Using Windows Live Writer for Blogs
From Online Business Wiki
The system uses the Metaweblog API, allowing you to use a variety of third-party blogging clients to control your blog externally.
In this tutorial, we'll show you how to set up and use the popular "Windows Live Writer" client with your blog.
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Configuring The Blog Account
Step 1: Select The Blog Service
Make sure you have an existing blog created in the Admin.
If it's your first time running Live Writer, it will automatically prompt you to create a new blog account, otherwise, open Windows Live Writer and select "Create new Blog Account."
The first window you should see will ask you which blog service you are using. Select "Other Blog Service" and click "Next"
Step 2: Enter Your Blog Details
Enter the web address of the blog, followed by the username and password you use to login to the Admin Console.
If you'd like Live Writer to remember your password, tick "Remember Password."
Click "Next"
Step 3: Select The MetaWeblog API
Under "Select Blog Type", choose the "MetaWeblog API" and enter the following URL, substituting "http://mysite.com" with the root URL of your website.
http://mysite.com/MetaweblogAPI.ashx
Click "Next"
Step 4: Do Not Load Blog Theme
Our Blog API does not yet support previewing of themes/templates.
When asked if you'd like Live Writer to detect your blog theme and create a temporary post, click "No"
Step 5: Assign A Blog Nickname - You're Finished
If you'd like to assign a blog nickname that will only appear in Live Writer, enter it here.
Click "Finish" and you're done.
Configuring FTP for Image Uploads
Live Writer can automatically resize, upload via FTP and then embed images in your blog posts. To set this up, go Blogs > Edit Blog Settings and then select the "Pictures" tab from the left.
Step 1: Select “Upload pictures to an FTP server” then click “Configure FTP…”
Step 2: Enter your FTP details as you would for any regular FTP client.
Under “Publish pictures into this folder”, type /blogimages - this will be the directory in which embedded images will be stored.
Provide the absolute URL of this directory under “URL of picture publishing folder”, ie. mysite.com/blogimages/
Step 3: Now, when you click "Insert Picture" from the Live Writer interface and insert an image from your local machine, this image will automatically be uploaded via FTP and embedded in the blog post upon publishing.
Working With Blog Posts
Opening, Editing and Deleting Posts
Go File > Open, then select the name of your blog from the left sidebar to see a list of all existing blog posts.
From here, you can open, edit and delete existing posts.
Creating A New Post
To create a new post, go File > New Post.
Draft and Published Posts
Save as draft: If you'd like to save a draft of your blog post in the system to work on at a later date, simply click "Post Draft To Blog" from the "Save Draft" drop-down menu.
This will store the draft blog post in the system, but set the release year to 9999 so it is not displayed on the live blog.
Clicking "Publish" will set the release date to the current day, making it live.
Publish (makes post live): Clicking "Publish" will make the current post live on the front end of your blog.
Supported API Capabilities
For a detailed list of current API capabilities, go Tools > Edit Blog Settings, then select "View Capabilities" from the "Account" tab.
Please note: The API does not currently support Categories, Tags, Trackbacks, Pages or Comment Policies.
