16 Must-Have Applications (and More) for Successful Bloggers
This is a guest post by Phaoloo, who loves discover computer world and make it easy to everyone. He is running Giggle Computer, a blog with interesting computer and internet tips. Follow him on Twitter now.
Which applications do bloggers use daily? Using right applications not only helps you to work easily, but also increase the effectiveness, performance of work and save a lot of time for you. This is a list of essential applications that many bloggers use daily.
1. MS Word
This application should be very popular for Windows bloggers. You can use it to write your new post in draft before format it in a WYSIWYG application. A very handy and convenient feature of MS Word is the spelling and grammar checker. The mistake will be underlined in red (spelling) or green (grammar) right away when it appears, so you just right click on the wrong word and choose a solution from the suggested list in the pop up menu. OpenOffice or AbiWord can be the alternates, but MS Word is still the best word-processor for bloggers.
2. Kompozer
After composing your post in MS Word, you then may want to format it in Kompozer – a small, free and efficient WYSIWYG editor. Is there any need of a big, professional and so expensive WYSIWYG like DreamWeaver for a usual blogger? Use smart apps, not your wallet! Besides, you can edit CSS and Javascript right in Kompozer; and Kompozer can be run as a portable application which means you can copy it to your USB and run on any computers without installing.
3. Babylon
Babylon is so necessary for everyone especially if you are blogging in a foreign language like me. Just hold Ctrl and Right click (you can set this yourself in the Preference) on the word to look up, a new window appears with the meaning and description of that word for you. Other best alternates are Lingoes, StarDict which are free and easy to use.
4. WordWeb
It is probably a dictionary like Babylon, but it’s only for English, especially for writing. You can look up for the synonym or acronym of a word, the way to use or common expressions about it. You will find WordWeb useful to mix up your content with different words, expressions in order to avoid the boring writing.
5. Notepad++
So which application is absolute right when you just edit a small JavaScript code? Notepad++, which is a small, free and open source text editor, should be your first choice. All codes are format in right styles which helps you write easier, faster and of course less errors. Besides, UltraEdit can be another good choice.
6. Memokeys
Tired of typing the same things day by day like in the comment form or greetings in social media networks, Memokeys is a useful genius for these tasks. Just assign a text with a shortcut like F1 + 1, then in a textbox you simply press that shortcut, the assigned text will appear there. It saves you a lot of time from typing same stuff everyday.
7. Roboform
This application also helps you save time like Memokeys, but it helps you to fill in the form automatically. It is very useful and handy when you register a new account or submitting your blog to a directory. Just set up the detail information which will be use to fill into the form, then on the page you simply click on the button in Roboform toolbar, all textboxes will be filled automatically without any effort from you.
8. Typing Assistant
You will be a rabbit typist using Typing Assistant even actually you type as slow as a turtle. Simply type some first letters of a word, and then select the complete word in a pop up suggested list menu. Typing Assistant is really intelligent because it will learn your typing habit in order to increase the performance. The more you use it, the faster you type.
9. Pidgin
Not like usual web users who are just use IM application to connect and chat with friends or relatives in a small location. Bloggers need to communicate with all people around the world and they are using many different IM services (e.g. Yahoo, GTalk, AIM, MSN, etc). So Pidgin should be included to your daily applications because it supports many different common IM protocols and easy to use. Miranda is a good alternate while Meebo is also good even it is a web-based application.
10. Firefox
This application should be the first item in the list of your daily application. Like many computer users, browser must be the important and indispensable application on bloggers’ computer. And Firefox is one of the best browsers for bloggers. It is fast, free, safe and powerful with tons of add-on to extend its function. Besides, Opera and IE should also be included on your computer to test your blog design on them or to use in some complicated situations like signing multiple Google accounts at the same time.
11. Snarfer
Reading feed becomes an indispensable task of many bloggers and there are more and more feed readers on the market. Snarfer is one of the best of them because of the ease to use and the lightweight installation. You may also use Google Reader which can be used to read feed in the web and on the go (Google provides the version for mobile which you can read your feed right on your cell phone).
12. XnView
Instead of struggling with complicated layers of Photoshop or other big and professional photo editor, you would prefer to use XnView in order to edit basically images for your new post. XnView is free and really powerful enough to do basic functions like resize an image, remove red eyes, drop shadow or convert to different graphic format. You may use XnView to view various formats of graphic file. PhotoScape is a good alternate which is also free and easy to use.
13. Photoshop
It is really easy and quick to do basic editions to images using XnView. However, there are some times the situation is so complicated that only Photoshop can do. With a list of powerful and flexible applications, you can do anything you want to your image. Gimp is a free photo editor application which can be a good replacement to Photoshop, but the resource for it is not as much as Photoshop’s.
14. ThunderBird
ThunderBird is a great desktop email client for all bloggers especially if you are using multiple emails. Like Firefox, you can extend the power of ThunderBird by using many add-ons. Moreover, the filter function of ThunderBird is really cool and flexible so that you can manage your email messages the smartest way.
