If you’re new to blogging and struggling with the editor that accompanies your blogging platform, you don’t have to use it. Instead, use Microsoft Word, which many people are familiar with, to compose your blog posts.

Use Microsoft Word to Draft the Post

The simplest way to create a blog post in Word is to create it, then copy and paste your draft from Word into your blog platform’s editing interface.

Instructions in this article apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word Starter 2010.

Because Word creates some formatting that can be difficult to convert to HTML, there may be issues with the way the text appears. If that’s the case, take an extra step and paste the text you created in Word into an intermediary text editor such as Google Docs or Notepad, then copy and paste into your blog platform’s editor.

Another option is to use an HTML cleaning tool like HTML Cleaner, which strips out the extra formatting from Word.

Make Blog Posts Directly From Microsoft Word

A more direct way to use Word to publish your blog posts is to link Word to your blog account. Here’s how to do it.

  • With Word open, select File > New > Blog post. If required, select Create.
  • If you don’t see the Blog post template, perform a search using the search bar at the top of the screen.
  • In the Register a Blog Account dialog box, select Register Now. The information you provide in the following steps is needed so that Word can post to your blog.
  • If you don’t see this dialog box after opening a new blog post template, go to the Blog Post tab and, in the Blog group, select Manage Accounts > New.
  • In the New Blog Account dialog box, select the Blog drop-down arrow, choose your platform, then select Next.
  • In the New Account dialog box, enter the information requested, including the blog URL, your username, and your password. Use the same username and password that you use to log in to your blog. If you’re not sure how to fill out the URL section, see Microsoft’s help with blogging in Word.
  • Select Picture Options to decide how images are uploaded to your blog through Word: use your blog provider’s image hosting service, pick your own, or choose not to upload images through Word.
  • When you’re ready for Word to attempt an initial sign-on to your account, select OK.
  • If registration is unsuccessful, you may need to repeat the steps. Or you may need to associate Word with your blog account from your blog account’s settings. This option is typically found in the Admin or Dashboard area of the blog settings. It might be labeled Remote Publishing or something similar.

How to Write, Publish, Draft, or Edit Blog Posts

Once you linked Word to your blogging platform, draft your blog post. To do so, write your text within the Blog post template.

With Word open, select File > New > Blog post. If required, select Create.

If you don’t see the Blog post template, perform a search using the search bar at the top of the screen.

In the Register a Blog Account dialog box, select Register Now. The information you provide in the following steps is needed so that Word can post to your blog.

If you don’t see this dialog box after opening a new blog post template, go to the Blog Post tab and, in the Blog group, select Manage Accounts > New.

In the New Blog Account dialog box, select the Blog drop-down arrow, choose your platform, then select Next.

In the New Account dialog box, enter the information requested, including the blog URL, your username, and your password. Use the same username and password that you use to log in to your blog. If you’re not sure how to fill out the URL section, see Microsoft’s help with blogging in Word.

Select Picture Options to decide how images are uploaded to your blog through Word: use your blog provider’s image hosting service, pick your own, or choose not to upload images through Word.

When you’re ready for Word to attempt an initial sign-on to your account, select OK.

If registration is unsuccessful, you may need to repeat the steps. Or you may need to associate Word with your blog account from your blog account’s settings. This option is typically found in the Admin or Dashboard area of the blog settings. It might be labeled Remote Publishing or something similar.

  • To post to your blog, select either Publish or Blog Post > Publish, depending on the version of Word.
  • To save the post as a draft, select the Publish drop-down arrow, then select Publish as Draft. In older versions of Word, select Blog Post > Publish as Draft.
  • To edit a blog post in Word, select File > Open, then choose an existing post. For some versions of Word, choose Blog Post > Open Existing, then select the blog post.

Writing in Word’s blog mode is streamlined and has fewer tools. However, the Word blog mode may have more features than your blog’s editor and are in a familiar Word format.

To post to your blog, select either Publish or Blog Post > Publish, depending on the version of Word. 

To save the post as a draft, select the Publish drop-down arrow, then select Publish as Draft. In older versions of Word, select Blog Post > Publish as Draft.

To edit a blog post in Word, select File > Open, then choose an existing post. For some versions of Word, choose Blog Post > Open Existing, then select the blog post.

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