For a few days, I have been using the new ScribeFire blogging client instead of the tried and true w.Bloggar client I have been using for many months.  Some things  I really like; others are a pain.

First, the good stuff:

• I like the way ScribeFire works as a Firefox add-on – it just pops up from the bottom of the screen when needed and allows me to keep the context of the web page I’m viewing without alt-tabbing back and forth between the blog client and browser.
• Inserting Technorati tags is very easy – just type in a list of tags, rather than editing the template I used in w.Bloggar.
• ScribeFire will also post the blog entry to del.icio.us, using the same tags.
• I like ScribeFire’s WYSIWYG editor.  It simplifies text entry, while still allowing HTML source code edit when required.

But alas, ScribeFire is still missing some things I need:

• I have to hand-code attributes for images.  I had to add HTML code (align=“right” border=“0” hspace=“10” vspace=“5” width=”250″) to position a photo my standard way – on the right side, suitable size, with appropriate spacing and no border.
• I have no control over the big spaces that sometimes occur at the end of blog entries.

The tradeoff is convenience vs. control – as it so often is.

PS. Just found another gotcha that will still keep me with m.Bloggar for awhile. I needed to make an edit to my blog entry, and found that ScribeFire won’t update an entry. It posts a new entry, forcing me to manually remove the old one. Oops!

Technorati Tags: Blogging, ScribeFire