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If you are a blogger sometimes it’s nice to have an all-in-one application to blog from. While Wordpress is more than adequate, with Windows Live Writer being available for Windows, a lot of us are left wanting something similar. While I assure you that at this moment there are no programs that matches up, there are several options that get the job done.
Drivel - Homepage.
Install - You can either download it here or simply type sudo apt-get install drivel into your terminal.
First we have Drivel. Drivel is a very simple to use blogging client that can post to LiveJournal, Blogger, MovableType, Advogato, and Atom journals (systems based off these are also supported, including WordPress and Drupal). Drivel isn’t a feature heavy application but it does the job. If you are looking for a program that fits the Gnome desktop very well and is good enough to write your stories then you will like Drivel a lot.
Features.
I like how simple and compact Drivel is. I used to use Windows Live Writer on Windows and it was a very nice program but very cluttered. Drivel has most of the features that you would want in a compact form. You have a form for your subject and content, the typical menu and then at the bottom you can access advanced options (well just one which is categories). Going to preferences from the the menu you can activate some more features. If you’re wondering how to spell check you can turn the option on here and once you do misspelled words they will be underlined with a red line. You can also activate spelling under the view menu. I also like the fact that in the file menu you can see some recent posts and edit them at will. Finally, going to the format menu you can insert links or images, change text formatting and insert lists or an indent.
Drivel is definitely a great choice for a blogging client if you are looking to escape web based blogging and don’t want the bloat. You won’t be amazed by a million buttons but with all the basic necessities you won’t be left wishing for much more. Drivel fits perfectly into your Gnome desktop and will surely satisfy the average blogger. Nothing fancy, just a great solid program that does exactly what it was created for.
Screenshots (click to open).
Blogtk - Homepage.
Install - You can either download it here or simply type sudo apt-get install blogtk into your terminal.
As the site describe:
“BloGTK is a weblog client that allows you to post to your weblog from Linux without the need for a separate browser window. BloGTK allows you to connect with many weblog systems such as Blogger, Movable Type, WordPress, and more. BloGTK is written using Python and PyGTK, and is designed to be fast and simple to use.”
Features.
Blogtk is another rather simple to use blogging client for Linux. Blogtk is a little more like a word processor than Drivel is. When you first open the program you will be presented with a window where you can enter your log in information. There are also two other tabs where you can change certain settings. Here you can set any necessary proxy settings and in the other tab you can set how many old posts that it will retrieve. There are a couple other miscellaneous options under other. Blogtk is also capable of several other posting settings that Drivel does not offer. Formatting options are in clear view above the entry area. All the typical options are there (bold, italic) as well as spell check and even an option to insert a table. Along side the typical entries are tabs that allow you to insert an extended entry and another tab let’s you preview the post.
Blogtk is another decent option that has all that Drivel does and adds some nice features without feeling bloated. Not only can you do the typical posting and spell checking you can also preview your post and have custom tags. Blogtk is very compact and allows you to get your writing done and any feature that you would need is available to you. Drivel is great if you must have one of the most compact programs available and blogtk is a great option that has a few extra features for those that will use them.
Screeshots (click to open).
Gnome Blog Entry Poster - Homepage.
Install - You can either download it here or simply type sudo apt-get install gnome-blog into your terminal.
Gnome Blog is a very basic blogging client. While Drivel is very basic, Gnome Blog is even simpler than that. It does the very basic and can do what you need if you don’t want any of those extra features. It will allow you to post a entry, check it’s spelling, insert a link and make font bold or italic. That’s it. There’s not much to the software and may not be for everyone.
Screenshots (you know the deal).
Other Options.
While this article was meant to review blogging specific clients here are a few options that you might like to look into.
Wordpress Backend.
Yeah, I’m listing the good old default Wordpress editor as an option. While it’s not a standalone program on your computer it is a perfectly adequate way to blog. You can’t go wrong with it, it is after all made just for Wordpress. You will find all the necessities and then some. You can expect the new features to be implemented right into the editor because, again, it is made just for Wordpress. Inserting images is a snap. The toolbar has anything you could wish for. Spell check, categories, post status, timestamp, excerpt, trackbacks; you won’t be dissatisfied with these options! So maybe you don’t need software after all! I mean, this is is what I blog with everyday and it works just fine.
Screenshot (if you blog with Wordpress this is useless!)
Flock - Website.
Flock is a great little program. After all it is built from Firefox with Web 2.0 in mind so how could it go wrong? Flock has features that allow you upload images to flick or photobucket and also has a built in blogging client. Flock has a great feed reader which would allow you to collect news and post it all in one place. Flock has all the standard features that you need and at least one that the others (other than Wordpress and the next program I review) lack; the ability to edit the source code. This is huge for me and I’m sure if you like inputting your own HTML it is very important as well. Flock has a feature that when you set up your blog it automatically detects the necessary settings. All you have to do is insert your user name and password and you’re good to go. If you are looking to do it all in one place; read, write and post then Flock is a great option for you.
Screenshot.
ScribeFire (plugin for Firefox).
Firefox. If you are using Linux and don’t know what Firefox is I want to meet you so I can see the only person in the world that uses Linux and lives in a cave. Ok, bad joke aside this is a great plugin. Scribefire is a lot like the blogging client built into Flock. Some features that set it apart are the publishing options that allow you to add Technorati tags and bookmark it to del.icio.us, use tags and also keep notes. Just like with Flock you can view the source and preview the post. Another interesting feature is the Page Tools. Page tools is not for editing your posts. You can use it to lookup any given link through Technorati to check if it is being linked to. Nothing crazy but a neat little addon none-the-less. So, if you’re looking to blog from firefox this a great option for any blogger.
Screenshot.
While there are no programs available that could be considered a complete knockout, there are several options that get the job done. If you are looking for a word processor that also blogs you will be dismayed to discover that there are none as of yet. But if you are looking to blog from Linux there are several choices to help you spread the word. I’m sure within time there will be that one program that takes the cake. At this moment I like Blogtk and ScribeFire but see nothing wrong with the default Wordpress editor.
Did I miss something? Please let me know!
