Section 17. Using Keyboard Shortcuts in the Blogger Editor

17. Using Keyboard Shortcuts in the Blogger Editor

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

15 Creating a Post Using the Blogger Editor in Compose Mode

16 Creating a Post Using the Blogger Editor in Manual Mode

If you are using the Blogger editor in either Compose or Manual mode, there are several keyboard shortcuts you can use in lieu of using your mouse. A few of these shortcuts are standard shortcuts found in Windows-based programs, so you might be familiar with their use.

Even if you choose not to use keyboard shortcuts while composing your blog posts, it's important to be aware of themespecially the Publish Post shortcut. The last thing you want to do is inadvertently publish your post before it is complete! Sure, you can just navigate to your list of posts, select the one that was prematurely published, and save it in draft mode, but that's an awful lot of extra clicks.

NOTE

It's also important to be aware of your web browser's shortcut key combinations, which are unique to your browser type and thus out of the scope of this book. The Blogger interface has a few built-in elements to ensure that you don't lose postsnamely, the Recover Post feature you'll learn about in 18 Using the Recover Post Feature.

• Bold. To apply bold formatting to selected text, use the Ctrl+B key combination.

• Italics. To apply italicized formatting to selected text, use the Ctrl+I key combination.

• Blockquote. To apply blockquote formatting to selected text, use the Ctrl+L key combination.

• Undo. The Ctrl+Z key combination will undo your last action.

• Redo. The Ctrl+Y key combination will redo your last action. In web browsers, the Ctrl+R key combination reloads the page, so do not mistakenly use Ctrl+R for a redo action.

• Insert hyperlink. Use the Ctrl+Shift+A key combination to launch the hyperlink creation prompt.

• Preview mode. Use the Ctrl+Shift+P key combination to switch your post editor to Preview mode. When in Preview mode, use the same key combination to return to Edit mode.

• Save as draft. Use the Ctrl+D key combination to save your post as a draft.

• Publish post. Use the Ctrl+S key combination to start the publishing process that will result in your post appearing on your blog. In Windows programs, Ctrl+S is reserved for the Save function, so although you might naturally associate Ctrl+S with saving a document, remember that this shortcut not only saves, it also publishes. If you want to save your post without publishing, use Ctrl+D to save it as a draft.