Tech Blog

Finally having used Wordpress for more than 2 years I am on the search for a desktop client for Wordpress, I want to manage the blogs using a user friendly interface.
Ok just now I think it’s extremely important to have access to your wordpress blog using a desktop client, why ? I upgraded my wordpress to the latest on this blog and there was a problem with the google analytics plugin I had running, this prevented me from logging in to the admin panel ! if anyone comes across this problem here is what to do /fatal-error-call-to-undefined-function-is_site_admin-in-sem-google-analytics-admin-php-on-line-20/

So far I have tried 3 on the Mac

1. Blogo, I quite like the bunny icon, but functionality is rather buggy, it leaves a great big space before the first sentence, and this has been a well known problem for years !. Another problem is that this costs $$ !

so moving on to

2. MarsEdit, I am writing this post using MarsEdit, however one of my major problems with this is that when I copy and paste from MS word or Google docs, the markups like bolding etc are not retained. SO this is not a WYSIWYG editor !. Disappointed, that I have to do bolding etc manually. On the positive side this is great if you want to review and modify your existing blogs. Cost $$$
More problems with MarsEdit, when inserting images !, really wish this was WYSIWYG !. Now I am using Windows Live Writer !

3. Macjournal, again another disappointment, i this is not a WYSIWYG editor !. The interface looks better that the other 2 but again the same problems.

I might look for more clients and even might try the windows based ones, especially the free one from Microsoft. Will keep you updated might be useful for someone who is looking to make wordpress maintenance easier.

This might be a good problem to solve, because there is a requirement or a gap in the market for a wordpress desktop client with the following list of requirements

1. WYSIWYG editor
2. Free or cheap
3. Drag and drop for images, videos etc
4. Ability to manipulate and edit comments
5. Ability to manipulate input for various popular plugins as All in One SEO
6. Accurate preview view for drafts and published posts
7. Preview with Theme (like in WLW)

Development will need a good knowledge of XML RPC know how etc. The XML RPC is a well documented protocol !

Until I find a wordpress client of my dreams, I will continue to use MarsEdit Windows Live Writer on my Mac Windows Laptop  
 

OK, now I read another article which said that Windows Live Writer (WLW) is the best. So I am on my Windows laptop writing this.

So testing Window Wordpress clients as well

1. Windows Live Writer 2009, WLW looks very impressive so far. It’s free and offers a nice preview with your blog template !. That’s great ! .

What I like :

1. The preview facility with your WP theme
2. When it publishes the the post it will automatically open it in your selected web browser. I am impressed that it does not force you down the Internet Explorer router because I use Firefox
3. Smiley (:)) support

Problems with solutions:

• .png images –> WLW crashes when dragging and dropping or inserting .png images !, the current solution I found is to convert pngs to .jpg and drag and drop or insert. Works fine

 

• If you are using a very narrow column theme on your WP blog, then the edit area on WLW will be very small to match the size of the post on your front page ! so what you need to do to get this sorted is to

  Untick

  View –> Edit Using Theme

  CTRL + F11 will toggle between Edit using theme and Edit without

 

If you have any suggestions or would like to add to these experiences then please let me know by leaving a comment below.