30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers

Jan. 12th, 2008 | by Shankar Ganesh |

By Shankar Ganesh

Bloggers, there are lots of things you’ve to keep an eye on, and most of the time, you’ll need the help of different programs for different needs. Sure, there are more web tools for the job, but nothing can get to give you the convenience and speed that desktop applications offer. So, here goes a list of over 30 handpicked application, that can possibly increase a blogger’s productivity.

Desktop Blogging Clients

Post to your blog straigth from the desktop.

Free Blogging Clients

Windows Live Writer - One of the best. Plugins can be added to increase its power. Check out our review here.
w.bloggar (Windows only) - Available as a full and portable version (can run from USB thumbdrive).
AIRPress (Windows, Mac) - Adobe AIR based blog editor for WordPress blogs. AIRPress requires Adobe AIR beta 2 to work. If it’s not installed already, it will be auto installed with AIRPress.
Thingamablog (Window, Mac, Linux)
Qumana (Windows, Mac)
BlogDesk (Windows) - Optimized for WordPress, MovableType, Drupal, Serendipity and ExpressionEngine.

Statistics Tools

Monitor websites traffic and other stats.

Free Traffic Analytics Tools for Bloggers

Google Analytics (AIR) - Check detailed traffic stats from the desktop. Works both on Mac and Windows PCs. Google Analytics account required.
Snoop (Mac, Win) - Track website visitors in real time staight from the desktop. Stats provided by reinvigorate.net
SERPs Finder (Win) - Find where your page lists for a particular keyword on Google, Live and Yahoo! Search.

Screen Capturing Tools

Snippy (Windows) - System Tray Tool for screen capturing. Mark out the region of the screen that you want to copy — and Snipp it.
Clip2Net (Windows) - Take screenshots, add notes and arrows, and save them online.
WebShot (Windows) - One more screesnhot grabber, free version is quite limited, but still does the job.
Camstudio (Windows) - Capture screen activity (vide+audio) and save it in AVI or SWF format.
Windows Media Encoder - Capture audio and video content and encode video captures to WMV format.
SnagIt 7 (Windows) - Powerful screenshot capture and editing tool. Normally it costs $29 but version 7 is available for free. Unfortunately, the promotion period is over.

Image Editing Programs

Free Image Editing Tools for Bloggers

GIMP (Win, Linux) - Free Photoshop alternative. Also see Gimpshop which even looks like Photopshop.
Paint.NET (Win) - Another open source software tool for your image editing needs.
IrfanView (Win) - Worth a mention here, it’s an image viewer with a few editing capabilities.

FTP Programs

Filezilla (Win, Mac, Linux) - Open Source FTP Client. Read MakeUseOf review here.
FireFTP (Win, Mac, Linux) - FTP extension for your Firefox browser.

Keyword Research

Good Keywords (Win) - Excellent too for finding suitable keywords for your article titles. MakeUseOf review: Get Your Keywords Right.

Microblogging Tools

Pwytter (Win, Mac, Linux) - Cross-platofrm Twitter client.
Twitbin - Firefox Extension for Twittering
OutTwit - Twitter client for Outlook. If you’re interested check out more Outlook addons here.
Pownce Client - Official Pownce clients for Mac and Windows. [What is Pownce ?]

Task Management

Rainlendar (Win) - One of the best desktop calendar apps for Windows.
Essential PIM (Win) - A free personal information manager.

Offline HTML editors

Free HTML editor for offline use.

First Page (Win) - Two paned windows HTML editor.
Komozer (Win, Mac, Linux) - Extremely easy to use and ideal for non-technical users.

Miscellaneous

WordPress Comment Moderation Notifier - Get notifications when there are comments that need to be moderated.

That’s about it. Do you have a must-see program that’s not on the above list? Let us know in comments.

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    40 Comments Leave a Comment

    Comment by Paulo Brabo
    2008-01-13 04:27:14

    You forgot to mention Adobe’s Bee, which is in many ways more polished than AIRPress:

    http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air/samples/

    Reply to this comment
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-01-14 08:23:01

    Thanks for the add! We’ll update the post soon with that tool.

    Reply to this comment
     
     
    Pingback by Aplicaciones para Bloggers - Incubaweb 2.0 Bitácora del Software, Web 2.0, Beta, Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Open Source, ....
    2008-01-13 06:32:09

    [...] en mi experiencia y en algunas ideas de Makeuseof he realizado una lista donde priman las gratuitas y algunas que no lo son pero merecen mención [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Troy
    2008-01-13 07:48:08

    Hi, I thought I would add another screen capture application - Screen shot captor (http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/screenshotcaptor/index.html). I use it and find it remarkable full featured. It is free but the author asks for a donation which entitles you to a life time license to it and many other pieces of software on that site.

    Reply to this comment
     
    Pingback by Link Tips: 13 January 2008
    2008-01-13 08:29:24

    [...] Desktop Applications for Bloggers: The Make Use Of blog has an extensive list with over 30 free blogging related applications that you can use. [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by kuros
    2008-01-13 10:11:19

    what about scribefire?
    http://www.scribefire.com/

    Reply to this comment
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-01-14 08:23:58

    I didn’t bother to include Firefox Extensions, but ScribeFire is a nice tool nonetheless.

