ActiveRain Tutorials: How To Use ScribeFire to Enhance Your ActiveRain Blog Posts

Blog-N-Roll...

You're cracking me up here. I have a post written about the beauty of a...

Oh. Wait. If I type my idea for a Blog someone will read it and use it for their blog fodder...

Never mind :)

P.S. I must insist that you get the hell out of my head :)

TLW...ROAR!

Thank goodness for this post...My friend has been calling me daily with questions about how to use scribefire, and you explain it so well...I'll be forwarding this post to her.   THANK YOU BRAD!!!!!

Thanks Brad.  I had tried to use Scribefire and got stuck for the very reason you describe - when it asked for my blog url.

Brad, perhaps down the road Localism can be refined a bit so that any post we send to Localism doesn't end up looking like one long column of text, picture not fitting its border, text, picture, etc.  Also would be nice to have Localism feature posts more like a collage of multiple posts, rather than last one posted on top.

Have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

Oh great Brad, another new technoligical find that I have to figure out.  LOL  J/K  I am going to get my people on it.  It does look pretty simple though, I must say, the way you explained it.  Thanks

Thanks for the information. I have been using Kompozer which is easy to use, but not integrated.

As a user, do you have to use Mozilla Firefox to get the benefits of Scribefire?

 Have a great day .....Eric - Dream Home Financing

 

Brad,  I was wondering how people changed their font size and color.  I presumed they were more adept at HTML than I and since I didn't have time to delve into it deeper, I have remained in the dark.  I will try subscribe to scribefire and fire it up. lol.  Thanks for the information.

Thanks Brad, this is a cool tool! I'm going to download the add-on now.

Thanks Brad!  I use Firefox all the time whenever I am having trouble with Internet Explorer.  I had not heard of scribefire before.  I will have to check it out and play around with it. 

  

This is exciting, Brad.  We certainly will try it. Is there anything that works with IE?  I get the drift that AR staff are not IE fans, but there are many Internet Explorer fans in the ranks.

Will this work when setting up Active Rain profiles? As it is now, it can be pretty challenging when  trying to put graphics or tables into those.

Thanks, Brad.

Brad - Thanks for providing the information about how to handle the initial Scribefire configuration questions.  It's a great addition to the several other recent posts by others on this great product.

Finally- Never knew about this. I will make the posts actually look like a human wrote them.

"Don't go crazy with font colors and sizes." That advice cannot be emphasized enough. 2-3 colors (in addition to black for text) should be more than enough for visual breaks and emphasis.

This is good information as usual, Brad. Thanks! And stay in her head!

 

AEV...BURP!

Thanks.  I've been using NVU but always looking for an alternative to dealing with pesky HTML code.

Brad - Good stuff, my man.  I need to check this out more thoroughly after the holiday.  Thanks!

OK, Brad, do you ever sleep?....

Thanks for finding all the cool tools for us!

TLW - never gonna happen... getting out of your head that is. Careful, people in these parts refer to "head" as the bathroom. lol~

Amy - I've gotten a ton of emails and calls as well, I know exactly what you mean.  Thanks for forwarding this on. :-)

Renee - Localism is a continuous work in progress, thanks for the input.

Jean - it is really easy, you'll love it.

Holly - I know others who use Kompozer as well, I've heard good things about it.

Dream Home Financing, this is an add-on for the Firefox Browser only. 

Debra - let me know what you think of Scribefire once you get the chance to check it out.

Steve - it's not that AR staff aren't IE fans, it's more that IE just doesn't function as well on MANY internet sites. 
I would check out Kompozer or NVU and see if they work on IE, I haven't had the chance to look into those.
Regarding your profile page, scribefire will work on any site or page where you have editing capabilities.
Tables and iFrames are a bit different and do require just a tad of HTML skills, I;ll get to that one soon.

R. Greg - you can do this, NO HTML experience required. :-)

Betty and John - it's a great tool when used in moderation, hope it works out well for you.

Marc - glad you like the addition to the others, thanks.

Steven - couldn't resist... I Love the fish in your photo, when are WE going fishin???  :-)))

John - glad you agree, that's a first!!  lol~  Just kidding, thanks for commenting.

