So, I did some researching and came up with one possible idea, Xinha4WP. It’s a WordPress plugin that replaces the default text editor with a much more advanced version. It also needs the Text Control plugin to work so you need to install that too.

Xinha4WP gives bloggers many features including all font control (sizes and colors), tables, additional smilies, special characters and few more items. The coolest thing is the maximize button that lets you make the editor the size if your browser window.

The downside is that it is a rather large plugin weighing in at 5.5mb. It is also showing up above the built in WordPress editor widow. This is not ideal to have two editor windows especially since the default WordPress one is ignored. This could be a conflict with the video pugin they using too. Not sure.

I’ve also recommended to the client some desktop blogging software that may give added control while not giving to much away. Like ScribeFire, Etco or Flock to name a few.

Personally, I don’t think I’d ever use Xinha4WP and Text Control, however others might find it quite useful. At the same time, I don’t usually have the need for altering text sizes and colors that often. It’ll be interesting to hear back from the client after a few weeks of use to see how they felt the plugin performed.

Do you require more control than the default WordPress editor gives you? If so, what do you use?

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Why would someone want this? More features, better user interface and the ability to easily post to one or more blogs without ever having to actually go to them.

When I started thinking about this post I thought I’d research some desktop software. It turns out that I couldn’t find as many as I thought I would.

That’s where you come in, what desktop software do you use to post to your blog? I know that some of you prefer a desktop client over a web based admin area. Myself, I haven’t really tried any, but it’s an idea that does interest me.

Here are a few desktop clients I found that can connect into WordPress, TypePad, Blogger and other blog software packages.

MacJournal (Mac)
Etco (Mac & PC)
MarsEdit (Mac)
w.bloggar (PC)
BlogJet (PC)

Browser Based – Mac & PC

Flock
Performancing
Deepest Sender (LiveJournal Only)

From everything I’m reading I have to test out Etco and MarsEdit. Both have great features and good reviews, but there is no clear winner.

So, my question to you, what do you use and why?

-Thomas

Lee Odden is President and Founder of
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