/ Blogging

Test of Ecto 3.0 Beta

I have been using Ecto for blogposts since moving to the Mac and have always liked what it offered, especially the easy access to Amazon Associate links, the way that, when you select text and click the “link” button, the program automatically fills in the link address with the last copied http address, and the ease with which I could import images but dragging and dropping them into posts.

The beta looks damn good. On first glance I like the placement of some of the elements much better. Here’s the new entry screen from the 2.4.2 version:

and the new:

Placing the commands such as “link,” “html view” etc., toward the top of the window make much more sense than their previous placement. Also, there seems to be far more, and far easier control, over image uploading when you drop a pic into the entry.

Let’s try inserting a song using the import media button:

Hmm – I step through the selection process, and it looks like it will import and upload the file, but nothing shows up in the post. I wonder what happens when I drag a song from iTunes:

Hmm – nothing really. Weird. Oh well, I guess I’ll go read the forums or the help to see how the music importing is supposed to work and figure out if it’s merely a beta issue.

Let’s check out the Amazon Helper:

“Catfish Rising” (Jethro Tull)

There are simply tons more Amazon categories in the new version, which is helpful if you drop a lot of links to products.

Looks like there is a bunch more features to check out over time, but if you are on a Mac and use an off-line blogging editor to compose your entries, give the beta a try. It’s totally different code, so you can actually try it without getting rid of the 2.4.2 version. Just remember to save often and don’t expect it to be perfect!

 

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