Kyle - that's funny, I do my best!  Contrary to popular belief, TLW really does love me!  (Blog & Roll)  hehe

Cindy - as long as your posts and Blog look ok, you should be good to go with NVU.

Jason - who ya kiddin, after the Holidays we'll all be sacrificing our Blog time for exercise programs. lol~

Marzena - truth be told? No! :-)

Thanks Brad. Just when I thought it was safe to write a blog in any stlye I wanted .... Have a great Thanksgiving

Hi Brad -- I downloaded this after an earlier post about it, but I've never done much with it.  I'm going to try it the next time I post.

Thank you, thank you! I am so excited to try it out with my next post!!  

Howdy there Brad

I've been using Scribefire for quiet some time, and I sure do enjoy using it.
 
I've also have talked with other AR members, that have ask me questions about using Scribefire.

I would like to try this. Does Firefox conflict with Internet Explorer? I have to keep IE to be able to use the RE/MAX 100 Contracts program. What other real estate add ons are good if I can add it without a conflict?

Brad,

Ok you have just taken up all my free time during this Thanksgiving day off. I am going to get Foxfire first and then Scribefire.   YOU RULE and if you are in TLW's head who is in BB's?? 

Wow!  I need to block out some time to get up to speed on this.  THANK YOU!

This will probably be very helpful. I had attempted scribefire about a month ago and was completely lost. Maybe I'll try again.

Super post. Thnaks for the information.

Brad, I love Scribefire! And one more reason to use it, when you have a lot of comments to respond to... I open it in a split window and am able to write comments by just scrolling the AR window while the Scribefire window stays in place. No trying to remember who did what, no scrolling up and down, back and forth.

For some reason Scribefire works best for me by using the mouse instead of the copy/paste shortcuts. As a matter of fact, it will not work sometimes with the control c/control v commands. But then again, I am squirrely anyway.

What I can use Scribefire for is resposting some of my posts on other platforms, which comes in very handy!

Great info about Scribefire. I already downloaded and I'm ready to put it in the test.

I booked marked this one for future reference.  I need to pretty up this blog of mine. 

Brad,

I will be looking back to this post for some time and have it bookmarked.  Thank you sir.

hmmm - I may have to give it another try now that I know the tricks.  Thanks!

Brad,

Just an FYI update I have downloaded Foxfire and Scribefire and started playing with them.  Although note to self when editing an old post when I copy them into Scribefire to play with them the links go away if I click on them.

Cheryl - there are no conflicts with using Firefox and Internet Explorer, in fact, I use to use both of them opened simultaniously.

At one point I had FF, IE, Safari, Google Chrome, and Flock all opened at the same time.  But then I smelled smoke coming from my computer and had to run out of the house to find our garden hose....   lol~

Here's a link to ALL SORTS OF Firefox add-ons: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/  Warning though...there's over 12,000+, you might want to spread your research time over the next few years!!  :-)

Great post! I've been messing around with sribefire to see what it does and it turns out...it does alot! This post is a keeper. Thanks

Thanks for this timely post on Scribefire, Brad...I was just wanting to learn more about it since I started using it to insert videos in comments! I'm looking forward to your next trick...iFrames and tables! :)

Leilani

This one is bookmarked. Seems like lots of the "pretty blogs" are using Scribefire. Thanks for sharing.

 

Easy for you to say. :)   I'm going to give it a try, but I will probably be back several times to make sure I can follow directions LOL :)
Thank you ... this is very helpful.

 

Thanks Brad!  I look forward to looking into this after Thanksgiving.  So many things to learn about all of the technology today!

Brad

I so want to experiment with different fonts, colors, etc and actually downloaded Scribefire but didn't know how to use it.  Thanks again for your help!

Thanks for the great information.  I have load Scribefire on my computer and wasn't sure how to use it properly.  Didn't realize that I could cut & paste from that application without some of the issues I see from Word Processors like Microsoft Word.

I like ScribeFire... I don't use it as much as I should, but it is cool.  I use it mostly to put videos in comments...

