie supports POP3, POP3-SSL, IMAP, IMAP-SSL protocols. Choose the appropriate protocol for your mail server from 'Mail Protocol'. Give the server address in 'Mail Server' and appropriate port number in 'Port'. Specify 'Mail Userid' and 'Mail Password' in respective text boxes.
Note: If you are using POP3-SSL, choose port 995. For POP3, use port number 110. If you are unsure, refer to your mail server documentation.
#6 - Now the plugin is configured and ready for e-mail posting. But, there is something missing. We need to create some mechanism that triggers the e-mail checking procedure so that Postie can do its job. Well, there are two ways for doing that.
Method - 1: If you have access to cron, setup the cron job by the following code.
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/lynx --source http://yourdomain/wp-content/plugins/postie/get_mail.php >/dev/null 2>&1
Keep this entry on a single line. This entry will run the file get_mail.php after every 5 minutes. You can adjust the time interval as per your requirements.
Method - 2: In case you have no access to cron, you can use this method. Paste the following code in 'footer.php'
<iframe src="http://yourdomain/wp-content/plugins/postie/get_mail.php?Submit=Run+Postie" name="mailiframe" width="0" height="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title=""></iframe>
This code will automatically execute whenever a web page of your blog is opened. In case you want immediate posting after mailing, you can open your blog's homepage to get this code executed.
Post Formatting Options
Here comes the interesting part. Postie supports ample amount of options to structure and format the post, including the post metadata.
Categories and Post Title: While composing the e-mail for posting, you can specify the post title and categories for that post. Simple use this format in 'Subject' line.
This subject line will assign the post to the first category Postie will find, starting from 'Gen'. Needless to say, post title will be 'Wordpress Hacks'.
This subject line will assign the post to 3 categories in one go. First one is the numeric id of the category, second one is the category starting with 'Tip' and so on...
This is one more method to assign multiple categories and post title.
You can also specify, whether comments should be opened, closed or should be opened only for registered users. Use the following code to implement comment activation or deactivation.
If you do not specify any of the above option, comments will be open for all by default.
Postie also supports embedding images in the post via attachments. Refer to READ-ME file supplied with the plugin for all the formatting options.
To post via e-mail, simply compose the post in your e-mail client and send to one of the addresses configured in Postie. Processed e-mails are automatically deleted from the inbox by Postie
Configuring posting via e-mail in blogger is very easy. First, go to 'Settings', then 'Email' sub-tab. Fill in the id in the 'Mail-to-Blogger Address' field.
You can choose either to publish immediately upon receiving the mail or to save it as drafts. To post, simply send the post via e-mail to the address you have configured in your blog's dashboard. Interestingly, blogger can publish your HTML e-mail in original form with ease.
Posting via e-mail works on a simple principle. You send the blog post to a pre-configured address and your blogging CMS periodically checks for any e-mail to process (post). Let's start with Wordpress configuration.
WordPress Configuration
Although, Wordpress has in-built 'Post via e-mail' option in 'Settings -> Writing', but I prefer alternative solution, as it gives more flexibility for formatting and structuring the post.
First of all, we need Postie plugin.
Configuring the plugin
#1 - Upload the plugin to '/wp-content/plugins' folder. Activate the plugin.
#2 - Create two directories in the root directory (installdir) of your blog. Name these directories as 'wp-filez' and 'wp-photos'. Set 777 permissions for both directories. These directories will be used for temporary storage of data during e-mail processing.
#3 - Click 'Settings' and go to 'Configure Postie' page. You will be overwhelmed after seeing array of options on the page. Most of the options are pre-configured and do not require any modification.
#4 - The first option that we need to configure is 'Authorized Addresses'. In the given text box, add the e-mail addresses which you want to be treated as valid mails ids. Postie will treat each e-mail coming from these addresses as valid e-mails from admin. Keep each email address on a single line.
#5 - Now scroll to 'Mailserver Settings'. It is strongly advised to create a fresh e-mail id for posting purposes. Keep id name cryptic, for exp: er45t@yourdomain.com. Postie supports POP3, POP3-SSL, IMAP, IMAP-SSL protocols. Choose the appropriate protocol for your mail server from 'Mail Protocol'. Give the server address in 'Mail Server' and appropriate port number in 'Port'. Specify 'Mail Userid' and 'Mail Password' in respective text boxes.
Note: If you are using POP3-SSL, choose port 995. For POP3, use port number 110. If you are unsure, refer to your mail server documentation.
#6 - Now the plugin is configured and ready for e-mail posting. But, there is something missing. We need to create some mechanism that triggers the e-mail checking procedure so that Postie can do its job. Well, there are two ways for doing that.
Method - 1: If you have access to cron, setup the cron job by the following code.
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/lynx --source http://yourdomain/wp-content/plugins/postie/get_mail.php >/dev/null 2>&1
Keep this entry on a single line. This entry will run the file get_mail.php after every 5 minutes. You can adjust the time interval as per your requirements.
Method - 2: In case you have no access to cron, you can use this method. Paste the following code in 'footer.php'
<iframe src="http://yourdomain/wp-content/plugins/postie/get_mail.php?Submit=Run+Postie" name="mailiframe" width="0" height="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title=""></iframe>
This code will automatically execute whenever a web page of your blog is opened. In case you want immediate posting after mailing, you can open your blog's homepage to get this code executed.
Post Formatting Options
Here comes the interesting part. Postie supports ample amount of options to structure and format the post, including the post metadata.
Categories and Post Title: While composing the e-mail for posting, you can specify the post title and categories for that post. Simple use this format in 'Subject' line.
Subject: Gen: Wordpress Hacks
This subject line will assign the post to the first category Postie will find, starting from 'Gen'. Needless to say, post title will be 'Wordpress Hacks'.
Subject: [14] [Tip] [Writ] Wordpress Hacks
This subject line will assign the post to 3 categories in one go. First one is the numeric id of the category, second one is the category starting with 'Tip' and so on...
Subject: -14- -Tip- -Writ- Wordpress Hacks
This is one more method to assign multiple categories and post title.
You can also specify, whether comments should be opened, closed or should be opened only for registered users. Use the following code to implement comment activation or deactivation.
comments:0 - (Comments are closed)
comments:1 - (Comments are open)
comments:2 - (Comments are open only for registered users)
If you do not specify any of the above option, comments will be open for all by default.
Postie also supports embedding images in the post via attachments. Refer to READ-ME file supplied with the plugin for all the formatting options.
To post via e-mail, simply compose the post in your e-mail client and send to one of the addresses configured in Postie. Processed e-mails are automatically deleted from the inbox by Postie
Blogger Configuration
Configuring posting via e-mail in blogger is very easy. First, go to 'Settings', then 'Email' sub-tab. Fill in the id in the 'Mail-to-Blogger Address' field.
You can choose either to publish immediately upon receiving the mail or to save it as drafts. To post, simply send the post via e-mail to the address you have configured in your blog's dashboard. Interestingly, blogger can publish your HTML e-mail in original form with ease.
Over To You
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