Testing Blogging Software: BlogDesk
Lately, I have been getting behind in posting to all my blogs and journals. Its not like I was ever consistant to begin with, but when I had a happy bit of software at my fingertips, it became the most simple of actions to update any one of my journals or blogs at anytime... and with the bringing of FireFox 3 the convenient application disappeared to buggy annoyance. As a result, I am looking for a new desktop blog application.
When I looked at Wordpress.org for suggestions, I found a few that really stood out and looked like they may be worth my time. So I am taking a little time to check out a few of them. Using each through its trial period.
What I am looking for...
There are a few things that are important to me. Any application I am going to use must offer a decent WYSIWIG alongside the ability to edit the HTML at my own discretion. I don't want the program to suddenly decide to add its own markup, similar to MS Word's way of doing things. Next, it must be able to access any number of blogs and journals. If I can't access at least thoes I update frequently, it wouldn't be worth it. I must be able to add tags and/or categories, depending on circumstances. Above all, it MUST be LiveJournal friendly. I have my userpics maxed on that LJ and I must be able to choose my icon for each post. Having new features to offer to me is a bonus any of the applications.
Next Up
BlogDesk. When I was going through the list of blogging apps available, BlogDesk was my second choice to try.
As a blogging application, it isn't too bad. It offers the ability to save drafts and add links, pictures and other media. There is a simple text formatting tool bar and a spellchecker. A unique feature is the ability to save notes or frequently used phrases. Just hitting F6 calls up the notes for easy reference and copy/paste while F7 calls up the phrases for point and click ease. When you log into a wordpress account it also downloads all the category options.
There is a tag module, it allows you to add tags, but it doesn't seem to want to retrieve them. The option is also available to add tags directly into the text of your post. You can use categories, but any hierarchy is ignored in the applications viewer. This doesn't affect the heirarchy at the source, so one would simply need to remember which categories go with which heirarchies. There is an option to link images to external sources, but nothing convenient like "Link to a flickr image". If you have special features plugged into your wordpress, you can't download the the special codes automatically to the 'WordPress options' utility, you would have to enter them manually or ignore them completely.
This application, like the one I reviewed previously, is without header formatting options. Perhaps I am a little goofy to want headers, does anyone else use them? I might cease to use headers if I have to keep fixing them manually in the source view constantly. I love seeing the option to send my links to a new page when I insert links, but I would like to see the setting of class, id or rel as well.
Over all this is a pretty decent application. I only experience two major frustrations. The first had to do with setting a scheduled post. While the software allows you to change the date and time of the draft, there seems to be a communication issue when posting to the blog. Thankfully the screen doesn't clear until the issue of posting is resolved, since there is no auto-draft option and I hadn't saved my work. I got it to go the blog by changing a few options. However, when the date arrived, the post didn't post as scheduled. I tried to reset the schedule at the website and found that date passed as well. I don't know what caused the issue overall, if it was wordpress or BlogDesk, but the resultant is it took time to finally fix the issue and post the post.
The second major frustration was the fact that this client is only available for wordpress, moveable type, drupal, serendipity and expression engine. I can't post to my blogger or LJ/LJ-Clone accounts. Therefore, despite all the decent features available, this client is a total letdown for me.
Result
I like the client for the most part. It didn't blow me away, but it also wasn't so filled with features that my posts got lost in them. The fact that I can't post to my other blogs puts a major damper on my excitement with this product. If you are only using database/php blogs, this product is for you. I feel you could probably tweak it in many ways and have it to be the most satisfying addition to your desktop blogging experience. However, if you are like me having blogs across different platforms, this product is probably not for you.
Usability:
Features:
Appearance and Feel:
Crossposted: Livejournal, DreamWidth, Blog.Niaskywalk and Blogger (Crossposted Manually)
This Post has been published with BlogDesk.
When I looked at Wordpress.org for suggestions, I found a few that really stood out and looked like they may be worth my time. So I am taking a little time to check out a few of them. Using each through its trial period.
What I am looking for...
There are a few things that are important to me. Any application I am going to use must offer a decent WYSIWIG alongside the ability to edit the HTML at my own discretion. I don't want the program to suddenly decide to add its own markup, similar to MS Word's way of doing things. Next, it must be able to access any number of blogs and journals. If I can't access at least thoes I update frequently, it wouldn't be worth it. I must be able to add tags and/or categories, depending on circumstances. Above all, it MUST be LiveJournal friendly. I have my userpics maxed on that LJ and I must be able to choose my icon for each post. Having new features to offer to me is a bonus any of the applications.
Next Up
BlogDesk. When I was going through the list of blogging apps available, BlogDesk was my second choice to try.
As a blogging application, it isn't too bad. It offers the ability to save drafts and add links, pictures and other media. There is a simple text formatting tool bar and a spellchecker. A unique feature is the ability to save notes or frequently used phrases. Just hitting F6 calls up the notes for easy reference and copy/paste while F7 calls up the phrases for point and click ease. When you log into a wordpress account it also downloads all the category options.
There is a tag module, it allows you to add tags, but it doesn't seem to want to retrieve them. The option is also available to add tags directly into the text of your post. You can use categories, but any hierarchy is ignored in the applications viewer. This doesn't affect the heirarchy at the source, so one would simply need to remember which categories go with which heirarchies. There is an option to link images to external sources, but nothing convenient like "Link to a flickr image". If you have special features plugged into your wordpress, you can't download the the special codes automatically to the 'WordPress options' utility, you would have to enter them manually or ignore them completely.
This application, like the one I reviewed previously, is without header formatting options. Perhaps I am a little goofy to want headers, does anyone else use them? I might cease to use headers if I have to keep fixing them manually in the source view constantly. I love seeing the option to send my links to a new page when I insert links, but I would like to see the setting of class, id or rel as well.
Over all this is a pretty decent application. I only experience two major frustrations. The first had to do with setting a scheduled post. While the software allows you to change the date and time of the draft, there seems to be a communication issue when posting to the blog. Thankfully the screen doesn't clear until the issue of posting is resolved, since there is no auto-draft option and I hadn't saved my work. I got it to go the blog by changing a few options. However, when the date arrived, the post didn't post as scheduled. I tried to reset the schedule at the website and found that date passed as well. I don't know what caused the issue overall, if it was wordpress or BlogDesk, but the resultant is it took time to finally fix the issue and post the post.
The second major frustration was the fact that this client is only available for wordpress, moveable type, drupal, serendipity and expression engine. I can't post to my blogger or LJ/LJ-Clone accounts. Therefore, despite all the decent features available, this client is a total letdown for me.
Result
I like the client for the most part. It didn't blow me away, but it also wasn't so filled with features that my posts got lost in them. The fact that I can't post to my other blogs puts a major damper on my excitement with this product. If you are only using database/php blogs, this product is for you. I feel you could probably tweak it in many ways and have it to be the most satisfying addition to your desktop blogging experience. However, if you are like me having blogs across different platforms, this product is probably not for you.
Usability:
Features:
Appearance and Feel:
Crossposted: Livejournal, DreamWidth, Blog.Niaskywalk and Blogger (Crossposted Manually)
This Post has been published with BlogDesk.