Blogo is one of those interesting applications that covers old ground from a completely different angle. In this instance it is blogging software, but not like any such application you’ve seen before.
Blogo’s interface almost tricks you into thinking you are logged into a web 2.0 site. It has big friendly buttons and very much feels like a browser. It includes several, easy to use, tools. For instance, inserting a picture into a blog entry is as simple as dragging the file in, picking alignment and setting your size. The application takes care of the rest. You no longer need to resize your pictures before uploading. My only real complaint with image management is that it does not show you a thumbnail in the editing menu. It simply puts a placeholder for your imported images. You have to open the preview window to see your pictures with your text.
Blogo also does a nice job of formatting text with easy to recognize buttons for typical markup. However, it does not have a “headings” button which is puzzling. I use headings often and using Blogo, I’ve got to dig into the html to pull that off. Speaking of html, I am no expert expert but the html code generated by Blogo appears a bit more verbose than that generated by MarsEdit.
I really liked the full screen editing mode. Of course, I always like full screen editing mode. One of Blogo’s strongest features is the ability to go pull the formatting off your blog and format previews just as they would look on your site. Every blogging application should have that feature.
Blogo presents a friendly, but sometimes limiting, interface for maintaining your blog. You can open it up and start blogging immediately. It represents a very different approach to blogging applications and that, in itself, makes it worth a trial. You can download it from drinkbrainjuice.com and a license will cost $25. You can install your license on up to three computers.