Free Blogging Tools for Windows

[vangogh]

Ok, I'm not on Windows anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't point you to some nice Windows tools to help your blogging.

Actually I'm going to point you to a post at ProBlogger, Seven essential applications for bloggers using Windows (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/04/22/seven-essential-applications-for-bloggers-using-windows/).

The tools:

1. Windows Live Writer
2. Evernote
3. FeedDemon RSS Reader
4. Q10
5. FileZilla
6. FastStone Capture
7. TweetDeck

I never used a blog editor when I was on Windows, but I've heard really good things about LIve Writer, and I recently started using an editor (MarsEdit (http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/)) on the Mac side and finding it to help a lot. Ecto (http://illuminex.com/ecto/) is another good blog editor for the Mac.

Evernot, Filezilla, and TweetDeck are all programs I have used and would recommend.

Are there any tools you find indespensible for blogging?

[orion_joel]

I have used Windows live writer a little. For what it is yes it is a good program, the extensive ability to connect to many different blog platforms, and also the ease of use that comes with many Microsoft Products.

The biggest problem i found is that in some cases the formatting was a bit over the top.

[vangogh]

Interesting. I've never used it, but I've seen a lot of people say it's the best blog editor for Windows. There's another popular one, but the name is escaping me.

I used to use the Scribefire plugin for Firefox, but after awhile it wasn't working for me as well as I would have liked. A month ago I decided to look for an editor and on Macs the two apps that come up all the time are MarsEdit and Ecto. I download trials of both and have used each for different posts over the last month.

MarsEdit was a little easier for me to use right away so that's the one I eventually purchased, but both were good programs and I don't think I would have gone wrong with either.

What I'm liking about having the editor is it's an easy way to store draft posts and ideas. The methods I've tried have never worked for me. I like being able to have everything in one place. I haven't set it up yet, but I should be able to build a template withing MarsEdit to get a better preview of how the post will look on my blog.

Filiezilla is my favorite open source and free FTP program. Very easy to use. I've been using TweetDeck for Twitter for a few months and it's great. Evernote I haven't gotten into, but it's easy to see why it would be a useful program/service. The other apps on the list were new to me.

[elsoft]

Hmm...I have a blog with blogger dot com.Of course I use a Windows OS.Can I use the tools mentioned above to work on my blog from my computer?

[vangogh]

Most of the tools on the list aren't specific to sending posts so you could use them anywhere, not just for blogging. For example Evernote is a program to help you collect notes, which you could then use in writing blog posts. It won't matter what platform you use for blogging.

Live Writer is probably the main one on the list that would need to work with Blogger since it's the program that would be publishing the posts to Blogger. I'm not sure if it works with Blogger, but Live Writer is free I believe so it's easy enough to find out.

I guess Filezilla wouldn't work with Blogger either since it's an FTP program to upload files to a server and Blogger doesn't give you access to the server.

[elsoft]

Thanks Vangogh.

[vangogh]

Glad to point you to the tools. Hopefully you'll find a few useful.