Blogging Tools

In Chapter 3 we describe how to add content to your WordPress blog by using the posting and editing tools in the Dashboard. Another possibility is to use stand-alone software. Such software is particularly useful if you post to more than one blog, enjoy clipping items from web pages and other sources such as RSS aggregators and posting those clips to your blog, and if you prefer to compose posts while offline.

You are able to use stand-alone software to interact in certain ways with your blog because of a file called xmlrpc.php. This file is located in the root directory for your blog and makes it possible for you to create new posts, edit existing posts, assign existing categories, and so on, but you don't have the full scope and power that the WordPress Dashboard gives you. For example, you can't add users or moderate comments.

In this chapter we explain how to use some of these applications to write and edit posts on your WordPress blog. First gather the information you'll need: blog address, username, password, address of the xmlrpc file. If you use WordPress on your own server, rather than at WordPress.com, you may also need the address, username, and password for your FTP server. Then install and set up the blog client and start posting.

Each application mentioned here is capable of much more that, but is beyond the scope of this book. We simply aim to show you the basics for posting text and images, and editing existing posts. Check each application's documentation for complete instructions for using all its features.

Tips

• The client ID for WordPress blogs is usually 1.

• A typical address for the xmlrpc file is http://www.example.com/xmlrpc.php or http://blogname.wordpress.com/xmlrpc.php. If your blog is in a sub-directory then the address will include that, for example: http://www.example.com/blog/xmlrpc.php.

• If you installed WordPress on your own server, make sure that an uploads folder exists and is writable, i.e., permissions are set to 777, before trying to upload a file or image with an external application.

• When you include images in a post, check the alt text. Alt text should function as a text replacement for the image.

• When you include files in a post, check the link text. Link text for a file should include an indication of file size and format, for example: Tuesday podcast (1.5Mb, MP3).