15. TreePad
You can manage and organize your personal information, to-do list or task in a tree view using TreePad, which is a small and efficient application. All information in a TreePad file is really like a XML file which you can store data in nodes and every node can have child nodes. It may take a little while to understand and use TreePad. Once you master it, you will see the improvement of your work performance.
16. FreeMind
Free your mind with FreeMind, a mind mapping application which helps to visualize ideas in your mind. Simply brainstorm your ideas and map them using FreeMind, then the application will help you clarify your mind and know exactly what and how to write your post. XMind is another cool desktop mind mapping application or if you want to collaborate with other using mind maps, MindMeister is a good one.
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That’s a great list.Thanks for WordWeb i really need that!!
Stumbled…….
Good collection of must have basic applications. I really anticipated more advanced applications then all these basic applications. I had almost used all of them for my blogging or some other purposes.
However i found the applications such as wordweb and memokeys as somewhat new for them. I will surely try them.
Indeed thanks for Phaoloo and themelib for this list.
1,2,5 could be eliminated with just using Windows Live Writer.
once again thanks dude . i took three software from this
Thanks a lot for these useful softwares.I really liked Babylon and FreeMind.
Bookmarked
Nice list of apps to have. I don’t use half of them and that somewhat confuses me. I do understand that some of them are needed, but it all depends how experienced you are.
I will try some of them, thanks again for the links.
I feel you man. It used to be that bloggers only worry about writing but I guess that’s a distant memory now…
Great Post. Definitely a bookmark for me.
I’d like to say that a few of the apps listed are shareware. Though i like the freewares alot.
I would suggest one more..It’s Flock..It’s a social browser for bloggers..Go check it out.
@Typhoon: Flock is a great one, I usually use it for uploading photos. But I believe Firefox still be the best browser now in the market.
@Henry: Live Writer is really great.
@shitu: I now can’t write a post without WordWeb.
Great list of reasources! Found a few new apps. that I need to try out.
I use Firefox to login to my Google accounts since it offers more secure connections.
I just use Word, Notepad, Photoshop and Firefox since these applications are useful even for non bloggers.
When you use WP, you really do not need many of these. WP is quite versatile for normal blogging work and many of these applications will be useful only when your work is very complicated.
I can totally agree that WP is so helpful. It provides a really simple way to do business on the web. But I use a few of these other tools to make my life easier.
Like flow charts, mind maps, html editors for pages outside of WP, and some other stuff.
Nice tips, how about addons on firefox like scribefire and firebug. i thinks it’s a good application too
Great list of applications. I would add Editplus to that list, as a great source code editor. My staples are Editplus, Photoshop, MS Word, Notepad, and Firefox.
True I have 3 Word docs open right now…lol
I just went and downloaded that Kompozer…I want to test it out. I use NVU right now, it’s free and work good, but I think I’d like a little more. So, I will see if this gives me what I am looking for. Thanks for the post.
I am on mac, so situation for me is a bit different. Anyway, there are still programs that i can’t leave without them. Such as is roboform, and excellent mac replacement for it is 1password.
Great list given here. 10 of it I have never heard. I would like to add one more application here. Windows Live Writer.
I agree. This tool should be added
Wow, great post. Roboform is really new for me. It’s like AutoFill of Google Toolbar but better better more
Some very useful applications here! Although surely, blogging in a foreign language is just asking for trouble?
May be.But,it may help people who are not well versed in the language.Of course,you can’t write in an unknown language using this.
Heres one list which is useful in many ways, thanx..!!
memokey and kampozer, was the thing i was looking for.. man why didnt i knew about them before..
Cool… About some of them, I’ve not even heard!
It seems these are all useful but not all are popular tools for bloggers.
Great post thanks!especial thanks for the heads up on XnView. I use images but they don’t really need all that much done to them. This looks perfect for me
A quick update…yesterday I downloaded Kompozer. I have been a NVU user for a long time, but I made the switch.
I love Kompozer… I knew immediately when I opened it that I was going to delete NVU. Now usually I don’t jump ship like this because changes take time to implement and there’s usually a learning curve.
But not with this program. Coolie. It’s very much like NVU but with some minor differences that mean the world to me.
Thank you for the post.
I submit a vote for Windows Live writer, very handy tool especially if you are using a free blog host such as blogger.
Some of the best of applications I have ever come across in the recent times. Roboform really rocks as also Kompozer is excellent.
Definitely worth a Stumble, and a review on SU…now that’s out of the way I suggest replacing Word with OpenOffice Writer, it is for free, after all!
I agree…I am using Open Office
I think the total size of the office was about 127 MB,but worth it.
Nice post. I only use FF & MSword at this time. Maybe I can try another application. Thank you
I would suggest Google Chrome and Open Office.Firefox is good,but frequent crashes.
Thanks for the list, I have found few useful things which I really need such as Kompozer and Memokeys.
Nice post. IM is always a best friend while blogging