Finding a Windows Live Writer Replacement for Mac

January 15, 2010

Problem:
In a previous post, I made a list of “must have” Mac apps when switching from Windows. For my blogging needs, I settled on Ecto. It was the closest the Windows Live Writer that I could find but it wasn’t close enough. I struggled with Ecto, I didn’t like the interface and in a nutshell, it wasn’t easy for me to use and I found myself using Live Writer via Parallels; which I had issues with as well.

Solution:
Stumbled upon a Firefox plugin called “ScribeFire” and I love it. Gives me similar functionality to Live Writer and was easy to use right after installation. Some features that I enjoy are:

On the fly blogging. If I’m in Firefox and inspiration hits me, I can open up ScribeFire and begin blogging immediately while referencing the site that I was on.
I can easily manage multiple blogs, manage the posts, pages and categories through a tabbed interface to the right of my editor
Can work on multiple posts at the same time, each post has a tab and you can switch between them, much like switching between tabs
Working with images is a snap and intuitive like Live Writer
Quick preview button to see how your post will look on your site
It’s easy to use

I am keeping in mind that Ecto and other programs does most of these things and probably much more. But what good did it do me when it was tough to figure out? For my needs ScribeFire, fits the bill; it’s simple and gets the job done. An Amazon Affiliate function in this plugin would be nice and hopefully that will be in a future update. Until there is a Mac version of Live Writer, this will do just fine.

What do you use for your blogging needs?

Links:
http://www.scribefire.com/