MacTricksAndTips.com

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As a blogger there are some applications that are just essential to help improve my productivity and to save time. I have gone through my computer and I am presenting to you 20 essential applications that any Mac blogger should have. They are presented in alphabetical order. If you have any comments about the list or you want to add your own please leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

If you want to learn more about blogging I recommend Blogging All-in-One For Dummies and ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging.

1) Adium

One of the best IM clients ever made. It supports nearly every client ever made, only skype isn’t supported. Video and voice chat are in development. It is one of the best applications I have ever tried. For a blogger it is great as you can connect on any protocol and be chatting in minutes.

2) Backdrop

A lot of the time you will be taking pictures of windows within your OS, especially for tutorials or designers. The problem is, not every one wants to see your wallpaper or your icons. As well as this I use my desktop for storing some personal information. Backdrop provides you a very simple way to hide your desktop through the use of a solid background or a chosen picture of you choice. It hides everything behind the current active application. A great app.

3) Caffeine

If you use your Mac for chatting with people through video/voice IM or any other application where you don’t move the mouse, Caffeine injects your computer with a boost to stop your screen saver and sleep from kicking in. I have posted about it once before. If you want to keep your computer running I suggest you install this application.

4) Concept Draw MindMap

Every so often I come up with an idea that just needs to be expanded. I could use pen and paper but some times its some useful to come up with a mind map on the screen. This way in your blog you can come up with ideas and posts which show off how you came up with your idea. Concept Draw I have found is one of the best out there for showing off your thoughts. Novamind is a good alternative.

5) CSSEdit

Even as a blogger you will need to modify your site. As a Mac user CSSEdit is one of the best ways to view, manipulate and change your code. I think CSSEdit is great as it offers functionality that you can’t in any other program at this standard. As a blogger you want to blog and not spend ages editing CSS code, CSSEdit speeds this part up.

6) CyberDuck

You have edited your site using CSSEdit now you need to transfer it to your host. Cyberduck is simple and at the most part painless. It does all that any blogger would need, transfer files. Transmit is also a good alternative but you have to pay. I prefer free.

7) Ecto

Ecto is one of those applications that you think will never be useful until you start using it. As a blogger you may have multiple blogs, multiple logins and as a result it can be hard keepign track of the websites and logins you have. As well as this it is also time consuming login and out. Ecto speeds this up by enable you to blog to many sites from one application. It allows you to blog offline as well as drag and drop images as you would normally. The work flow is simple and intuitive. Another alternative is MarsEdit, which has a similar feature set.

8) Firefox

Although Safari is a great browser Firefox just seems to have that edge. I don’t if it is the plugin functionality or the way it just seems to work. Tabbed browsing seems better and all round it seems a lot better. As well as this it is CSS compliant, so your website design should look normal, unless you use a Windows Internet Explorer base who like to play things differently.

9) Flickr Uploader

For being more creative and just generally showing off photos to my friends and family I use Flickr. Flickr Uploader enables you to drag and drop photos to be uploaded. Its also compatible with iPhoto for that extra functionality. A lot quicker, in my opinion, than the web based interface on the site it’s self.

10) Gimp

Unless you are a problogger earning the megabucks or a pirate, Photoshop is expensive. Thats why people invented Gimp. The free image editor that has all of the features needed by anyone who wants to quickly edit and manipulate photos. For a Mac user the default install doesn’t come with an image editor like Gimp so this is a must install.

11) Imagewell

Although Gimp is good for the serious image editing, sometimes you just need to quickly manipulate an image so it stands out and serves a different purpose other than the boring square cornered image. Imagewell lets you apply quick crops, adding words, putting shadows around images, taking them and making them have curved corners etc.

12) iShowU

If you need to make a video for you blog post look no further than iShowU. Its an application that captures and area or your full screen so you can save it out and edit it later. I use it for tutorials or quickly showing people steps to problems. It is also good for making quick videos to upload to youtube. You do need a powerful computer, when mine runs it use both cores on my Macbook Pro, it is full resolution high def video mind you. Capture Me is also worth checking out.

13) NetNewsWire

One of the best RSS newsreaders around. Any blogger needs to keep up with the news of there favourite sites. NetNewsWire has a very similar style to Apple Mail, and is quick to run and use. I never go a day without using it.

14) Quicksnap

Although Leopard and other version of the Mac OS offer the ability to take pictures through the use of shortcuts sometimes you need an application to use a couple of advance settings. With QuickSnap you can choose from a range of file formats, set a timer and copy captures directly to the clipboard to paste into other applications.

15) Resize ‘Em All

You have taken your images with Quicksnap you have modified them with Imagewell all you need to do now is resize them. Resize ‘Em All is the nicest and quickest application to enable you to quickly change the dimensions and file types of any image you want. I have written about it here.

16) Skitch

An all purpose application that enables you to quickly draw, edit and manipulate images which you can add text, other images etc quickly in a fun an unique way. It also enables you to share them with your friends and your website. You can use it illustrate, draw attention to and capture images. You can even use it to take a quick snap with your iSight. It might eventually take over Imagewell. You need to sign up as it is beta although your invite will come pretty quick.

17) Skype

Although you can use Adium to chat through MSN and Gtalk etc you can’t use it on Skype. Skype is great for anyone wanting to make cheap free calls over the internet. For a frequent chatter making long distance calls this is a great application for saving some money. As well as this it is great quality.

18) Superduper

If you have a lot of information, images, videos, documents you want to back them up. Although Time Machine is great it is not a serious backup utility. Thats where Superduper comes in. It enables you to copy your entire hard drive to have a good solid backup in case your Mac dies.

19) TextWrangler

Sometimes you need a powerful text editor for you to easily edit and write documents. Although TextEdit is good sometimes you need something with a bit more punch. TextWrangler enables you to edit nearly any file in a logical and easy to understand manner.

20) Timeout

Finally, Timeout is a simple application that enables you to take a break. It controls your screen and stops you from working and makes you take a break. A simple little application to break up your day and make you do something else. Sadly this is one of the most used applications on my Mac.

Hopefully you have enjoyed my list. I have not included some of the default applications such as iMove, Mail. If you think there should be an application include on the list please leave a comment explaining why.