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If you are blogger and since now it’s like trend – everybody is blogging, you should know, writing through WordPress Rich Text Editor isn’t that fastest and easiest way. Most importantly you must think about ways how to automate and fasten your work process. Choosing desktop blogging client is one of the most important aspects in my opinion – forget about standard WordPress editor and start using something a lot more faster and handier.
This article is created to explain everything about desktop blogging editors, main features, why and how you should use one. I will also share my own experiences, I’ve been blogging daily and I’ve tested a lot of tools, automating programs and blogging clients and I think I can objectively evaluate features.
I’ve been blogging for 1.5 years now and when I switched to desktop blogging editor, I never went back. There are several great, free editors, Firefox plugins allowing you to write articles more easier. When I started I used WordPress admin panel, I wrote everything in plain code writing all tags and urls myself – it wasn’t fast so I needed to figure something out.
Then I found Windows Live Writer and it seemed to be solution, but I got upload problems. There was several times when I uploaded images through Live Writer, but in the middle (let’s say 54/100 images) something went wrong with image, I needed to fix error, upload images from beginning and my server from those requests several times crashed. Also back then I didn’t know how to set different settings, so images wouldn’t have that drop shadow, resize image settings (it created one unnecessary thumb image for me). If you haven’t got huge posts with a lot of images Windows Live Writer is perfect solution, but I needed something different.
I figured out I need to upload images to server manually to reduce it’s overload. I used find/replace features to change image local address to direct online link. If you want to know how I do that, this blog post could help you – The Best And Fastest Way To Create Blog Post. I wrote there my experiences and my approach to write and manually create article. In that way I get very clean code using Blogdesk.
With Windows XP Blogdesk was perfect solution, but somehow with Windows Vista and Windows 7 it doesn’t work very good. I got mystic saving problems myself and I don’t really know what to suggest for my new guest authors. And yes,main reason I decided to write this article doing serious research in available desktop blogging editors is because I wanted to find new editor which could suit for me as well!
Let’s give it a try – shall we?
As I mentioned above, when I started to blog I wrote my posts in WordPress Rich Text Editor, where you can get code/design view, upload images – at first it seems like a good way to go, but image uploading you need to do manually one by one and it takes a lot of time. And what you will do if you internet browser crashes in the middle of article and you forgot to save it? How you will write your post if you have no Internet connection?
Okay, then you could write your posts in word processors like Microsoft Word, Textpad and then just paste finished text into WordPress post section. But again we have problems with formatting and image uploading. However this simple approach will work just fine for short textual posts with few images and almost no formatting, but I am talking more about serious blogging and approach.
Desktop blogging tools and editors are independent texting WYSIWYG software you can connect with you blog and essentially it is very simple text/code editor created specifically for easier and automated blogging. Now you can format, write text, add images, effects in design view and if you need to edit some code manually or check how it looks – just switch to code view! And the best thing is, you don’t need Internet connection to write your posts, only when you want to publish it. Your posts are always in safety in blogging editor, accessable in any time!
Everybody loves lists, so I created one with main benefits why you should use desktop blogging editor:
From free desktop blogging editors I would recommend Windows Live writer, Blogdesk or w.bloggar. Every client offers different features, you should check out them all and then pick your favorite one, which suits you the best.
Writer makes it easy to share your photos and videos on almost any blog service—Windows Live, WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, and many more.
It has many features, I will mention most important ones:
Check out Windows Live Writer Tweaks, Tips and Updates article from Lifehacker for deeper research.
Blogging should be simple, but it gets complicated and time-consuming if you are serious about it. BlogDesk makes it easy to write, speeds up lavish processes and assists the author with smart features.
Feature list:
Post2Blog 3 is a FREEWARE handy blog editor with live spell-checking support for pro-bloggers.
Feature list:
Thingamablog is a cross-platform, standalone blogging application that makes authoring and publishing your weblogs almost effortless. Unlike most blogging solutions, Thingamablog does NOT require a third-party blogging host, a cgi/php enabled web host, or a MySQL database. In fact, all you need to setup, and manage, a blog with Thingamablog is FTP, SFTP, or network access to a web server.