Brad - Thanks for the tip and leave up to you to keep us on our toes when it comes to tech advancements, I will give it a try and have a "Happy Thanksgiving"

VB ;o)

Still learning the ropes....I am just going crazy trying to figure out how to have enough time to do all the things I want to do on the Internet...and improve on...and still make money to keep my computer going.  I guess sleep takes a back seat - again.  Oh well, thanks Brad, you are definitely the king!

I attempted Scribefire before and didn't get tooooo far.  With your instructions in hand I'll now go back and give it another try.  Thanks.

Sue of Robin and Sue

Brad, I also wondered how everyone got their posts to look so custom.  I'm going to have to read this several times to make sure I get it right.  Thanks.

Brad, I downloaded it tonight - hope to have time to figure it out over the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks Brad. I was wondering what was the trick. Bookmarked! 

I'm going to give this a try on my next post.  I've wondered how people are able to do many of the interesting thing they do with graphics and text.

Great information Brad... Now I need to get firefox.. I'm just not sure if my Top Producer program will work with it. Maybe someone can let me know.

Thanks for the post, Brad. I have been wondering how to get a little more variety in my blogs, and now I have a direction.

You can also load Scribefire in the Firefox Browser (once you've installed it) by just clicking on the little icon located in the lowest right hand corner of the browser.  You don't have to use the FUNCTION + F8 keyboard shortcut. 

It looks like this...the little paper and pencil.  One click and "BAM!" Scribefire window opens, and you're off creating...   :-))

BRad - well I'm game. I tried it after that wonderfle series by Michael Thornton and I couldn't get it to work. If I can't, you WILL hear from me. LOL

Jeff

For those of you trying out Scribefire  for the first time,
It should be fairly easy.  :-))

This guy does a decent overview of Scribefire which goes way beyond some of the things you may want to use it for on AR, but it's good to know these features are available in the future if you need them.

Brad, I think the best part of thes post was this statement:

One thing to be careful of is that you don't go CRAZY with Font Colors and sizes.

Brad,

Thanks...I have to dash but will come back to find out more!

I just read this on another post too. It's great to know that Scribefire will finally work with Active Rain! I tried to use it a couple of years ago and it wouldn't work. I guess with the changes here, Scribefire is finally compatible. THAT is great! Now if you could just fix whatever you did that messed up the HTML/CSS codes in our old posts, and whatever causes them to now lose points if we try to fix them. =/

Jeremy - it's true, I know you've seen mucho grande of what I'm talking about, it's easy to get excited and "color" away!!  :-)

Lisa - you're just too ahead of your time!  lol~  :-))  FYI... we've made no changes to HTML/CSS codes in your old posts.

YIKES!  Something new to learn.  I guess I'll have a few hours on Thursday while my bird cooks to try and figure it out.  Good talking with you last week.

Here's wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the tutorial Brad.  I've been trying to figure out how to automatically upload my blogs from scribefire to ActiveRain.  I tried the cut and paste method and it works really well for me.

It looks good to me (tongue in cheek). Actually, I can see where this could be really helpful to me. Thanks again Brad.

Couldnt download it just now, will have to go back and try again later.

Thanks for the great information. We will be sure to implement this right away!! Keep on posting valuable stuff!!

Hey this is good stuff, thanks Brad.  I still need to chat with you re outside blog - you working this weekend? I don't want to interupt Thanksgiving fun!

Leave it to you Brad to make everyones blog look like one great big coloring book - LOL Happy Turkey day to you and the family!

Great info.  I use Kompozer.  I am happy with it.

Brad - If I didn't know better I'd think you were looking over my shoulder. I just commented yesterday to another member about needing to check this out. Are you spying on me? Awesome timing.

Just checked it out and downloaded ...

Copying and pasting isn't working in this comment here (the format is not staying), so hopefully it will work in my blog post!

Brad - My thanks as well for another option when composing our blogs.  I'm also a Kompozer fan, but to be able to open a window while in AR sounds great.  I'll be downloading as soon as I click submit on this comment...

Cool. I'm always looking for new things to confuse challenge me when blogging!

