Cloud Hosting Blog

With more than 60% of the bloggers not using a blog editor (according to Problogger), and almost 100% of the ones I know not even contemplating the idea, you are probably curious why such an entry was necessary. To be honest I was inspired by Mike, who wrote an ample FAQ entry the other day. Apparently our customers ask about blog editors – and if they ask, they want to know. If they want to know I give them answers.

I have a special affection for the number 10 but I couldn’t find 10 offline blog editors worthy of extensive (or any kind) of analysis. Plus, that one of the more popular ones – Post2Blog – is no longer supported. So today’s list will compile information about the top seven blog editors. But first, what in the name of Rudolf is a blog editor anyway?

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find a compelling definition. So I see myself forced to resort to my humble knowledge about blogs and blogging and to come up with a definition that hopefully will satisfy your need of information.

A blog editor is:

• A person who edits blog entries correcting spelling, grammar, structure and the like to add editorial value to the article;
• “A blog editor is a writing and managing tool, that will let you write in an application while offline, and then upload it to your blog.” – according to Jens Poder. It’s software and as all software it can be free or based on financial contribution.

There are a few reasons to use blog editors, but note that not all blog platforms support them. It is up to you to review the blog editors and choose what better fits your needs.

My main recommendation for freelance writers who have gigs on various blogs is to use blog editors to manage their entries more easily. A blog editor can manage multiple blogs and you will not have to log into the dashboard of each of them to edit your entries, regardless of the blogging platform managing the content online. This method saves time and it gives a better overview of your work.

With some blogging platforms image management is a pain, especially if you have little to no HTML knowledge. With a blog editor managing images becomes a child’s game. You can drag and drop, resize, create thumbnails and much more, as easily as you do in word.

It is always important to backup your work, and blog editors make this possible. Remember that most of them are desktop tools, so that means that your content is saved on your computer. In an unfortunate situation when your hosting server crushes and you lose all your online data, you have your back covered.

What tools would I recommend? First things first (and fair is fair) I only use Microsoft word. Then I go to my Wordpress dashboard in “code mode” and I edit my entries paying close attention to some SEO points (adding proper alt and title attributes to the images, adding title attributes to my links, structuring headers, correcting YouTube embeds and so on). I save my entries as *.doc files on my PC and that settles the backup problem. I have different folders for all blogs I manage too. But sometimes I wish I had used a blog editor to have everything in one place. I cannot recommend a particular tool for you, but I can just show you ten of the most popular, list their main features and let you choose.

Qumana – seems to be the most popular free blog editor. It is so advanced that it even has an ad tool that will allow you put a Q-ad on your blog and generate revenue for your site from Qumana. Naturally you can use the software even when you are offline – ideal for bloggers on the move. You’ll probably love the Technorati tagging feature if you don’t have a plugin that already does that.

Windows Live Writer – is the proof that you can actually get something of good quality for free from Windows. It is not very different from Qumana in terms of features, but its users say that it is the best. Still in beta, but fully functional. Might have some bugs so handle with care.

AIRPress is ready to take your blogging at the next level. It is truly a content rich editor enabling you to upload text, images, video and mp3 without the need of other software. This is a startup too but feel free to try it. The site looks professional and the creator motivated to improve his work.

w.bloggar is multi-language and feature rich. The main advantage is its portability (a recently added feature). If you are a Mac or Linux user w.bloggar is not for you.

Bleezer on the other hand has everything you need and it is compatible with every system you might use. It even works with Blogger and it has a good WYSIWYG editor, but take care how you use that if you care for W3C compliance.

BlogMate is still in beta, so backup your database before you try. It is not very different from all of the above, but it works quite handy with Twitter and Jaiku.

Zoundry Blog Writer is a beta application too. This one allows you to earn cash rewards too. I have no idea how they can afford to give away free software and even pay you for using it, but if you are ready to “buy” into that, feel free to try it. Vista users, I am afraid Zoundry remained faithful to good old XP.

So, there you have one method and some tools for beginning or continuing a hobby or career I b logging. I am sure there are many other good strategies and perhaps a tool or two I have failed to mention, but beyond variations on this method in the end it is still you, the blog owner who must find the best system for starting and maintaining your web presence. Good luck and check back for more tools and tips.