Are You Using Windows Live Writer?

If you aren’t using it for your blogging, let me just tell you that you SHOULD be! Windows Live Writer has made blogging/posting so much easier for me and I am truly in love with the program! It is compatible with several blogging platforms {Blogger, Windows Live, WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad, and more}…but sorry to those of you who are Mac users. It isn’t compatible with Macs. :(

Why do I love it so? Let me give you a few {or more} reasons:

1. I can blog anytime, anywhere without needing to be connected to the internet. All those post ideas swimming around in my head are saved as a draft in Live Writer and I can edit and add things when I think of more to add. This was a HUGE help to me when I was traveling and didn’t have constant access to the internet. I was able to write my posts and get them ready to go and then ‘publish’ them when I did have internet access.

2. I can post from multiple accounts. Live Writer allows me to create posts for all of my various blogger accounts. I don’t need to log into blogger, and with a simple click of a drop down menu I can switch accounts.

3. I can create template posts and use them as needed. There are certain posts of mine that use the same format. I love that I can click a button to pull a template that I’ve created/saved and all the same information pops up quickly without my needing to redo it all.

4. Photos and formatting is SO much easier! All it takes is a quick click of a button to add a photo, quickly resize it and even add watermarks and other special effects. When I publish a post, the picture automatically uploads to my Picasa account. This part alone has saved me so much time!

5. I can preview my posts. Live Writer offers the great feature of previewing your post so you can actually visualize what it will look like on your blog. This helps me see if there are any odd spacing issues before I actually post.

6. Editing after a post is up is simple! Live writer lets you ‘recall’ a post even after it has posted to your blog. Should I notice a spelling error {ahem} or anything else that needs to be fixed, I can do it quickly…and you all never even know!

7. My kids can also use it as part of their writing ~ without needing to be on the internet. Laurianna and McKenna both have blogs that are a part of my Blogger account. If they are online, they have access to my Blogger dashboard {and that could cause some unintentional problems!}. I have Live Writer set up on the kids computer so that they can blog away and publish to their own blog without even needing to be on the internet.

8. It’s FREE! Did I forget to mention that? When you download the program it comes with extra ‘add-ons’ that are unnecessary, so be sure to uncheck all the extra boxes when you download it.

9. I can add links quickly and easily to photos, text…anything. I can even specify that the link opens up in a new window.

If you’d like to see a video tutorial, Remarkable Blogger has a great Windows Live Writer tutorial.

What are you waiting for? I promise you it is a lovely, lovely thing…go check it out and have fun playing around with it! It is definitely something that Works for Me! If you are already using it, what are YOUR favorite features of Windows Live Writer?