Love ScribeFire for my comments mainly.  I still use my old editor to prepare my posts.  Old habits die hard!  Have a greatThanksgiving Brad. 

Thanks for the great tips and advice -- another new tool to get into --- many tools , little time -- alas.

I have now downloaded it and will try to learn it.  Brad, should I just bite the bullet and get a MAC?

Yeah Brad - this is exactly what I need! Personally would prefer to write in code to format, but I know you can't let us get too crazy on the back end.

BTW, I don't know if IE or Windoze has any fans left. I'm still a fan of DOS, but then, that just shows my AGE!  :-)

Brad - Been using Scribefire for a long time now and love it.... I see me and Paddy like the same fall colors....Oops... Have a Happy Turkey Day my friend :-)

Hi Brad,

Thanks again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

I've been using Scribefire for a couple of months now, and I love it!  I can make my posts look good even without adding a photo.

Hi Brad, we never seem to be able to copy and paste the text from Scribfire.  If we copy it and then go to paste into our blog, it opens up another box that it wants you to paste it into and it says it will do it in "plain text", hence cancelling out the changes we made in Scribfire.  We only get it to work by dragging up into the blog that sometimes messes up.

Brad,

Thanks for making my life easier.  I always look forward to your blogs!

Thank you Brad so much. I have really wanted to spice up my blogs.

Brad, thanks for the Scribefire "how-to"!  As always, your posts are very helpful and informative.  I've used Scribefire some, already, but will concentrate on using it more, now.

Mike

Al and Peggy - it sounds like one of two things:

1. You're using Internet Explorer as your browser, and scribefire is an add-on and only works with the Firefox Browser.

2. Try right clicking your mouse to copy the text, then right click your mouse to paste it into your post.

Let me know if that works...   :-)

Thanks Brad, the mouse clicking worked, but the Ctrl c & v didn't. That is much easier to put what I want where I want it. Thanks

Glad that worked for you.  :-))

Thanks Brad... I will check it out too.

Thanks Brad, I'm going to download this now and run it through it's paces.  As you know from when we talkled at NAR, it it the AR Spell checker that drives me nuts...

John

Hello Brad,

Thank you so much for the information!  I appreciate it! This is great!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Rita

 

Very interesting... What about Internet Explorer? More than 80% of internet users seem to be using it...?

Oooo I like it!  I've been having trouble getting fonts and colors to work for me.  This is just the solution and I am a FireFox person so this is perfect!  Thanks!

I tried this several times - I am ScribeFire deficient. Let's hope it clicks soon haha. I couldn't get formatting to stay. sigh. I'll get it one of these days!

Brad,

I didn't know how to do this; thanks, Bud!  (...and a belated Happy Thanksgiving!)

Mike in Tucson

This Just In:

TESTING OUT CRAIGSLIST HTML EDITOR FOR ACTIVERAIN and Internet Explorer Browser 

Don - see comment and link above. WooHoo for IE users!!  :-)

Steve - try using the right click on your mouse to copy and paste instead of the "CTRL + C" and "CTRL + V" option, I bet it will work for you.

Mike - thanks, and same to you my friend.  

I love Scribefire.  It makes it sooo easy to customize your post.

Sallie - you can use this html code for font size : <font size="3"> and then close it with </font size="3"> if you're using Craigslist editor for the Internet Explorer Browser. :-)

Hi Brad, One other difficulty we have with scribfire in loading pictures. It always wants us to get something or another that doesn't work when we click on it. We always have to go back to Explorer > ActiveRain to put the pictures in.

Al & Peggy - I never use scribefire for photos, the AR photo import and editor works fine for me. Is there a reason you would prefer to use scribefire to import your photos?  Am I missing something?  I also use it for video in comments, but never for photos, just never had the need.  Let me know how you're trying to use it so maybe I can help. :-)

Woohoo!  Thanks Brad - posted my first blog and it looks terrific - thanks to you and ScribeFire!

For those still using Internet Explorer, maybe Scribefire is a good reason to make the switch.  Even if you access websites that only run in IE (like some MLS websites), you can use the IE Tab add-on for Firefox to open it in an IE tab within Firefox (no need to actually open IE).

