I've been blogging online with TypePad ever since I switched from Movable Type back in August and the desktop blogging client I was using, Kung-Log, didn't support TypePad yet. Well, just in the last week or so, I found ecto, Kung-log's commercial successor.
This is so great. If you liked Kung-Log, you'll love ecto. It now works beautifully with TypePad by the way. The release version of ecto is for Mac OS X and there is a beta for Windows.
Here's my favorite feature of ecto so far (there are many cool features): if you've got the URL for the link you want to create in the clipboard, you can simply highlight the words you want *linked* and then choose *url with clipboard*. No more typing the html!!!
My second favorite is great too: the preview is MUCH better than what I get in TypePad. This saves me from posting early just so I can see how my post is going to look. Call me obsessive, but I like to be able to proof-read and edit while looking at the page the way it's going to look when posted.
As with Kung-Log, you get a bunch of html commands for starters *and* you can add your own. I've added color text for various colors. And then you get to add keyboard equivalents for them!
I like the Categories list. It's a bunch of checkboxes. So I just check the ones I want for a post. I don't have to select *multiple categories* and then command click the ones I want to include. Slows down the onset of carpal tunnel.
Ecto is a mature desktop blogging client. They call it the next generation blogging client. I haven't shopped the competition, but I seriously doubt anything can compete with ecto. It pings Technorati for you. It supports multiple blogs. It supports Atom. How about syntax coloring? Yes. It has all sorts of defaults and sophistication. Read the ecto list of features.
For OS X users, it also supports iPhoto, iTunes, uses Safari's Webkit to render previews and lets you drag your images in to select them for upload.
For TypePad users, the next upgrade will be using TypePad's Atom API to manage TypeLists and photo albums. Ecto is a major bargain at $17.95.