Blogging with MarsEdit

935 days ago in Contributors, Reviews by John Fuller | 2 Comments

Blogging, as most people know, is typically done by writing posts in an online client. Yet, if you find yourself blogging a lot, and to different blogs, using the web interfaces can become tedious and even annoying. Luckily, MarsEdit is here to improve that experience as a desktop client.

The main window in MarsEdit is set up to display blogs on the left, with a list of posts on the right and previews of the selected posts below the list. Above all of that is the toolbar, which holds many basic functions. There’s nothing slick and flashy about MarsEdit, but it is functional and gets the job done.

Creating or editing a blog post opens up the blog editor and preview window. The editor is based around a large coding window. Of course, no coding knowledge is necessary to add text to the post, but the editor does support HTML and is not rich-text based. The editor window also has options for choosing categories, editing server options, adding media, and even some service-specific functions (such as choosing a post type in Tumblr).

There are many other powerful features to MarsEdit that aren’t located in the editor, such as the ability to schedule and edit posting dates, edit trackbacks, adding tags, and adding technorati tags. Unfortunately, some of these functions are hidden, or buried away, instead of being placed in the prominent editor window.

MarsEdit is also extremely powerful, with the ability to add and store local drafts, adding custom preview templates, support and ability to add macros, ability to upload photos to google, options regarding sending new posts, and sending pings. Each blog that you register can also have specific settings that pertain only to that blog. There are numerous blogging services supported, including but not limited to WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, and Typepad.

While there are other blog editors that are a bit flashier and do certain tasks well, none excel like MarsEdit does. It’s easy to use, simple to figure out, and powerful in more ways than one. Plus, their service is excellent.

From Red Sweater Software, MarsEdit 2 costs $29.95 and is available for a free 30-day trial.