What do I expect of an offline blog editor?

29.05.05 | filed in e, Tools

The more blogs one runs, the more difficult it is to keep track and post / prepare stuff. While it helps to have a bit of organisation around, many bloggers start using offline editors. And I am sure, many also curse about them. So, as Tris from the Isle Qumana ;) asks "What are your needs for an offline blog editor", you have a chance to answer that question.

And I'm happy to do so, because giving feedback often means, I get what I want (yes, I am that much of a selfish girl) - if I can persuade them. You would be astonished, how often it works. ;)

So, as Tris posted:

Right, so you know that Qumana makes an offline-blog editor. You probably also know that a whole new version and approach is coming out June 13th. The question is then, what would you like in an offline editor?

No I didn't, but now I know. (Will the first edition go out in June? The page is not clear about that.)

So let's answer: As a start, I like it to be working! Neither w.bloggar nor ecto would load on my machine - which has Win XP Sp2 with the news .net framework on it ... So I can't tell you anything about what I like or not on them.

Then, I would like to see such a software on the webpage with screenshots, so I can judge if they look enough like standard windows applications. We do talk about such, don't we? The page does not states otherwise.

Things I really want because I am used to that and frequently miss it when I am in the web editor or working offline:

Keyboard shortcuts. This is a no go. Main features only available per mouse? Uninstall. Keyboard shortcuts in non standard ways? Uninstall. Not enough, windows standard following and additional logical keyboard shortcuts: Uninstall. Please make sure about that in your description so I don't even need to install your software.

Easy save. Auto save. Undo. My text editor Notetab makes incremental saves, which I can get rid of at the end of the day - but recover if I need them. Because of that, I hit CTRL-S sometimes several times in a minute.

I want full screen. I don't care how cute your designer thinks this resized windows are, I want full screen. Resizing of screens throughout the session? Uninstall.

And I want to be able to change the display settings regarding the displayed font-size. Yes, I know this will not be what the html says, I don't care. These are my eyes. And - again those designers - make the screen use a good one. Too often I see restricted window sizes (of course, not resizeable!) because it would look ugly if this would use the available space. (If it is 'ugly' when it follows my needs, it is ugly in the first place!)

These are basics which decide whether or not I will even start to use the software. Now, which additional features do I want?

General things: While wysiwyg is nice, I would like to have html view be chooseable. I use some special css on all of my site, which mainly is used for quotes. I need to tweak that into the written html. I could get rid of that if your application is really worth the price.

It would be nice if enough explanation would be available so I could get it working with Pivot, which I am using on all of my blogs. Pivot starts to offer a meta interface, so as long as the editor makes it clear how to use it, I'm good. As some blog software might not be integratable, it would be a clever idea to have a "show this and copy and paste is easy" view. You know about standards regarding tab order, selected text etc?

Managing features: As offline blogging tools is about blogging to multiple sites (most of the times) and about many postings, I would like to see different approaches on posted and non posted entries. I imagine different choices in an mdi like application of "work in posted", "work in draft", "work in ready to upload". These are there different things while editing. Think inbox, outbox, sent items.

Blogging on different entries for different blogs usually means working on different pieces at the same time. State of completion (draft, ready for proofread etc), priority, date of last edit etc are necessary for it.

If I edit different blogs, in most of the cases I know where this should go, but I am not always sure in which 'blog' I am at the moment. I use different colors on my editing pages on my blogs to see where I am at - and it is the same reason why I have different colors on all of my blogs. Blue - this one. Red - Useful Sounds. And so on.

(Especially while this is in test mode, I would like to see the offline editor to bring the post to my Blog application in "do not publish" mode, so I can check it there.)

One thing very important for me (as I am not a stay at home blogger!): Very easy Import and export. Over the day, I usually am at 2-3 different computers and the ideas are flowing ever time. The places are not connected via network or anything. Starting the application two times and drag and drop several entries at one time to the other running instance would be okay.

Oh yes, and I hate applications which only run in the installed places. 2 of my most used apps run out of the box where I start them - so transporting such on an usb stick is easy.

One thing comes to my mind about wysiwyg: If you know your way around html, wysiwyg is often a pain in the ass, because you are much more sophisticated and know what to do. Therefore, if there is an beginners and one expert mode: I want this to be switched on constantly.

[Oh and yes, I do betatests but don't try me if you fail the keyboard thing ... ;)]

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comments (1):

Tris Hussey 29.05.05
Great comments Nicole! I really like the colour coding of which blog you’re posting to. Interesting!


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