I recently upgraded my MSN Messenger to the new Windows Live Messenger (I waited a while for them to release a more stable version, because knowing Microsoft they probably forgot half the code they were meant to include.)
So, when I finally got around to installing the new messenger; there was a series of new “Windows Live” applications that could be installed as a bundle. Including a lovely blogging-application called “Windows Live Writer”…
”Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service” – Quoted from Windows Live Products.
In a nut-shell, Windows Live writer allows you to create dynamic blog-posts locally on your computer then upload (either as a Draft or Published post) to your blog. The features and benefits of using this application are endless but I want to share with the little, yet awesome experience I have had with it.
The application is completely offline (other than when uploading the post onto your online web-sever), so don’t worry about internet-dropouts and loosing your work. It’s just like working on MS Word, without the worry of a constant crash.
Windows Live Writer has several key features and many more useful features too. In this post; I want to cover just a few of them. Ultimately; the use of the application must suit YOUR needs and the only way we can test that is if you try it out for yourself. Having said that; let’s take a look at the wonders of WLW!
WYSIWYG Editor
Similar to most CMS’s, Windows Live Writer provides a “What You See Is What You Get” type editor. This is more than just a fancy feature because it’s almost compulsory in today’s day and age.
The editor itself is nothing fancy, but has all the critical shortcuts such as bold, italics, underline, alignments and etc. It’s a simple interface is a key feature too because unlike most editors (such as the editor from a self-hosted WP) it’s not cluttered for space.
Live Preview and Source Editing
Along with the WYSIWYG Editor, you also get the option of “Live Preview” and “Edit Source”. Editing the source is open for any webmaster that has the ability to work with raw code such as CSS, HTML or even perhaps Javascript and unless you really need to add/edit custom coding; you shouldn’t mess around with it.
Live Preview or Preview as shown in the image is another highlight of Windows Live Writer. It allows you to view the post as an element of your blog. It will imitate how the post will look like once it is actually published on your blog. This can really help you isolate problems like inappropriate image sizes, text alignments and even improper page breaks.
Easily Insert Images
One thing I’ve always hated about Wordpress is inserting images or any other multimedia files to a post. It takes time to even load the image-loader and once you’ve finally fought your way through many timeout errors; moving the image around and formatting it to your liking is almost impossible.
With Windows Live Writer you can easily perform many formatting settings to really bring out the creativity within you! Everything from simple rotations and cropping to highly stylized borders, shading and even visual effects.
Publish Your Post In One-Click
After you’ve written your posts and edited it as you’ve pleased; a single click of a button will publish your post onto your blog and will send it live! The beauty of this is that it automatically uploads all images, videos, maps, tags, categories and even Adsense coding to your web-server!
Expand Even More With Plugins
Windows Live Writer has many features that comes with it, but you can take your blogging experience even further with “Plugins” or “Add-ons”. Lot like my previous post on Firefox’s plugins, these WLW Plugins add great functionality, ease of use and features to an already awesome platform.
PS: Stay tuned for a follow up post soon, where I will run through some useful plugins for WLW.
Even More Key Features;
- Works with Blogger, Wordpress, Windows Live Spaces, LiveJournal and a lot more CMS’s.
- Insert Videos, Photo Albums, Tables and many more without any hassle.
- Allows you to save either locally (on your computer) or save on to your website.
- Automatically detects your blog’s theme and styles and works accordingly.
- Allows posts to be tagged with conventional tags for SEO.
- Allows you to select the categories for your blog-post.
- Allows instant-publish or schedule date for publishes.
- Allows users to instantly add maps, using MSN Live Earth.
- And, so many, many, MANY MORE!
Download!
You can download Windows Live Writer either via the “bundle downloader” as citied above by visiting the official download page. This will download an installer-application; where you can preselect the “Windows Live Essentials” that fancy your liking. Just make sure you select Windows Live Writer and you can be on your way!
Your Thoughts?
Even though the above post is praising the awesomeness of Windows Live Writer; you might find it against your liking. Share your thoughts about the application below – with the Pro’s and Con’s the program has in your opinion. Perhaps a couple of useful plugins could be mentioned too; I’ll be sure to mention you and your recommended plugin in my follow-up post!
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting find, Janith. At first I was think, “what’s the point?” But you clearly demonstrated the benefits and I’ll have to check it out. Do you prefer it to writing within Wordpress?
Nick Tart´s last blog ..How to Network as a Young Entrepreneur: Offline
Personally, this was exactly what I was looking for. I always thought that Wordpress’s editor was quite “conjested” and the writing space was pretty minimal (regardless of the option to add more space, that made it just look out of proportion). And adding images to a Wordpress post is just horrific, especially if you want to add a batch.
So with that in mind; the Wordpress editor wasn’t something that took my fancy
I’ve come across this but I’ve never really paid any attention to it since I’ve always thought of it as another software that will only clog up your time, but now seeing the features, I’m going to give it a try. I’m looking forward to the preview feature, might even encourage me to use more emphasis/images on my blog posts. Thanks for sharing this
Abdul´s last blog ..How To Build Backlinks Through Blog Commenting
Definitely not a clog up of your time because it really does help. I’ve found myself using more images too
(as you can see in this post) because it’s that much easier than using the conventional WP-Editor.
