Benefits of using Windows Live Writer for Blogging

Windows Live Writer (WLW) is a free offline WYSIWYG blogging tool offered by Microsoft. It allows bloggers to create and edit posts on their desktops and offers integration with most blogging platforms. The term WYSIWYG stands for “what you see is what you get,” which means that the blogger can see exactly how the post will look when it is published on their blog. In this article, we discuss the many benefits of using Windows Live Writer for blogging and offer some tips on how to use it effectively.

Easy Setup and Integration with Multiple Platforms

One of the biggest advantages of using WLW for blogging is that it integrates with most blogging platforms, including Google’s Blogger, WordPress.com, and self-hosted WordPress sites. It even works with non-mainstream platforms like Drupal. WLW also makes an effort to work with a variety of non-Microsoft services and products. So while it gives Microsoft’s own “Live Spaces” service pride of place in the setup dialog, WLW works well with a variety of blogging platforms, from hosted services to blogging programs hosted on your own servers.

Setup is pretty easy, as WLW works hard to auto-detect your website’s settings. You might need to tell WLW where the interface is on your host, but once you’re set up, WLW will download the stylesheet and post template, so as you write your posts, you can see exactly how they will look when they’re posted.

Intermediate and Advanced Features

WLW offers many advanced features that can make blogging a lot easier and more efficient. Some of these features include:

Categories: WLW reads the categories from your site, so clicking “categories” at the bottom of the post window, you can check off whatever categories you want your post to go in.

Set Publish Date: If your blogging software allows you to schedule posts to go “live” in the future, you’ll find a drop-down calendar at the bottom next to the categories field.

Tagging: Hit the double up-arrow at the bottom of the post window (or press “F2”) and a range of other options will open up, including a tagging field. List your tags just like you would if you were editing online.

The “Read More” tag: For blogs like WordPress, where you use the tag to mark the end of the excerpt you want on the front page of your blog, the same thing is accomplished by placing your cursor where you want the “Read More” tag and selecting “Split Post” from the “Format” menu.

Remind yourself: If you’re the kind of person who forgets to add categories, tags, and titles to your posts, open the “Options” (in the “Tools” menu) and under “Preferences” check off “Remind me to specify a title before publishing,” “Remind me to add categories before publishing,” and “Remind me to add tags before publishing.” When you go to publish or save a draft to your site, WLW will check that all these are present and, if not, ask you to add them.

Use templates: If you use snippets of text, code, or other material regularly, you can use a plugin to save and insert templates. You can create templates with several fields and containing any kind of text or code you want, even interactive fields.

Insert pictures: You can use the built-in “Insert Picture” dialog to add images from your hard drive, but you can also use a variety of plugins to add images from services like Picasa and Flickr.

Round-up links from del.icio.us: The del.icio.us bookmark plugin will collect your links from del.icio.us, convert them into HTML, and insert them into your post. Coupled with the template plugin above, this is a pretty handy way to do almost instant daily or weekly round-ups of links you want to tell your readers about.

Blog This: “Blog This” plugins are available for both IE and Firefox users, allowing you to highlight some text on a webpage, hit the “Blog This” button, and open a new post with your elected text already inserted in WLW.

Minor Quibbles with WLW

While WLW is a great tool for bloggers, there are some minor quibbles. One of the main issues is that you can’t change the time of the publish date. This forces bloggers to use the “Post Draft and Edit Online” feature instead of publishing directly with the desired time. However, these minor issues pale in comparison to the many benefits of using WLW for blogging.

Conclusion

In conclusion, using Windows Live Writer for blogging can make your life as a blogger a lot easier and more efficient. With its easy setup, integration with many blogging platforms, and advanced features, WLW is a must-have tool for any serious blogger. While there may be some minor quibbles, the many benefits of using WLW far outweigh them. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned blogger, give WLW a try and see for yourself how it can take your blogging to the next level.