Corvillus

Google’s blogging platform, Blogger, has just unveiled a new beta version with several new features, including:

• Easier template customization without the need for HTML knowledge (pretty AJAX drag and drop interface).
• Blog permissions
• New templates
• Advanced feed options
• New Blogger Dashboard
• Instant publishing, no more republishing the entire blog
• Categories/tagging

These new features are good, and might even make it a good competitor to WordPress.com’s hosted solution for beginning to intermediate users. However, I don’t think it will compare to a self hosted CMS for the advanced and expert users. I know it’s definitely not enough to make me switch from my WordPress install, that’s for sure. All in all though, it’s a good improvement, especially considering how Blogger has been trailing behind the competition recently.

Read more: Blogger Buzz: Blogger in beta [via TechCrunch]