thanks for this. one barrier for me is that it is a requirement for the code snippets to render nicely in google reader, but this can probably be solved by using markdown instead of gists. another barrier is that i can't write special code, like a vanity url redirector, to keep my SEO juice when content moves, but maybe this is not so big an issue as i originally thought it was.
what is your draft management workflow like? this is important to me too, more important in fact than optimizing for people to actually read the blog, because if draft management sucks then i don't blog enough to get readers.
I've been writing on a github pages-based blog and I dump all draft blog posts into a _wip folder. They get version controlled like any other file and I can add the YAML and move them into the _posts folder when I'm ready to publish.
Edit: Since I've been posting on that blog, I've decided to move my personal one to GitHub pages too. When posting is as simple as pushing a file it becomes easier to focus on writing. The only reasons I haven't switched are (1) extracting content from my old provider and (2) theming and set up for the new one.
what tools do you use to edit? i loved using google wave to manage my drafts, and i haven't really recovered from that - i use google docs now but there's no great way to extract content from that in a way that will be fragile to changes in factors outside my control.
I just use plain text files and my current editor of choice is Sublime Text 2 (really like the full screen mode). I write in markdown and if I really want to 'preview' it I open a copy of the file in Coda, where Ive installed a plugin for this purpose. That's pretty much all I need.
The remaining barriers to writing are non-technical (e.g. time, will, etc)
Hey, would you put your email address into your profile's "about" section (or alternatively, would you email me)? I have a quick question I'd like to ask you.
what is your draft management workflow like? this is important to me too, more important in fact than optimizing for people to actually read the blog, because if draft management sucks then i don't blog enough to get readers.