By nickel

Just a quick note for you Firefox users out there… In case you haven’t heard, there’s a great little in-browser weblog editor called ScribeFire that’s free for the taking. ScribeFire actually started out as a Firefox extension from the good folks at Performancing but was later spun off and re-branded. You really have to try it out to fully appreciate it, but here’s a synopsis…

It hangs out as a little orange pen and paper icon down in the lower right corner of your Firefox window. When you click on it, however, it creates a split-screen with web pages being displayed up top and a resizeable ScribeFire pane in the bottom. The web browser pane is fully functional, allowing you to surf around, manage tabs, etc., all while having access to the editor pane. Moreover, you can ScribeFire it to manage multiple weblogs, and it supports categories, trackbacks, and Technorati tags such that you can publish straightaway from within ScribeFire. You can also pull up previous posts and edit them. You can also save what you’re working on locally as a ‘note’ or publish it to your site as a draft. The editor works either as an old-school source editor or as a WYSIWYG editor.

While I’ve only used it with WordPress, and thus can’t vouch for it’s utility with other platforms, I highly recommend that you give it a try. It has the potential to revolutionize your workflow! There’s nothing better than being able to view other web sites while simultaneously writing! No need to flip back and forth between tabs, etc. You can download it here.

While we’re on the subject, I’d love to hear about any indispensable blogging tools that you’ve run across.