Comments on: What’s Your Favorite Blog Client?

By: sam

sam — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:31:22 +0000

Came here looking for ideas for a new client. Bloggo actually looks really cool but after playing with it for a few minutes it leaves a bit to be desired.

I’ve used ecto for years and while it gets the job done (sometimes) I feel like it’s held together under the hood with duct tape. I bought version 2 after the developer promised that ecto 3 would be a free upgrade, then he went back on his word. That was like 100 years ago and he still hasn’t even released ecto 3. That combined with a complete lack of support (go to their forum and look at all my unanswered support requests full of obscure errors) has convinced me to go elsewhere. I love that you can drag and drop images, but the more images you have the less likely it is to work. I’m at the end of my rope with ecto.

There’s also Qumana which I haven’t seen anyone else mention. It’s pretty good. Not sure what I’ve settled on yet, though.

By: Matthias

Matthias — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 15:52:14 +0000

My favorite is MarsEdit. It is very simple and easy to use and it works great!

By: Jamess b

Jamess b — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 07:55:16 +0000

Had a look at Bleezer, looks good, but no uploading of images… yet
Some if it features:
“Blog from anywhere. Work on Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Work with any blogging service. As many as you want, even Blogger.
WYSIWYG editing. Edit your posts as they will actually appear.
Image upload. Images will automatically be uploaded to your server.
Category support. Support for multiple categories.
Add tags for any tag service. Technorati, del.icio.us, or anything else.
Create custom markup. Define your own key combinations for custom HTML markup.
Spell check. Ensure everything is speeled spelled ok.
Advertise. Ping Technorati, weblogs.com, ping-o-matic, Pingoat, or any other service.
Work online or offline. Compose posts offline and post them when you want to.”
And did i mention Bleezer is free?

By: Jamess b

Jamess b — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 07:49:46 +0000

Have a look at Bleezer, I’m about to, and its free…

By: denis titov

denis titov — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:20:19 +0000

Hi!

Take a look at my tool Built-in RSS Client.

Its MS Internet Explorer plug-in for handling with RSS feeds.

You can check it out here

http://www.dat-it.com/

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 00:27:41 +0000

RapidWeaver also uses .Mac

By: Jon Glass

Jon Glass — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 15:29:07 +0000

I’m kind of suprised nobody’s mentioned the new browser, Flock:
It incorporates blogging right into it, and it works with Wordpress, as well as Blogger and other major blogs, and Flickr, too. I haven’t run it through any paces yet, as I downloaded it more to try to convince my wife to upgrade to X, but it looks quite capable of doing everying all in one interface. Worth a try.

Mike- as has been mentioned, the only real way to blog in .Mac is with iBlog. It was given away for free for a while, but that time is long over. I use it, but don’t really “blog” with it, so much as uses it for easy web page creation on my own .Mac site. While iPhoto and other tools integrate well with homepage, I find the whole process rather cumbersome, so I use iBlog for creating my updates and such, and reserve the homepage tools for rather static stuff. iBlog does allow for commenting and trackbacks and all those other “buzzword-compliant” things, but it can take some effort to customize it for what you want.

-Jon

By: Oh my Word(Press)! » Blog Archive » Blogging with ecto: big on features

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 11:11:49 +0000

[...] n increasing range of blogging software, and here I take a quick look at ecto, a seemingly popular and well-regarded client. [Editor: This entry [...]

By: Rich Trouton

Rich Trouton — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:51:57 +0000

I have to agree with dean with using the web-based client for WordPress. For my own blog though, I’ve gotten to be a big fan of the RapidMetaBlog widget.

By: dean

dean — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 22:54:23 +0000

I’ve tried a bunch of these and my favorite is No Client. Just the built-in wordpress one. As soon as you customize your blog a bit (say to add a coppermine gallery integration thing.) Suddenly the web-based editor has that much more stuff it can do over a desktop app.

