Keyframe Selection
Keyframe selections will help you to record only specific object properties while autorecording. You can select the properties you would like to record by Left Click and modify/extend it by using the Shift and Ctrl keys as qualifiers . If you want to record single values of a vector you have to deactivate "Link Vector Subchannels" in the Animation menu. Now you can activate Auto Keyframing and only the properties that are included in the Keyframe selection will be recorded.
Keying in the Attribute Manager
Since R9 you can easily create keys by using Ctrl+Click on the grey or red circle in front of a property. If a key already exists (shown by the full red dot) it will be removed (toggle). Shift+Ctrl+Click will remove the key as well as the track.