This site (and my others) runs on the open source Movable Type blogging system. [Editor's note: After working on later articles in this series, I decided to move my sites from Movable Type to WordPress, as it worked much better with the available blogging clients.] The interface for submitting articles to Movable Type is relatively simple and straightforward, but it’s not as convenient as I would like it to be. It’s also not available to me when I’m not online, which means it’s not possible to create blog entries when I’m away from an Internet connection. For that reason, I began investigating blogging clients for Windows. My criteria for identifying a suitable client included the following:

• Both WYSIWYG and raw HTML editing of entries: There are times I want to adjust a blog entry to look a particular way, include a different type of content, etc. Having access to both a visual editor and a raw HTML editor is therefore a critical component for me.
• Ability to create and store blog entries when offline: Although I have a tool I developed myself for storing blog entries offline for later importation to the site, I’d prefer to use a single tool that handles entering the entries and (when a connection is available) uploading them to the server.
• Spell Checking: Although I’m a pretty competent speller, I’m sometimes a bit dyslexic when it comes to typing. I’d like my blogging client to provide a double-check to help me catch typos as well as legitimate misspellings.
• Post-dating of blog entries: There are times when I write a blog entry in advance of the time I plan to publish it for the world to see. For that reason, I need the client to be able to handle the Movable Type option of scheduling a post for a future date and time.
• Access to multiple blogs: My single Movable Type instance supports all of my blogs. I’d like my client to provide access to all of the blogs as well, with the ability to post to any of them. Ideally, I’d like the tool to import information about all the blogs automatically without my having to configure each individual one.
• Access to all my article categories: Some of my sites only have a small number of categories. Others have a long list of categories. I want to be able to easily publish an article into one or more of the existing categories without having to remember precisely what categories a specific blog includes.
• Support for keywords, excerpts, and tags fields: I try to make use of these Movable Type fields to make it easier for search engines and other tools to properly categorize and index my posts, so that it’s easier for a reader to find something of interest. I need a tool that supports these fields.
• Automated image and file uploads: Some of my blogs don’t tend to use a lot of images or file uploads. Others would benefit from an easier-to-use interface for including images and uploads than the native Movable Type system. I’d like a blogging client that makes it easy to include images, YouTube videos, and other types of content without having to resort to cutting and pasting raw HTML into the entry.
• Netbook screen support: I use a Windows netbook to do a fair amount of my blogging, so I’d like the client to fit comfortably in my netbook’s screen. That means, at a minimum, a window design that fits in a netbook’s display, or (better) a window size that can be adjusted to fit any (reasonable) screen size.
• Microsoft Windows support: While I do run Linux and OS X at times, I’m primarily a Windows user. Therefore, I need a client that runs on Windows (specifically XP and Vista). If it also runs on Linux and/or OS that’s a plus, but it’s not a requirement.
• Portability: There are times when the computer I’m using isn’t mine, such as when I’m at a conference, an off-site class, or a convention. If I don’t have my netbook with me, I’d like the client to be able to execute from a USB flash drive so that I can carry it around with me and use it without having to install it on a system.

With those criteria in mind, I set out to research what blogging clients are available which might meet the criteria. Here’s what I found, both in the freeware and commercial sectors:

• Microsoft Windows Live Writer
• Coding Robots BlogJet
• SharpMT
• w.bloggar
• ScribeFire
• Zempt
• WinJournal
• Zoundry Raven
• Blogcaster
• Portablog
• PowerBlog - As reported here, this client has been discontinued
• BlogDesk
• Chrysanth Webstory
• Deepest Sender
• Elicit
• Post2Blog - Reviewed by BlogInspiration here
• Qumana Blog Editor - Reviewed by BlogInspiration here
• RocketPost 2 - Reviewed by BlogInspiration here
• Semagic - Reviewed by BlogInspiration here
• WB Editor 3 - Reviewed by BlogInspiration here

As you can see, there are lots of potential blogging clients out there which might match up to the criteria set forth at the start of this article. I plan to examine the above tools in the coming weeks to see if I can identify one that best fits the criteria and works intuitively for me.