    Reply to this comment
     
     
    Pingback by 30 applicazioni desktop gratuite per bloggers | maestroalberto
    2008-01-13 10:13:22

    [...] MakeUseOf fornisce una lista di trenta applicazioni desktop gratuite per bloggers. [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Alisha
    2008-01-13 11:52:15

    For an FTP program, I actually use SmartFTP, because I couldn’t stand FileZilla. SmartFTP lets me edit a file from the server and then upload when I’m done (must-have feature). I don’t remember if FileZilla has that feature or not, but SmartFTP is another good one.

    http://www.smartftp.com

    Reply to this comment
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-01-14 08:25:11

    My bad.. I missed this program…. I’ve heard of it before.

    Will add it as well :) Thanks for the heads-up.

    Reply to this comment
     
     
    Pingback by Link notes dal 11 1 2008 al 13 1 2008 » Sapientone
    2008-01-13 18:31:38

    [...] 30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers | MakeUseOf.com - Applicazioni desktop (offline) per chi gestisce un blog [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Pingback by 6 Shots from the Blogosphere | Daily Revolver
    2008-01-13 19:01:00

    [...] 30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers - list of over 30 handpicked applications, that can possibly increase a blogger’s productivity [via Makeuseof.com] [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Trackback by roScripts - Webmaster resources and websites
    2008-01-13 19:15:09

    30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers | MakeUseOf.com…

    30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers | MakeUseOf.com…

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by 7leads
    2008-01-13 20:26:56

    good stuff and I am gaining some great information.

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Rick
    2008-01-13 21:11:25

    Is GimpShop stable now? I downloaded it and tried to use it a couple of years ago, but it kept crashing on me. I have just been using Gimp since then and I’m quite happy with it.

    Reply to this comment
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-01-14 08:27:03

    Well, nobody can say that it’s cent percent stable, but sure OSS is getting better by the day. :)

    Reply to this comment
     
     
    Comment by 禾草唐楷
    2008-01-13 22:04:56

    非常好的文章，对我使用blogger和wordpress中有很大的帮助作用~~~

    Reply to this comment
     
    Pingback by Link Tips: 13 January 2008 | Demi News
    2008-01-13 22:49:04

    [...] Desktop Applications for Bloggers: The MakeUseOf blog has an extensive list with over 30 free blogging related applications that you can use. [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Pingback by Link Tips: 13 January 2008 | Demi News
    2008-01-13 22:49:04

    [...] Desktop Applications for Bloggers: The MakeUseOf blog has an extensive list with over 30 free blogging related applications that you can use. [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by lankapo
    2008-01-13 23:18:26

    thanks my friend,
    a lot of info here

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Adrian
    2008-01-14 02:15:28

    You forgot about a good backup tool. I’ve already lost my work once and I learned my lesson. I use SiteVault Backup

    Reply to this comment
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-01-14 08:35:43

    Oh! That’s an important thing that every serious blogger should consider.

    Thanks for informing us about that very useful service.

    Reply to this comment
     
     
    Comment by kip
    2008-01-14 03:15:12

    Snagit offer is no longer available.

    Reply to this comment
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-01-14 08:34:23

    Uh Oh! If that’s the case, I’ll update the post. This article was drafted sometime ago so missed it.

    Reply to this comment
     
     
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    2008-01-14 05:58:34

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    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by udi
    2008-01-14 13:52:20

    Great post, and great tools not just for bloggers but for all around web geeks.
    I’d love to see see Drupal related tools.
    - Udi

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Chris Christensen
    2008-01-14 19:26:32

    As a Mac blogger I would also recommend ImageWell, Cyberduck and maybe Flock.

    —

    Chris Christensen
    Amateur Traveler podcast - http://AmateurTraveler.com
    Tripinator - Travel 2.0 - http://tripinator.com

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Syahid A.
    2008-01-14 22:07:43

    Nice one Shankar. Take a look at Photoscape and Alleycode HTML Editor. Two good freewares too.

    Reply to this comment
     
    Pingback by Links Roundup - January 15th 2006
    2008-01-15 04:01:03

    [...] by Kevin Muldoon from System0 on January 15, 2008 | 0 Comments 30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers - A huge list of applications for [...]

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by Gareth
    2008-01-16 07:09:17

    SnagIT offer has expired….!!

    Reply to this comment
     
    Comment by fadern
    2008-01-17 07:51:21

    Thanks

    Reply to this comment
     
    Pingback by 30 applicazioni desktop gratuite per bloggers | Giornale
    2008-01-20 04:45:26

    [...] MakeUseOf fornisce una lista di trenta applicazioni desktop gratuite per bloggers. [...]

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    Pingback by Memo: Wordpress.com, Rivva, Wordpress Sicherheit, Software für Blogger | Bloganbieter.de Blog
    2008-01-21 14:48:22

    [...] listet mehr als 3o Desktop Softwareanwendungen für Blogger auf. Neben Desktoppublishern, [...]

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    2008-01-30 10:11:42

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    2008-02-03 23:29:56

    [...] 30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers [...]

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    Comment by MK
    2008-02-04 20:28:55

    Thanks for the share. Windows Live Writer is my favorite one.

    Reply to this comment
     
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    2008-02-27 18:37:41

    [...] Disadur dari sini [...]

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    Pingback by Instrumente pentru bloggeri | CNET.ro
    2008-03-11 03:42:12

    [...] Iar acum lărgim puţin subiectul cu un articol mai vechi, de câteva luni, dar totuşi valoros: 30+ FREE Desktop Applications for Bloggers. În acest articol nu veţi găsi doar programe pentru scris pe bloguri ci şi instrumente ce prind [...]

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