10 Must-Have Plugins For Windows Live Writer

I am not a lover of Microsoft (especially Windows), but if there is any application from MS that I love, it has to be Windows Live Writer.

Other than its user-friendliness and great integration with the various blog platforms, the thing that attracts me most is its ability to extend its functions with plugins (that seems to be the trend nowadays). With plenty of useful plugins available at the Windows Live Gallery, I have no doubt that this is the most powerful blog editor around. The ten plugins below are my favorite and in my opinion, a ‘must-have‘ for all WLW lovers.

1. word count plugin — This feature is included in the technical preview of the latest version of WLW, but as of the current version, you have to use this ‘Word Count‘ plugin to count the number of words in your post.

2. Insert video plugin — Inserting video into your blog is now make easier with this plugin. Simply paste the video link and the plugin will automatically convert it to a presentable format.

3. code snippet plugin — This is a useful one for techies, geeks or  web developers who frequently have to place code snippet on their blogs. While there are several other ‘insert source code‘ plugins, I find this to be the best.

4. Flickr4Writer plugin — Tired of searching high and low in Flickr for the picture to place in your blog? Flickr4Writer will definitely make your life much easier. Simply input the tag and it will fetch you all the images from Flickr with that tag. All you have to do is to select the images and insert into your post.

5. Insert Wikipedia link plugin — Highlight some text, click the link and you can turn it into a Wikipedia link. A simple plugin, but definitely an useful one.

6. SnagIt Capture plugin — Do a screen capture of your system and insert it into your post.

7. Website capture plugin — As its name implies, this plugin do a screen capture of a website (specify by you) and insert it into your post.

8. Insert Quick link plugin — Instead of having to click on the Insert Link in Live Writer, you can now bring up those options just by pasting a link into Writer with this plugin.

9. Amazon Book lookup plugin — Search for a book in Amazon within WLW and insert the image and affiliate link into the post. You can save the trouble of going to and fro Amazon and WLW.

10.Template plugin — A simple plugin that allows you to create template of links, scripts, text, or snippets that you can reuse it again and again.

Other plugin that should have make the list:

Blog This For Firefox — This plugin adds a button to Firefox which starts a new blog post prepopulated with content and title from the current web page. It allows you to blog quickly when you find something of interest on the web. (Reason for exclusion: This plugin is not compatible with Firefox 3)

Tags: blog, windows, Windows Live Writer