Feature list:
The w.bloggar is an application that acts as an interface between the user and one or more blog(s); in other words, it is a Post and Template editor, with several features and resources that the browser based blog editors do not offer.
Feature list:
The Zoundry Blog Writer™ is a rich WYSIWYG blogging editor that’s as easy to use as a word processor. With just a few clicks of a mouse instead of complex HTML coding, you can do things like drag and drop images, create block quotes, and format links to open in a new window.
Feature list:
Read more about Zoundry features here.
You don’t need to know a thing about HTML code to make perfect posts. Write your posts at your own pace without having to be online.
Qumana is an easy-to-use desktop blog editor, enabling you to write, edit and post to one or more blogs. You can use Qumana even when you are offline. Save your blog posts to your hard drive and upload whenever you like. Great for bloggers on the move.
Qumana features:
(Top 1 Commercial Pick)
A popular Windows blog client for your WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, Drupal, etc. blogs. Get convenience and speed of a native application, and the ability to write posts offline. BlogJet comes with English (US) and English (UK) dictionaries.
If you cannot decide, check out their huge feature list and video demo here. All recommendations and demos made this blogging client my top 1 choice. It’s not free, but at least I get many features, good support and regular updates. Such blog client is one of the most important tools in article creation, so I think 39.95$ is very good investment at least for me.
Several features:
Price: $39.95
RocketPost is smart blog software for power bloggers. It’s the only one with WYSIWYG editing, full local editing and full blog import. And it works just like email, so you already know how to use it.
Speed up your blogging with one-click Technorati, Flickr and Del.icio.us tags, built-in photo editing, instant photo albums, automatic linking to related posts, quote tracking, quick linking, drop caps, pull quotes and a running word count.
Not free software, but filled with many features, you might use daily to automate your article writing process greatly. Certainly a good pick as well.
Several features (read more):
Price: 29$
ScribeFire is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog.
What’s your favorite desktop blogging client? And why?
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Dainis Graveris is 23 years old blogger and designer, founder of 1stWebDesigner, now more silently managing everything behind the scenes. He usually hangs out in Twitter tweeting design related links and chatting with people. If you have any questions or feedback that's the best place to start! Cheers!
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 21:07
Thanks for the reviews. I was happy with LiveWriter, mainly because of the plugins available.
But LiveWriter will only upload images (via FTP) from desktop stored images, and not url images unless you use some form of third party image storage.
Is there an editor that I can cut and paste images from the web or url, (copyright free) and upload them to WP upload file?
Sunday, November 13th, 2011 18:22
Great article! I prefer zoundry, but only one shortcoming is that it has no read more feature!
But works great!
Sunday, November 6th, 2011 20:19
Checking out LiveWriter right now…. I’m stuck using Windows for development for now, so I might as well as dance with the devil (MS)…
Thursday, September 1st, 2011 18:28
So far I’ve tried Zoundry Raven 1.0.375 (released in the middle of 2008), and it works rather good, except for some oddities with pictures, bookmarks, etc.
I’ve also taken a look at Chrysanth WebStory (though it is a commercial product, it may easily be ran in a free mode) – it is handy and nice, and it is still under development (as opposed to several clients mentioned in the article).
Monday, November 1st, 2010 04:25
i’ve been having problems with photos. It really takes up a lot of time uploading them manually then inserting them into my blog post. I’ve been using flock and scribe fire but the one slow down is always the photos. I’m dying to try on of your commercial pics and have my images uploaded automatically.
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 10:38
Great article
But i’m using Mars Edit 3 – as for me one of the best blog clients
for Mac OS X
All posts are done by Mars Editor:
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 17:13
Since I switched to Mac I am also being fan of MarsEdit :)
Monday, January 25th, 2010 11:41
very very useful!
I am a blogger beginner and this post is valuable to me.
Monday, January 18th, 2010 04:31
Problem with external editors is that they offer no functionality to interface with plugins or custom field values, both of wich I use pretty extensively.
