We just released the newest BlogBridge Weekly release, where you will find a few little new features and one major one: our support for tags! There’s a lot to say on this topic, so it will probably require several posts to paint the full picture.

Let me start with the wimpy admonition that this is a weekly release, and by definition has some rough edges. It is totally usable and quite stable though, so I don’t want to scare you off. If you have an interest in tags, then you definitely should check this out.

High level: We have added a new command “Tags…” which will allow the user to easily add and change tags on the content that they are reading. This includes whole Feeds (blogs etc.) and individual Articles (posts, etc.)

The dialog displayed tells it all. This is an example of tagging an article from BoingBoing called “Mapping Hacks.” You can enter a description for and the set of tags that you want to associate with this particular Article. You can also see, at the bottom, the other tags that other’s have associated with this Article. (2blog, city, geeky, geo, maps, review)

Some details: 

• The example above is leveraging the del.icio.us service that we all know and love. To get it to work of course you had to provide BlogBridge with your del.icio.us user name and password in the BlogBridge Preferences… dialog box.
• Soon you will have an option to use a BlogBridge native tagging service if you prefer. We will not, repeat not, be competing with del.icio.us. The purpose will be simply to provide for users who don’t want to have to create an account on del.icio.us or are concerned about publishing their tags to the world at large.

Why this is IMHO a big deal

Among our users and among the world at large there are lots and lots of people who could benefit from what tagging brings, but have no clue about del.icio.us, or any of the other services. In this way, the connection is seamless.

Also for those of you who do a lot of tagging of content you find and read, BlogBridge becomes now the easiest and most efficient way to achieve this.

Finally, it’s cool because it illustrates in yet another way how a client application can transparently take advantage of services out on the internet.

Want to try it?

If you are using the weekly already, it will automatically be upgraded.

If you would like to jump into the weekly pool at the deep end, then I suggest you use the BlogBridge service to synchronize your subscriptions and then click here to get the weekly release. Please send us your comments and feedback!