I like playing with applications that let you post to your blog from the desktop. This is usually more convenient than logging into the backend of your blog, and try to type in the text box. Yesterday I posted about the Tiger WP Administration which makes the WP backend pleasing to the eye. However, I still like desktop publishing solutions. I have tried, ecto, Blogjet, and w.bloggar. Among all these, I liked Blogjet the best. Now, I am testing Qumana LE.
Qumana LE, pretty much like Blogjet, provides WYSIWYG editor and let’s you post to multiple blogs. Configuration seems pretty straightforward: just enter your blog URL and Qumana detects the details and you don’t do anything else. This may be an important feature who does not have the detailed knowledge of protocols used to post to blogs. In the case of a WP blog, Qumana detected the location of the xmprpc.php file and configured itself correctly. From the post editor’s UI and functionality it looks like it is based on w.bloggar. The editor does what it should do and let’s you do one-click post to your blog.
Among all these standard features, Qumana comes with a DropPad onto which you can drag and drop content, links, and pictures which are passed to the editor. This seemed like neat way of capturing all the stuff you want to publish on your blog. One quick use that I can think of is that, I can open up the DropPad while I am reading other blogs, and drag and drop the links that I want to post to my blog and comment on and easily create a post from those.
Another feature that may come handy is easy Technorati tagging. You just enter the keywords in the editor, click on Technorati on the toolbar, and Qumana adds the tags for you at the bottom of the post (as you can see below).
On the other hand, Qumana is missing some features. I think there should be a way to retrieve and edit previous posts similar to the way Blogjet provides. There is also no way of adding media information (e.g. “Playing Now”) to the posts. Although, this is not essential it may be desirable by many people. Another drawback that I noticed while typing this post, is the handling of images. Blogjet, for example, let’s you create thumbnails from the images you insert into your post, and uploads the original version. Qumana does not yet provide such a feature which is a must have, in my opinion.
Despite the drawbacks, I still think Qumana would make a smart choice for someone who needs/wants to post to her blog from the desktop. The fact that it is free is a big advantage as well. I am hoping there will be more features in upcoming releases of Qumana. There is also a Qumana Blog.
PS: As I was checking their blog, I noticed they also have an RSS Aggregator (for Windows, Mac, and Linux) which seems cool from the screenshots. I guess I will try that and post about it here too.
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Thanks for the review. Very complete and fair. Editing old posts is our #1 new feature request. Since we implemented WP category support within the first week of release … well you can guess what’s going on behind the scenes ;-).
Now, if you will allow me, there is feature that no, to the best of my knowledge, has. Drop a large image (like from a digital camera or a screenshot) onto the DropPad. We have a built-in image re-sizer. We did this for our CEO who likes to put up digicam pics, but forgets to re-size!
Thanks again, and pls feel free to ping me if you have any questions or comments.
Tris