A brief break from politics to highlight a couple of blogging tools that I’ve discovered that will make it infinitely easier and infinitely nicer for people to blog with.
The first is Windows Live Writer. Yes, it is a Microsoft product, and while I’m not exactly the biggest MS fan, I have to give credit where it’s due. Don’t let its creator prejudice you against this software, which shows that when Microsoft feels like it, it can do it right. Better yet, its free. It integrates with and is compatible with many blogging software - Wordpress and Blogger included - and allows you to do the usual stuff you’re used to doing, like embedding videos and pictures, but also other neat stuff, like embedding aerial maps and/or roadmaps.
Highly recommended, particularly if you’re a remote user. It works as a plugin with IE, or you can use it as a stand-alone program (UPDATE: and also with Firefox if you get the plugin for it from the Live Writer menu - H/t Jay in comments).
The other tool that is similar to this is called Scribefire, which is a Firefox extension for a user’s blogging needs. Here’s a screenshot:
It doesn’t have quite all the bells and whistles that LiveWire has, but it’s still pretty good. It posts the way you want. with it’s WYSIWYG editor, with not a lot of fuss.
SO there you go - two blogging tools that will make blogging a lot easier and nicer.
(H/T Birth Pangs, who was talking about theme changers on their WP blog to make me decide to post this)
UPDATE: This is a neat likttle article titled “Top 10 ways to get blogging done” that also will help.
Thanks for the info Scott!