Click Here To See The Article With Illustration The items listed below are by my estimation the seven most important tools and utilities for new bloggers. Before you start reading, it is assumed that the blogger will already have knowledge of Wordpress and Firefox, while also working with Apple Computers. With proper use of these seven items, every blogger should enjoy some success. The list is in no particular order, and if I missed something, please let me know in the comments section. Textmate is a text editing program, and in my opinion, the best text editing program on the Internet. Textmate is great when you want to edit your web-pages CSS files, since you can use the search function “find.†Textmate especially shines when it comes to the actual action of blogging. Once you are done with your post, you can use the Textmate “Bundles,†and upload your post automatically to your blog. Colorzilla is Firefox extension that comes very handy when it comes to colors. Iosart described their application as an “Advanced Eyedropper, ColorPicker, Page Zoomer and other colorful goodies.†This application is very useful when editing your wordpress theme’s CSS file. The other major advantage colorzilla gives the blogger is a quick and easy eyedropper tool. This tool can be used for the blending of your Google Adsense Ad’s, which is vital if the blogger wants to increase his/her CTR (Click Through Ratio). For me, I can no longer use Colorzilla due to the application’s inability to function on the new Apple Macbook. A nice alternative to the Colorzilla is the DigitalColor Meter which can be found in your apple’s utilities folder. Firebug is extremely, and I mean extremely important when it comes to the customization of your blog. Joe Hewitt describes Firebug as, “all of the tools you need to poke, prod, and monitor your JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax are brought together into one seamless experience, including a debugger, error console, command line, and a variety of fun inspectors.†Personally I have used similar applications, and none of them compare to Firebug in terms of interface and usefulness. If you are not extremely strong when it comes to Wordpress coding, Firebug will save you hours of time! The Adsense Deluxe Wordpress Plugin is extremely useful when it comes to monetizing your blog. Instead of simply placing advertising in your header or your sidebar, Adsense Deluxe allows you to place your ads within your post entries. The ad most used within blog entries is a rectangle either placed in the beginning of the post, or at the conclusion of the post. I use adsense deluxe in every single post I make, and if you want to make some money from blogging, you should too. The Wordpress Theme Browser, made by Alex King, is THE place to find Wordpress themes. The website is very easy to navigate through, and there is plenty of quantity and quality. All you need to do is find the theme you like, and click download to have your new theme in your hands. Once placed in the “themes†directory of your blog, another click in the presentation section of the admin gives you a brand new theme. Transmit makes transferring pictures and files from your desktop to your blog’s directory as easy as 1-2-3. Transmit works like any other FTP server application, and is one of the best out there for Apple computers. You will need transmit to transfer over new Wordpress themes, plugins, images, and utilities to your blog’s directory. The transmit sidebar is very nifty, as is the favorites feature. If you want to try Transmit before buying it, there is a lengthy, 30 day trial. The trial gives you everything you need, but if you use FTP clients often, you have to enter your information in every time with the trial. The Overture Keyword Tool is extremely useful for blogging research. Enter in any keyword and see the amount of times that word was searched in the previous month. The statistics are based off the Yahoo search engine, but offer a great general sense of traffic. Use this tool to help you make the proper title for your blog post. You want your blog to be found via search engine, and the difference between a poor title, and an excellent title could make a monumental difference. The fact that the keyword results are not always clear is a major con, but if you know your topic well enough, you can de-scramble the nonsense presented to you. There you have it, the seven most important tools and utilities for the everyday blogger. Some of the tools are more important than others, but each of the tools serve a purpose. Obviously there alternatives to the items I chose, but by estimation these are the best one’s out there. Again, if I missed something major (always possible) please let me know in the comments section! If you found this article to be particularly useful, check out the sidebar to digg, del.icio.us, or reddit the post. Also if you REALLY enjoyed this piece, sign up for my feed by clicking the orange feed icon on the left sidebar.