PureBlogging

I never thought that anything could replace my favourite offline blog editor, Scribefire, once known as Performancing for Firefox. It was easy to use and it worked. I’ve tried others, such as Qumana, but I never really fell in love with that. Now I’ve found a blog editor that I really like - Windows Live Writer.

One of the reasons I like it is that the compose window is like writing in MS Word, which makes it easy to use. If you prefer to write in raw HTML, you can do that too. It’s also got a couple of other modes, which allow you to see exactly how a post will look on your blog. I tend to stick to the normal mode, which makes it easy for me to apply heading code and add links.

Adding my blog was simple and works better than in any other blog editor I’ve tried. You just select the type of blog, input your blog’s address, and your username and password and it’s added. Couldn’t be simpler. Then you start writing.

Once you’ve written a post, you can add images, tables, tags, videos and maps through a handy menu on the right. It’s laid out like a Windows folder, so the interface feels familiar. So far, I’ve only used tags, and it allows me to add Technorati tags easily. I haven’t figured out how to distinguish between the Technorati tags and those that lead to content on my own blog, though.

Publishing works like a dream. You can select categories (which are imported from your blog) and choose a publishing date. You can even publish the post as a draft for later editing. I tend to save my drafts locally, which means they remain available for me to see on the right hand menu. You can also open previous posts on your blog for editing.

This blog editor seems to have everything I need. I can quote, put numbered or bulleted lists and insert media from three different places (an icon menu, a drop down menu and a sidebar menu). I can spell check and I can have both live and in-program previews.

One thing I’d like to see with this program is a way to back up all my previous posts, which Qumana offers. However, at least I can access the posts I edit with Live Writer, as well as the previous posts on my blog. This is an early review, as I’ve only used the program for a week or so. I plan to add logins for the other places where I post and do a more thorough trial. Verdict to date: so far, so good. What’s your experience been with this editor?