Okay, so … most of those who read this blog know by now that I’m a software slut. I respond to new (and FREE) software like other guys respond to p0rn. Don’t believe me? Ask my beloved one; she’ll tell you. I can’t get enough. Never have, never will.
And so it is with blogging clients. Windows Live Writer is the best one out there, bar none. Period. End. Zip it. Discussion closed. But, a lot of people to whom I’ve recommended it don’t like it for some reason. Sometimes, I think, it’s cumbersome. It is bloated with features. But it does so much for a blogger — in fact, it can do almost anything except write the dang post for you.
Still, some don’t seem to get it. So, when I did my ScribeFire review, a couple of folks expressed real interest. Even LOML tried it. It didn’t work out for her — the image-handling capabilities are too weak for her to be as loose and free with pics as she likes — but it wasn’t a bad second choice.
Then yesterday, quite by accident, I happened along WordPress’s page recommending various blogging clients. That was really nice — it was a complete compilation of blogging clients that are known to work with WordPress.
While I generally try to find clients that work with a lot of blog services, I’ve had mixed success. And to be honest, since I’m down to just one blog now, I really haven’t checked to see how well these work with services like Blogger, LiveJournal, and the one that only Windows Live Writer could handle: Windows Live Spaces. (No other blogging client I tried worked with that service, period.) So, based on that, with my blogging client reviews, caveat emptor: Your Mileage May Vary.
Okay, so I’m writing this from a blog client taken from WordPress’s list. It’s called Zoundry Raven. And it has a lot of nice features that might make it a little less intimidating than Windows Live Writer (WLW).
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March 9, 2008 at 9:30 am
Sherri Cornelius
I don’t know why, but my last two comments didn’t show up! Darn you, WP!!!
I’m still liking the Scribe Fire, but it couldn’t hurt to give zoundry a shot.
March 9, 2008 at 12:34 pm
DarcKnyt
Sherri - ScribeFire’s really cool, but you really should give Zoundry a try. I know you were going to try WLW too, way back when, but if you didn’t, Zoundry’s a good alternative and maybe a little less intimidating/complicated. The best advantage Zoundry and WLW — or any desktop client for that matter — has over ScribeFire is that you don’t need to work online. I don’t know if SF will allow you to compose if you’re not online, but with Zoundry and WLW you can write your post and save it as a draft for posting later. You can also save more than one draft, so you can have a series of things in the draft status and post them all later.
One advantage I noticed in working with things like Zoundry and WLW is the image-handling capabilities are far superior to SF. You can place the image, size it easily, tell it whether you want the image on the left, right or centered, whether to wrap text around it or to have it be inline (no wrapping), etc. That may be more than you need or want, but for folks that do a lot of image inserting, it’s really important (and the coolness factor’s high too). Also, both Zoundry and WLW will automatically upload your images for you; there’s not a separate step for that like with SF.
But I’m glad you like SF, and it’s cross-platform capabilities make it a great tool. WLW has added an extension for on-the-fly blogging, so V has gotten away from SF altogether (she actually uninstalled it, and so did I). I think, ultimately, it’s what your all comfy and cozy with: if you like SF, use it. Whatever helps make you a more efficient and happier blogger is the best tool for you.
Thanks for coming by, sweetie. I really appreciate the comments, and hope you’re doing all right.
*hugs and love*
March 11, 2008 at 6:58 am
Sherri Cornelius
I don’t mind having to be online while composing, since I’m always connected, and usually have a browser open. I don’t really use SF for the entire post, more as a way to organize the links and ideas while I’m browsing. Then I upload the info as a draft to WP and if I need graphics, I add it into the WP editor since I already know how.
I did use WLW for a couple of posts, but since I’m always online it wasn’t worth the memory spent. I’d just find myself going through the WP editor.
You should email me or catch me online and tell me how Friday went! Hugs back
March 11, 2008 at 12:18 pm
DarcKnyt
Sherri — I’ll be looking for ya today, but have another thingy at 3:00 p.m. Keep your fingers crossed … and any other body parts that will without breaking.
Also, what you say about being online is all true, but … doesn’t doing it partially in one tool and finishing in WP’s editor sort of defeat the purpose, when you can just do it all in SF? It will upload for you, and I think WP tells you where it goes when it does, right? Maybe? I don’t know, I’ve never done it that way. I think I was using WLW before I joined WP, so I know more about Blogger’s editor than WP’s. It just seems like you’re making it harder on yourself that way when a single tool will do it for you.
Oh, and I lied about the image handling capabilities of Zoundry Raven. They’re almost as good as WLW’s, but not quite. I wasn’t able to save a screen shot from FireShot to the clipboard and paste it into ZR. I had to save it to a file and then go get it. Once it’s in, it’s just as easy to move around and stuff, but not as easy to get it in there, so sorry about that bit of misinformation. The rest of it’s true, though.
Anyway, whatever works best for you is perfect for you, hon. Since everyone loves your blog posts, I’d say — don’t worry about how they get there!
Love ya.
April 6, 2008 at 12:26 am
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[...] it’s a very nifty, pretty full-featured desktop blogging client. I did a review of it here. I like it, but nothing is going to take the place of my beloved Windows Live Writer unless I [...]
April 28, 2008 at 12:15 pm
ncaditya
Other notable blogging clients include blogdesk and blogjet (not free
)
However, other than WLW and Raven, no other client can edit wordpress pages. This is a real limitation when you use wordpress as a CMS.