Mike - Congrats!!

David - you'd be surprised how many folks don't know you can have both browsers on your computer and even run them at the same time. A very common myth or belief is that if your MLS only works with IE, then IE is the only Internet Browser you can use.  Glad to see you know the truth!  You know what they say...  "The truth will set you free!"  :-))

Thank you Brad for the great AR tips! I'm relatively new to Active Rain, but because I enjoy technology, I'm finding the system to be quite addicting.  Your post on ScribeFire really fit the bill since I wasn't too enamored with the text editor within AR.   I made the switch to a Mac in May and as the saying goes "will never go back."  In fact, it is quite painful when I have to fix one of the other family computers.

Nancy

I'm so glad we have that option, I've always wondered how this was done.  Now I just hope I can get it all figured out!

For some reason I remember the Craigslist Editor not working right from a test along time ago. I've wrote you a couple of times Brad with this problem so thank you for investigating this. I use NVu/Kompozer now and it works well but you have to shorten your screen width to 600 pixels so that it looks normal in Localism.

Hi Brad, I'm a little behind in my blog reading. But just got my scribefire installed and it seems to be working fine. Thanks for your blog! DeeDee

Hey Brad,
I've been using Scribefire for some time now and all I can say is that it's easy to use, fun to work with, and it makes my blog much more visually appealing.

Thank you for this easy to follow tutorial!

Hi Brad, as always thank you for sharing. Downloaded the add on.

Hi Ritu - hope it works well for you.  Enjoy the Holidays and all the best to you in 2010!  :-)

Hi Brad - having a little trouble opening up Scribefire in my AR blog. I'm trying Control F8, Alt F8, Shift etc. Doesn't want to open in my AR blog. Any ideas?

If anyone can help to find an automatic setting to insert my picture everytime I'm commenting?

I've search the settings in my profile couldn't find this option.  I appreciate it, thank you! Just don't tell me that I need to insert picture manually every time I comment a blog :)

Hi Diane and Dave - make sure that you have added the scribefire add-on and check for updates when launching the Mozilla Firefox browser. Once installed properly the Function + F8 key should open the scribefire window at the bottom of your screen. You'll also notice an icon in the lower right corner of your browser that looks like a pad of paper with pencil, you can just click on that too. Also make sure you are running the most current version of the Firefox Browser.  Let me know if that helps. :-)

Iryna - in order to have your photo show in comments, you'll need to upgrade to a "RainMaker" account or wait until you establish 10,000 AR points. There is a "Upgrade" link located on your "My Home" page, it will be red and located on the left hand sidebar.

Thank you Brad!

Heads Up Blog-N-Roll...

Many of the FireFox Add Ons/Plug Ins do not work on FF Beta 3.6

What they have is a neat little tool that tells you all your freakin' adds on are busted.

Put that in your arsenal and smoke share it :)

Hmmm..Maybe you broke all those add ons :)

TLW...ROAR!

 

TLW - thanks for that reminder and heads up, I'll make sure to ask what version of FF folks are running before I make suggestions in the future. Nice to know you got my back... hey, wait a minute, you carry a WHIP!  Forget that "Got My Back" comment!  lol~  :-)

Oh...

And FF Beta in the fastest browser I've ever used. It's incredible. Also, I have both FF and FF Beta loaded. I kinda like being a test dumby on the Beta version. Mozilla has actually sent me a few emails. I think that's pretty cool. I didn't know anyone really cared what I think. lol.

TLW...ROAR!

I thought about downloading the Beta this morning since FF automatically updates, they just put the 3.5.7 version on my computer, then I thought of you and realized that you've already been down this path, read the book and got the t-shirt!  lol~ 

I think I'll let you work out all the kinks and bugs before I dive into beta. You say they are already emailing and contacting you?  Are they being extra nice and treating you special? They probably saw your video, you know, the one with the gun!?!   ROFLMAO!!  

Blog-N-Roll~

I'll keep you...

