Most of us have used word processors such as Microsoft Word or Apple’s Pages. These things are super easy to use when you compare it to the post interface inside of WordPress.
Don’t get me wrong – they’ve done a great job with the post interface in WordPress. However, there are certain things you can do with a local program that are much harder to pull off inside a web browser.
Did you know that there are programs you can run on your computer to post to your blog? You don’t really HAVE to use the WordPress post interface. In this post, I’ll go through a few of the leading options. If you run Windows, Windows Live Writer is, by far, your best option. Quite frankly, it even blows away most options on the Mac, too, but unfortunately this is a Windows-only option.
Windows Live Writer works with almost any blogging platform, including WordPress (of course). It offers full WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), along with the ability to download your theme and make the post look pretty much like it will on the web once you post it. Keep in mind, however, that some themes don’t get picked up quite right so you may need to use the default theme when writing posts.
WLW really shines with how it deals with images. Simply drag images anywhere from your computer onto the editor and it inserts into your post. You can easily resize, crop, add effects – all from within the editor.
Even better – it is FREE from Microsoft. So, if you’re running Windows, you really have no reason not to use this. It is like having MS Word for your blog, only less complicated.
