So I just installed Live Writer and am writing this blog with it.  Integrating with my blog was painless.  I added a Code Snippet plug-in, hoping that it will work well for me.  I’ve been using CopySourceAsHtml (CSAH) to great success, but thought it best to try out the plug-ins that are available.  There are other code plug-ins, but this was the highest rated.  Do you, Dear Reader, have a favorite?

Here is a comparison between the CSAH and the plug-in:

CSAH:

    1 [Specification]

    2 public void the_job_end_date_should_be_set()

    3 {

    4     _view.AssertWasCalled( v => v.EndDate = EndDate );

    5 }

Plug-in:

   1: [Specification]

   2: public void the_job_end_date_should_be_set()

   3: {

   4:     _view.AssertWasCalled( v => v.EndDate = EndDate );

   5: }

I had to set up additional styles in my blog CSS because the class names for the plug-in are different than CSAH.  It wasn’t a big deal though since I was able to simply reuse the existing styles.  Also, I lose some of the coloring that CSAH gives because CSAH grabs the colors directly from Visual Studio.  It’s not a big loss.  In fact, I have either option with Live Writer as you can see.  I just have to “Paste Special…” when using CSAH.  Maybe I will try a couple of the other code snippet plug-ins later tonight.

Live Writer advantages over built-in GeeksWithBlogs editor.

• I have had to work around a problem with the built-in edit regarding hyperlinks.  Live Writer doesn’t exhibit the same problem.
• With Live Writer, while writing my blog it is already displayed using my blog CSS.  With the built-in, I have to wait until after I publish.  Yikes!
• Saving a draft is a breeze with LW.  I’ve frequently lost blog posts because of errors posting with the built-in.
• Preview mode is nice, as it shows me what the post will look like after it is published, including blog headers, side-bars, etc.
• Both support a Source view.
• Plug-in support.  It took me no time at all to find a plug-in for code snippets.  There are a bunch more out there too.
• Categories are much easier to assign.  With the built-in, the list of category checkboxes are not alphabetized and the text is frequently misaligned.

Other things of note:

• With LW, you can specify a publish date.  Sounds cool, but I haven’t had a need for it yet.
• I have to set up different “keywords” (Auto Linking in LW).  Fortunately, I don’t have a ton of key words yet, so, it’s not a big deal.