With some of the initial hype over the iPhone over, some of the big names in blogging systems have announced applications for the new 2.0 application platform, which allow you to blog from nearly anywhere with a wireless connection.

More productivity applications will likely be launched as blog system developers (remember there are more than 30 I listed in an earlier post) realize the need for mobile communication in the form of blogging.

While there aren’t “proprietary” applications available for Blogger and the smaller systems, the Blog It app. appears to be compatible with many services, so it may be the best choice, besides going with your blog’s application (whether it is WordPress or Typepad).  

Check out a few of the features of each mobile client after the jump.

Note: This post contains a large number of images (mostly thumbnails), allowing you to compare each service directly from this page.

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When it comes to upgrading or trying new blog services, whether your weblog software - WordPress, Blogger (beta), new social networking tools, and so on - do you perform the upgrade the same day it is released or are you more reluctant in upgrading and wait until a patch/security release has been released or you read feedback from others?

The decision to upgrade or try new things is a popular dilemma that people in the online/blogging community face on an everyday basis.  Some look at upgrading as a good thing - being able to try new features before they are released to the “general” public, while others feel that they should be avoided, as they may risk security, traditional methods for completing daily occurrences, or potentially “break” your blog, or whatever it may be.

Upgrading your blog or trying new features has never been easier, as more people are willing to try them, but hundreds of hours of dedication may mysteriously disappear if you do some small task wrong.

Should I Upgrade?

A few tips to keep in mind when deciding whether it is time to upgrade from an older version of a piece of software to a new version.

1. If you don’t like the particular features that something has, check out a preview of the new features and changes that are coming in the next version, or a version that has just been released.
2. Secondly, if you don’t like the version of the tool or service you are using, search for alternatives.  Just because everyone else is using it doesn’t mean it’ll be the right choice for you.
3. If you encounter bugs or problems in the version that you are currently using, make sure that you have upgraded to the most recent version.
4. Never versions do not always mean that it will work better or be more optimized.  In addition, there hasn’t been as much testing on the code of recently released versions of software (in comparison to older versions).
5. Finally, if you’ve simply grown tired of using a particular version, or it has become outdated with other services, trends, or plugins you need to use for it to work properly. 

Main Advantages and Disadvantages of Upgrading vs. Not Upgrading

• Upgrading, theoretically keeps you more secure than versions that have security vulnerabilities
• Speed improvements and a streamlined experience may come with an updated version
• Bug fixes and general fixes come with new versions, whereas not upgrading can leave you out of these enhancements and fixes
• Data may be lost with either option, although more people are hesitant when upgrading, as overwriting key files can lead to data loss/corruption
• The experience/interface that people are used to may be changed with upgrade versions, sometimes for the better/worse

Why You Shouldn’t Upgrade

After asking others about their experience using the newest version, and you receive a mixed reactions - both negative and positive, you must think about whether there are any true benefits of upgrading.  Whether it may be security, new features, a better experience, or fixes for bugs that you previously needed a work-around to use the program, often you find yourself not upgrading until you really feel the need to do so.

In addition to a few of the points mentioned in the above topic, upgrading can wreak havoc for both yourself, clients, and visitors, who may be depending on the tools, services, and uptime that should be available to them at least 99.9% of the time.  When it causes problems with others, it means that you’ve likely lost money in the downtime.

For example, relating this back to blogging, we all depend on an internet browser (or possibly an offline blog client), and when upgrading, should something go wrong, you must step away from your comfort zone and blog/write from a new “perspective”, which may ultimately affect your performance/creativeness.

Many software developers, including the Automattic (WordPress) team suggest that you upgrade with each new version, although there are still a number, although not a huge percentage, using WordPress 2.3, down to 2.0, for frequently updated blogs.  Open source software is *more* likely to be plagued by viruses, yet these select people have chosen not to upgrade, despite the warnings.  Do they feel there are no benefits to upgrading, or is it such a cumbersome process that it is just easier putting all your work at risk and keeping an outdated version?

Conclusion

No matter what type of business you run, you likely depend on a core set of products, possibly from a certain vendor, unless you produce the software/products yourself.  Although a lot of testing is put into each release, everyone knows the detrimental effects that can cause a standstill in your business life.

The main point to remember is, that while software, whether blog clients, web browsers, etc., isn’t fail-proof, you should try to stay as up-to-date as possible, so that you are aware of the new features, streamlining your time spent working on something that can be cut down in half the time with a different version.  Finally, keep backups of all your important information, so you don’t even have to hesitate when an update fails, as you will always have a recent update on hand.

What other benefits or disadvantages can you name for upgrading software (blogging systems and writing tools)?

It becomes a somewhat customary tradition by many bloggers after several months to a year or two to take an in-depth look at their stats, see which posts performed better than others, receiving a higher comment to traffic ratio.  However, it takes time to effectively determine which posts readers found more useful, especially if your blog is new.

One of the big factors to keep in mind is your mindset about stats - do you aim high and won’t stop until you reach those limits, or do you generally aim low and hope for the best?  In this respect, it is important to re-establish your goals.  Did you want to make your blog a small community site or a large, mainly new visitor-driven site?

Once you have set your goals, you need to apply them to your traffic stats (a follow-up post will feature several popular online analytics tools).  In regards to this, are you focusing on getting subscribers - creating a few high quality posts each week, or traffic - producing quite a few posts each day?

Main Areas to Look At

Posts/Content: Within Google Analytics or a similar program, search or order the “Content” to find which posts received the most traffic.

Subscribers: FeedBurner has a charts tool, found on each individual feed page, which you can correlate with the post date to see whether it brought in new subscribers.  Alternately, “Popular Feed Items” provides a brief look at the posts that received the highest click through or read rate.

Social Bookmarking/Sharing Sites: Again, from within your preferred analytics site/software, see what site brought you the most traffic.

Other Stats: You can also take a look at bounce rate, time spent on each site, and traffic source (visitor’s origin) or search engine/keywords to access your content.

Simplified, the posts with a combination of: highest time spent on page, most visitors, a significant increase in subscribers, and a low bounce rate indicate that the post was effectively received by your target audience and visitors enjoyed it.

It is worth noting that social networking sites may create a false sense of accomplishment, as these visitors usually spend less time on your site and do not subscribe, unless there is a true benefit from vsiiting your site everyday.