Posted right on this blog. It only has 115 so we're safe. I'll let you know when it's time for you to write a killer tutorial about it. No matter what you say, no one but no one, can write a tutorial better than you. Don't argue with me about that. I'm the one with whips and guns :)

Now about being contacted by them. I bet that more relates to them having trouble getting the average Joe to try Beta. Not very many of the plugins and add ons are operational. That may explain the browsing speed. I'm thinking Mozilla probably doesn't give a crap about my skill with weaponary :)

TLW...ROAR!

Thanks TLW - whips and guns speak louder than Blog-N-Roll!  lol~  :-))

Hi Brad, I wanted to thank you again for posting this tool!  I created now about 4 blogs using scribefire and I love it. It has actually motivated to write more often. Previously I use to get frustrated working on the blog, copying from my word. Thanks again!!!

Brad - using it right now to insert my comment - thanks a lot  million!!!!   Love that feature, too!

Brad- Great tool - we started using this yesterday and love the tool. Thanks again for the great resource.

I have been looking around for information on blogging tools. I was found the Help/FAQ because of another member, and now I have my answer. Great!

Figured it out kinda, just can't find where I can change colors!!

Thanks for the remedial lesson on this Brad.  Active Rain Rocks!

Renee - no problem, it was great getting a chance to talk with you today.  You always make me laugh and smile, thanks.  :-)

Hi Brad..Another Great how to Post for us..you certainly Rock. I'll be book marking this for reference. Thanks !

I've just got to 10000 points and I'm trying to check if my picture is included in my post.

Iryna - Congrats on hitting 10K, and your photo looks great!  :-)

Blog-N-Roll... The Win7 with FF has been resolved. They're still working on the kinks for FF Beta. Oh. This is TLW on iRene the iPhone. Don't even think about trying to break my phone :)

Thx TLW - what's the number???   ROFL~  :-)

Hey...

I was logged in. I have much to learn about iPhones now :)

TLW...ROAR!

I KNEW I should have come to you first!! I just spent a frustrating hour trying to comply with ScribeFire's requests for urls, etc.!!

 

Brad, you're so great!!

Lottie...

This is where it starts and where the frustration ends :)

TLW...ROAR!

TLW - you forgot to mention the (2) tylenol required to get past the "frustration headaches" that can often occur!  :-))

My first use of Scribefire. I bookmarked this post time ago, finally I came back to it.

Thanks Brad!

Brad, thanks for the Scribefire resource--I'll have to check this out. Looks cool!

I'll try it -- need to load the FireFox first

Brad-

I'm going to try ScribeFire, but I'd like to know what you think of this comment (similar to others) left on the ScribeFire comment section:

 

Beware, this tool secretly adds third party tracking information to your blog posts.

I will no longer be using this tool. The developer says that this behaviour is acceptable as there is an opt-out in the settings, but this should definitely be an opt-in piece of functionality. If the developer partakes in such shady practices, what other shenanigans will they get up too in future updates?

It took me quite some time to manually remove the code from my posts and I'm still not sure I got rid of it all.

Very disappointing.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars by zizee_com on February 17, 2010

Brad-

Sorry to be so simple-minded but:

Where is the function key on my desk top keyboard (Microsoft)?  So I can do the Function plus F8 thing?

What do you mean by the edit mode on a post?  After you have already published the post and you go back to "edit" it?

 

Hi Jim - regarding your first comment, I don't use that portion or function of scribefire, I only use the "add-on" that allows for the copy and paste feature using the FN + F8 shortcut keys.  The "FN" and "F8" keys are on every keyboard.  There will also be a small icon in the lower right corner of your browser, just click on that if you can't find the FN or F8 keys on your keyboard.  When you edit a post or create a new post, this is the only time you can use the "copy and paste" or "editing" feature.  Hope that helps my friend. :-)

I missed this post but am glad Renne Burrows brought it to my attention. I need to experiment with this add on.

Thanks for putting this together. I never really knew what Scribefire did.

Good info here. I am going to give this a shot and see what I can do. After all, ones blog should be as colorful as they are!

Thanks Brad - This looks like a really cool tool. I have always wanted the ability to use different colored fonts. I'm off to download.