Thanks for dropping by Abdul,
Windows Live Writer has been around for a while, but still, it is years behind to what Wordpress, Blogger or typepad has to offer. There are some cool offline tools, I agree, but I can do the same with WP. Just type out your draft in Notepad, copy and paste in WP writing window, do some enhancements and presto, you got a post to go.
Richael | Domain Marvelous´s last blog ..Some tips on choosing killer domain names!
Hey Richael,
)
What do you mean WLW is few years behind Wordpress? :S
I personally prefer WLW over the WP-EDitor (hence this post, I suppose
BTW – Wordpress has a feature to copy text from a source without any formatting. YOu might want to check that out; save that fraction of a moment having to copy it to Notepage
Hi Janith, what I meant is that WLW is behind WP in terms of usage. I hardly ever hear of anyone using WLW. But again, it won’t harm to give it a try, and I will
I know of WP feature of source copying, but somehow, I still prefer notepad over anything else…maybe a habit I formed when I was using notepad for small note takings while browsing the net for ideas on my next blog post.
Richael | Domain Marvelous´s last blog ..Some tips on choosing killer domain names!
Unfortunately, I run my blog from my macbook. WLR certainly looks interesting. Me and desktop publishers never really got along. As Richael said, I really like how wordpress can handle all of these features on its own, especially the live preview.
Thanks for sharing more information on this tool!
Aww, I’m not familiar with any Mac programs nor a Mac computer itself. Perhaps Alex can fill you in on this, since he uses a Mac too
The WP-EDitor has everything in it no doubt, but I think that the difference in inserting images to a post using WLW and the WP-Editor is strong enough for me to have made the change.
I guess end of the day; I’m just try to make a point that the image-uploader on the WP-Editor isn’t the best.
Looks pretty cool. Personally I write in Microsoft Word and then scan it through Notepad to take away all the horrible formatting rubbish before putting it in to Wordpress. I must admit though, entering pictures in to wordpress can be a pain at times, so I’ll give this a go!
Simon | Teenius´s last blog ..The Advantages Of Having Guest Posters On Your Blog
Awesome, let us know how it went Simon =]
As I’ve said before; WP has a feature to copy text from the clipboard without any formatting. You might want to check it out (it’s near the “bold, italic and etc.” menu bar)
Actually I am not a regular user of Live Writer, but I had used it once or twice and the Experience was great! Now, I am again planning to start using it permanently..
That’s great to hear!
I’ve become a permanent user of WLW too, it’s just better IMO.
Only if they add all the Thesis options to WLW – then Iwouldn’t even need to edit posts at all on the WP-Editor
I think that’s a pretty cool editor. However, I prefer to work in Wordpress with similar features to the Window Editor.
The FCK editor which you can download as a plug-in is a great choice for this.
Jake| Web Journey´s last blog ..Get 100+ Comments on Every Post
Hmm, my experience with the FCK editor wasn’t the best. I found it lagged my editor quite a bit and eventually forced me to uninstall it =[
I might just check it out again because this was about 8 months ago – I’m sure they’ve improved since
wow! you could actually write your blog posts there than from wordpress? this is really something new to me.
elmot´s last blog ..Don’t Tell Your Children Not To Lie?
Yup, definitely
YOu might want to check out the last post too ~ 7 more tools that do the same thing; but just in a different way!
by the way, i jumped from teenius being his regular reader going here. subscribed on your blog through my reader.
elmot´s last blog ..I Can’t Understand Why Politicians Say the Darndest Things?
Awesome, Elmot
Really glad to have you on-board Blogussion!
I’m sure we all can learn from each other and you will join in our discussions in the near future. Hoping to see you around the comments
looks really nice but i like the ease of wordpress
its really great writer for blogger. I am also the user of it. But it has some limited features like “Platinum SEO” area and plugins are also limited.
xphunt3r´s last blog ..Magazine Style Wordpress Theme Worth More Than Free.
Super post! I use Windows Live Writer every day for my blog, http://www.ITThoughtOfTheDay.com. I am normally a big Mac guyy, but I like it so much in fact that I bought a Dell netbook just sot that I could run WLW. I never found any of the MAC blogging tools to be as slick, cheap, or reliable.
While I already use it, it was nice to see your independent evaluation of the product. I do wish that MS would be better about updating the product more frequently. Maybe your review will get more to adopt it and motivate them to do so.
Great blog. I read it every day. Thanks again.
-Scott
Scott Coughlin´s last blog ..Why Information Technology Professionals Should Get MBAs
WLW is a Miscrosoft product that I like. I will try it on my VMWare, the live preview looks neat.
Kuswanto´s last blog ..Rusty and Grunge Effect Brushes
I am on blogger….had heard of this, but never knew quite what it was. Thanks for sharing in depth….I think this will be such a great program for me and can’t wait to try it out.
Denise @ Creative Kitchen´s last blog ..Disney, birthdays & bruschetta