I like the idea of flock though. Keeping an eye on it.
-dean

By: Wysiwyg

Wysiwyg — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 21:40:05 +0000

I don’t get the Writely app. Instead of using the web-based editor in WordPress you use.. an web-base editor to post in a system that already have a web-based editor. Sounds a little useless…

By: Bill Schutt

Bill Schutt — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 19:45:31 +0000

Ecto with Wordpress is a great fit, highly recommend.

NetNewsWire is a great feed reader, combined with Bloglines perfect combo for on the go.

By: Nick Santilli

Nick Santilli — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 19:13:02 +0000

Hey Peter - I think you missed the idea I was going for. I’m Looking for a blog WRITING client.
But yes, Net News Wire (now Newsgator for mac) is up there with the best of the RSS readers.

By: Peter Payne

Peter Payne — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 17:01:56 +0000

Gawd, it has to be Newsgator. I have a great URL with all my feeds on it, I can check this from any Mac or PC, or from my phone.

By: Dan Hamilton

Dan Hamilton — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:34:43 +0000

For turning your .mac account into a blog (or a completely customized web site to your own liking for that matter) I recommend RapidWeaver.

By: Nick Santilli

Nick Santilli — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:28:09 +0000

Jack - thanks for a bit of clarification. Tinderbox sounds great - and like something that I’ll possibly get into (but wow - $165?) when I’ve got the time to pour into it (2 little boys, a boat load of work, and trying to post to The Apple Blog take up more time than I thought I had in a day)

I’m all for content management systems. I’ve worked on them professionally - at an enterprise level - for about 7 years. Trying to cobble together something distantly resembling a CMS using Spotlight, Tagging, Labels, smart folders, etc, isn’t the best system… But that’s a discussion for an upcoming post here on TAB. Look for it!

MIKE - I thought .Mac offered something like iBlog or something like that. I’m sure I’ve heard about some sort of blog software available for .Mac’ers in the past couple years, but not being a .Mac user, I really don’t recall. Anyone else got some dirt?

Thanks for the comments folks. I haven’t counted it up, but it’s looking like ecto is in the llead. I’ll give em both a run through and see how it goes I suppose. I was expecting a lot more one-sidedness.

By: Jack Tripper

Jack Tripper — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:03:02 +0000

Comments about Tinderbox being more than what this nice gent asked for are correct. You have to actually read the manual for it and do some hands on tinkering. Thanks for clarifying that. But for anyone looking for the application that can fit itself any which way to those of the Adult ADHD persuasion, Tinderbox is the gem. It’s a great way to look at and manage your thoughts, etc from multiple views. You can create relationships to track proceesses, manage blogs, info architecture, a stellar personal content management system, etc. But it is very true, this is for those that also enjoy the process of creating systems that work best for your own personal habits. It’s not fully plug-n-play, you have to tinker, read, mess with tutorials, etc. And sorry for forgetting to leave the link for anyone curious. http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/

Again, thanks to those of you who clarified Tinderbox after my post.

By: ayn

ayn — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:44:23 +0000

I use Ecto, it works fine. Tried Mars Edit before and didn’t like it, don’t remember why though, I will try it again one of these days…

By: Oren Sreebny

Oren Sreebny — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:23:39 +0000

I’ve been using ecto for a couple of years - haven’t had any problems with it, it’s updated regularly, takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

I tend to author in xhtml mode instead of rich text mode, as I like to see really what’s going on there.

By: R Bias

R Bias — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 22:34:47 +0000

Writely. http://www.writely.com.

By: andy diller

andy diller — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 20:17:59 +0000

MarsEdit - hands down. Go get the latest beta - there is active work on it again!
http://ranchero.com/marsedit/beta.php

Ecto- I used it for years and have a love/hate relationship. MarsEdit is certianly easier and more fun, better UI and gets things done.

Tinderbox- Are you joking? using this is like using Dave Winer’s OPML editor- self-flagellation is not something I get off on, however if it floats yer boat….

If you are looking to torture yourself with Tinderbox, go head:
http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
I warned you.

I would kill for MarsEdit on windows- I need something while I’m trapped on my XP computer! Ecto for windoze is piece of crap.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 17:30:26 +0000

What can be used to turn a .mac account into a blog?