Friday, January 15th, 2010 13:08
i used live writer but now have so many problem with wordpress. now i guess i’m enough with notepad.
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 14:29
Nice article. For my blog, I upload images through FTP and link them while writing post and I feel with desktop blogging tool, it would be much much easier. Have to switch to one of them. Let me know which one is the best to work with.
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 17:20
Do you know if any of them use PHP-GTK to interact with the desktop?
Monday, January 11th, 2010 12:24
i upload images not one by one..i use ”Faster Image Insert” and upload them all together at the same time.:)
Monday, January 11th, 2010 06:24
I’ve never had a single issue with LiveWriter. I’m surprised no one has written something better in this day and age, but the fact of the matter is there isn’t anything better on the market, free or not.
Monday, January 11th, 2010 05:42
I don’t get why anyone would pay for me a desktop blogging client. Windows Live Writer trumps all of these easily.
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Patrick
Monday, January 11th, 2010 05:42
I don’t get why anyone would pay for me a desktop blogging client. Windows Live Writer trumps all of these easily.
jeprie
Friday, January 15th, 2010 13:08
i used live writer but now have so many problem with wordpress. now i guess i’m enough with notepad.
N-Designs
Thursday, January 14th, 2010 18:56
I use Livewriter and its great.
Smashing Share
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 14:29
Nice article. For my blog, I upload images through FTP and link them while writing post and I feel with desktop blogging tool, it would be much much easier. Have to switch to one of them. Let me know which one is the best to work with.
WittySage
Monday, January 11th, 2010 06:24
I’ve never had a single issue with LiveWriter. I’m surprised no one has written something better in this day and age, but the fact of the matter is there isn’t anything better on the market, free or not.
Arshad
Monday, January 11th, 2010 12:24
i upload images not one by one..i use ”Faster Image Insert” and upload them all together at the same time.:)
Jordan Walker
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 17:20
Do you know if any of them use PHP-GTK to interact with the desktop?
Dane Morgan
Monday, January 18th, 2010 04:31
Problem with external editors is that they offer no functionality to interface with plugins or custom field values, both of wich I use pretty extensively.
rushui
Monday, January 25th, 2010 11:41
very very useful!
I am a blogger beginner and this post is valuable to me.
Han
Sunday, November 13th, 2011 18:22
Great article! I prefer zoundry, but only one shortcoming is that it has no read more feature!
But works great!
David Henderson
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 21:07
Thanks for the reviews. I was happy with LiveWriter, mainly because of the plugins available.
But LiveWriter will only upload images (via FTP) from desktop stored images, and not url images unless you use some form of third party image storage.
Is there an editor that I can cut and paste images from the web or url, (copyright free) and upload them to WP upload file?
Brad
Sunday, November 6th, 2011 20:19
Checking out LiveWriter right now…. I’m stuck using Windows for development for now, so I might as well as dance with the devil (MS)…
AntonK
Thursday, September 1st, 2011 18:28
So far I’ve tried Zoundry Raven 1.0.375 (released in the middle of 2008), and it works rather good, except for some oddities with pictures, bookmarks, etc.
I’ve also taken a look at Chrysanth WebStory (though it is a commercial product, it may easily be ran in a free mode) – it is handy and nice, and it is still under development (as opposed to several clients mentioned in the article).
Andrew
Sunday, August 29th, 2010 01:18
Thanks, I will try windows live writer
Heorhii Svyrydov
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 10:38
Great article
But i’m using Mars Edit 3 – as for me one of the best blog clients
for Mac OS X
All posts are done by Mars Editor:
Dainis Graveris
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 17:13
Since I switched to Mac I am also being fan of MarsEdit :)
Annie Makes
Monday, November 1st, 2010 04:25
i’ve been having problems with photos. It really takes up a lot of time uploading them manually then inserting them into my blog post. I’ve been using flock and scribe fire but the one slow down is always the photos. I’m dying to try on of your commercial pics and have my images uploaded automatically.