Weblog editors
A few people have sent me email with ideas on competing with ecto. Here’s the thing, though: I like Adriaan a lot and I think ecto is cool.

The same goes for other weblog editors and their developers: Blapp is cool, Xjournal is cool, and I like Michael and Fraser. Daniel Berlinger does a great job with Archipelago (a Manila editor)—and Daniel and I go waaaay back.

In fact, I was sad to read that Phil Ulrich isn’t continuing Userspace development, because it sounded really good and I like Phil.

One of the luxuries of running your own business that Sheila and I enjoy is that we are allowed to make decisions that go against common business wisdom. We could have made the NetNewsWire-MarsEdit connection proprietary, but that would have been, well, mean.

When NetNewsWire talks to MarsEdit, it uses the exact same API, the exact same code, it uses to talk to ecto, Cocoal.icio.us (by master of ceremonies Buzz Andersen), and other software.

Maybe it’s weird or naive of me, but I like other OS X weblog editor developers. It’s a great group of people. And so I find myself rooting for their success, even when we have products in the same space. And I also find that I really like this situation.

But—more about the weblog editor space—I think the number of people who have already bought a weblog editor is very, very small compared to the number of people who will buy a weblog editor. It’s only just this year that weblog editors are starting to become software you’d want to use day-to-day. (In other words, the success of one editor doesn’t preclude success of another.)

So, it’s not as if different weblog editors don’t compete. Sure they do. But I’m totally not into playing any hardball here: that would suck the fun out of it for me. I think of the competition as being very friendly—but if it gives us all a bit of incentive to work hard and make our software better, that’s cool.

At the same time—and more importantly—we’re all collaborating on showing that weblog editors are getting ready for prime time.
11:07 pm #

MarsEdit Questions Answered
A few common questions about MarsEdit have come up since the public beta...

Why can’t I set titles for Blogger posts?

Unfortunately, the Blogger API doesn’t support titles, even though you can enter titles through Blogger’s web interface.

On the bright side, once we add support for the Atom editing API, then it should be possible to use titles with Blogger posts.

When will MarsEdit support the Atom editing API?

It won’t happen for 1.0—for 1.0 the plan is to fix bugs and add polish, but not make any big changes from what you see now.

But support for the Atom editing API is a huge priority for after 1.0.

How come I can’t upload images to my WordPress weblog?

Once the WordPress folks add support for the image-uploading part of the MetaWeblog API, it will work. (They’re a hard-working bunch: I expect it won’t take long.)

How do I set a category in Blosxom?

You’ll need to add the category popup menu to the toolbar. With a document window in front, choose Customize Toolbar from the View menu, and drag the category popup menu into the toolbar. Then you’ll be able to set categories.

How do I use MarsEdit with my web browser?

From the MarsEdit menu, choose Install Bookmarklet. You’ll then be able to send a page from your browser to MarsEdit in much the way you can send news items from your newsreader.

When will you add _______?

It’s hard to say—so I think I’ll distract you by saying, “Hey, did you notice the Edit with BBEdit and Edit with SubEthaEdit commands in the File menu?”
10:23 pm #

NetNewsWire Questions Answered
As you might imagine, we’ve had a ton of email since releasing the NetNewsWire public beta yesterday. A few things have come up more than once, so I thought I’d answer them here.

What happened to the Mark All as Read toolbar button?

It’s still there—choose Customize Toolbar from the View menu to add it. (There are some other toolbar items might want to add, such as Post to Weblog and Mark as Flagged.)

The Find command doesn’t work!

Yes, it’s broken at the moment. It will get fixed before 2.0 ships.

What’s the best place to report a bug? How should I make feature requests?

The answer to both is the on-line bug tracker. You can report bugs and make feature requests from the same form. Choose Report a Bug from the Help menu.

How can I open browser tabs in the background?

Open NetNewsWire’s preferences, click on the Browsing icon, then un-check the box next to “Select new tabs as they are created.”

Is the pricing just a special sale?

It’s not a special sale. NetNewsWire 2.0 is $24.95 or $39.95 bundled with MarsEdit. Those are the regular prices.

How can I read restricted LiveJournal feeds?

Instructions are in the Help book—choose NetNewsWire Help from the Help menu then click on Questions & Answers. The question about LiveJournal is the top item.

Note: we realize that Help viewer used to be so painfully slow that we’ve all become unaccustomed to using it. But it’s pretty fast in 10.3, and NetNewsWire’s help actually has a bunch of info. Also see the Tips page in the Help book.

Is there an alternative to the Yahoo Groups mailing list?

Yes—we’re transitioning away from the Yahoo Groups mailing list to a new one (generously hosted by Aaron Swartz). List instructions are on the beta-download page.
09:58 pm #