By: Angel

Angel — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 11:41:43 +0000

I’m an Ecto girl…I’ve purchased it for my Mac and for the PC. I used to do the cutting and pasting thing, but it was too many extra steps especially since I tend to use a lot of pics.

By: Adriaan

Adriaan — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 08:57:44 +0000

I say ecto all the way

By: Binary Packrat

Binary Packrat — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 06:32:22 +0000

Yikes!!!!! Tenderbox, For what this person is asking for??? Trust me not to do what u want.

By: Nick Santilli

Nick Santilli — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 06:17:23 +0000

if you’re mentioning something else, like TINDERBOX for instance, don’t leave me hanging!!! how’s about a link?

I generally write little bits as I think about it - I don’t always want to get onto the wp-admin page to add those thoughts. And I want something simple - not something I’ve gotta setup on a server, maintain, etc.

so there you go, more insight into my simple brain…. and what it’s looking for. thanks!

By: Jack Tripper

Jack Tripper — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 05:38:01 +0000

Tinderbox all the way. It’s that “little app you’ve been looking for all of your life”, guaranteed.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 04:20:13 +0000

I really like using MarsEdit. like Diego said its really simple and as easy as email. my vote MarsEdit

By: Andy Smith

Andy Smith — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 04:19:04 +0000

Ecto’s nice, but I rarely use it - I find if I’m going to post something on my blog, I always go to the site anyway and read the latest comments - so it’s just more hassle to launch an extra app.
The only time I really use it is when I want to include some pictures from my HDD - it’s great to be able to just drag them in and let it automatically upload them, create thumnails and a popup.
Ecto also has fantastic support for Nucleus, my preferred blog software - which isn’t that common, since a lot of services relying on its XML-RPC features don’t seem that stable.
I haven’t used MarsEdit though, so I can’t comment on it in this respect.

By: Binary Packrat

Binary Packrat — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 04:15:16 +0000

Mars Edit And Net News Wire. Tried them All. Hands down the best so far.

By: Diego Barros

Diego Barros — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 03:41:00 +0000

My vote is for MarsEdit. It’s just like using a mail client.

By: Dan Lurie

Dan Lurie — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 02:42:21 +0000

I love ecto. It helps that I know the developer and can bug him about any problems, but I would use it either way. I figure if its good enough for BoingBoing, it must be good enough for me.

By: Al Pritchard

Al Pritchard — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 02:00:42 +0000

Ill have to put my vote in for Tinderbox. May not fit the way you currently manage, and update your blob. But its a very strong tool, and can be extended to do research legwork for you. Any you cant beet that..

By: BlogCrafter

BlogCrafter — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 01:59:59 +0000

You should try out the new Performancing extension for Firefox. http://www.performancing.com

I was about to go out and buy Ecto and decided to try this free app. It rocks!

By: Banagor

Banagor — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 01:36:18 +0000

Well, I’ve tried both MarsEdit and Ecto, and I went ahead and bought Ecto.

Marsedit actually has a nicer icon going for it (ecto’s isn’t bad though). But Ecto has the best features. Hands down, just the best. It has more options than you can shake a stick at, but most of them are placed very elegantly in non-obtrusive corners and they don’t get in your way. There isn’t anything that MarsEdit can do that ecto cannot do.

I used to write HTML by hand, back when “the internet” was a word which absolutely nobody ever knew. I’m an old fogey in this virtual world. But damnit, if ecto doesn’t make me happy I bought it.

And I have to say that I am a HUGE NetNewsWire fan. But sometimes a company is better at one app than another. I seriously couldn’t live without either one of those applications on my Mac laptop today.

Why not just try out ecto, though? I think they have a demo version for download. Give it a shot. Why take my word for it when you can just see for yourself, for free? And if you like it, get it. Frankly, it’s one of the best shareware programs I have ever spent money on. Some of the others in that range would be Saft and NetNewsWire. There isn’t a blogging day which goes by when I’m not happy that I have spent the money on all three of those core programs, and I’m pretty sure that you would feel the same way that I do as well.