14 DAY TRIAL // MarsEdit, a powerful blogging client for Mac, has been updated to version 2.2. The new release includes support for AtomPub - a protocol for connecting blog software to your own blog, customizable image markup, and faster performance, among others.
The weblog editor for Mac OS X known as MarsEdit "makes weblog writing like writing emails with spell-checking, drafts, multiple windows, and even AppleScript support," says Ranchero Software. The tool works with various weblog systems such as Blosxom, Conversant, Manila, Movable Type, Radio UserLand, TypePad, WordPress, and more.
Key features of the program include Image uploading, editing in BBEdit and SubEthaEdit, a web browser bookmarklet, warnings before posting, customizable keyboard shortcuts for tags, setting trackbacks and keywords, sending pings, support for Blogware and WordPress etc. More recently, MarsEdit includes a preview feature for templates, AppleScript support, XML-RPC console and better icons, according to the makers.
The newest release, though, adds a truly powerful feature - support for AtomPub.
"AtomPub is a new specification for communication between a blog and a remote editor such as MarsEdit. To use MarsEdit with your AtomPub-compatible blog, select 'Other AtomPub Compatible' from the configuration popup in your weblog settings, and enter the service document URL in the RPC URL field," Ranchero Software says.
Another enhancement now allows MarsEdit you to bring the powerful markup macros right in the media window - all this while you can add your own, to finely tune the markup that is used when inserting images or other files. To achieve this, users must select "Edit?" from the bottom of the popup menu (the menu only contains alignment tags by default).
Additional tweaks and improvements include:
- Significant speed improvements to launch time and sorting the table of weblog entries. - Support for removing unwanted items from the media catalog. - New post table columns for viewing Tags or Post ID. - A date editor pull down for easily selecting today's date. - Improved MIME type generation for uploaded files. - Blosxom now uses the "Slug" field to specify the file name.
A 30-day trial version of MarsEdit is available HERE. Give it a shot and tell us what you thought of it.