Reduce Workloads! Use Easy Desktop Blog Editors

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There are only so many hours in a day and I’ve finally had enough of blog posting by site! So for the last week I have been trying out Blog Editors. When you have more than just a few blogs a quality blog editor is a useful tool, especially when you want to speed up your writing process and crank up your article output.

Prior to the last week, I worked in MS Word and then did a copy/paste and then tweaked the post in the WordPress editor so that it looked right. Now, using a desktop blog editor, I decide on a topic, load the editor, write, add pictures or videos, see a preview, and publish to the intended blog and move on to the next project. No more multiple programs, logging into the right blog, tweaking and fixing minor things, etcetera. Everything is handled from the convenience of my desktop.

What I was looking for in my assessment of blog editors was power, ease of use, and available plugins. Here’s a quick comparison list of the top blog editors:

BlogDesk

BlogDesk is a WYSIWYG editor and supports extensive image editing. One of its’ best features is ‘Frequently Used Phrases’ that allows rapid insertion of frequently used records, notes or acronyms. It also has a Technorati tags generator. It supports WordPress, Drupal, MovableType, and a few other platforms.

I could use BlogDesk and be happy especially with the Frequently Used Phrases tool. Its’ blog manager is not as intuitive as some of the others, but overall it seems to be a good product. I give it "4 stars".

BlogJet

BlogJet is a WYSIWYG editor and supports Flickr and YouTube, and other media players. It allows you to work offline and it has a nice feature, Group Posting, that allows you to post the same article to multiple blogs at the same time. It supports WordPress, TypePad, Movable Type, Blogger, MSN Live Spaces, Blogware, BlogHarbor, Squarespace, and Drupal.

In many ways, BlogJet reminded me of a trimmed-down version of LiveWriter. I would be happy with it, but since I can get the same or a better performing tool without paying for it, why bother? I give it "5 stars".

Ecto

Ecto is another WYSIWYG editor and supports Amazon, Flickr, and YouTube. It’s best feature is how it handles and displays both categories and tags.

It supports Blogger, Drupal, MovableType, TypePad, WordPress, and a a few other platforms.

Ecto falls into my "don’t like it" category, as I found it a bit sluggish and not as well designed as any of the others. It’s also not as user-friendly as any of the others. I give it "1 star".

MS LiveWriter

MS LiveWriter is similar to most other Microsoft products and is a WYSIWYG editor. It has table and advanced image support. The best feature of this blog editor is the many plugins available for it, like Amazon links, insert a Map, insert Adsense code, Templates, and many more. It supports Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, MovableType, LiveJournal, and several others.

MS LiveWriter is my blog editor of choice as I like its’ power, ease of use, and many of the plugins that were available to make blogging easier. I give it "5 stars".

Qumana

Qumana is a Canadian company with a strange name. The software has a nice design and very clean look with WYSIWYG and source view capabilities. One of its’ few features is DropPad, which allows you to collect & drop images, links, and text into it as you browse the web without having to cut & paste continually. It supports Blogger, Drupal, MovableType, MSN Spaces, TypePad, WordPress, Tripod, and a few others.

Qumana is a simple blog editor with one nice feature. If you want an easy tool to use without all the add-ons, this is probably the one for you. I give it "3 stars".

ScribeFire

ScribeFire is another blog editor worth mentioning especially if you want to work in your browser. It is a FireFox add-on (formerly: Performancing for FireFox), WYSIWYG editor that is easy to use with a nice interface, but lacks some of the features that others have.

ScribeFire is a well-designed editor and recommended if you want simplicity. I give it "4 stars".

W.Bloggar

W.Bloggar is a capable WYSIWYG editor with most of the features that a blogger would need including posting to multiple blogs at once. It supports all of the previously mentioned platforms and a whole bunch more. If you are using one of the less popular blogging platforms and want to use a desktop blog editor then look at this one.

W.Bloggar is an good editor and will certainly get the job done. I would use it if there wasn’t anything better. I give it "4 stars".

Looking back at how many times I logged into one of my blogs to write and post an article I realize how beneficial a desktop blog editor would have been. Oh well, lesson learned … now there will be more time for windsurfing.